Licenses API

In GitLab, there is an API endpoint available for working with various open source license templates. For more information on the terms of various licenses, see this site or any of the many other resources available online.

List license templates

Get all license templates.

GET /templates/licenses

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
popular	boolean	no	If passed, returns only popular licenses

curl https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/templates/licenses?popular=1

Example response:

[
    {
        "key": "apache-2.0",
        "name": "Apache License 2.0",
        "nickname": null,
        "featured": true,
        "html_url": "http://choosealicense.com/licenses/apache-2.0/",
        "source_url": "http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html",
        "description": "A permissive license that also provides an express grant of patent rights from contributors to users.",
        "conditions": [
            "include-copyright",
            "document-changes"
        ],
        "permissions": [
            "commercial-use",
            "modifications",
            "distribution",
            "patent-use",
            "private-use"
        ],
        "limitations": [
            "trademark-use",
            "no-liability"
        ],
        "content": "                                 Apache License\n                           Version 2.0, January 2004\n [...]"
    },
    {
        "key": "gpl-3.0",
        "name": "GNU General Public License v3.0",
        "nickname": "GNU GPLv3",
        "featured": true,
        "html_url": "http://choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-3.0/",
        "source_url": "http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt",
        "description": "The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license and has a strong copyleft requirement. When distributing derived works, the source code of the work must be made available under the same license.",
        "conditions": [
            "include-copyright",
            "document-changes",
            "disclose-source",
            "same-license"
        ],
        "permissions": [
            "commercial-use",
            "modifications",
            "distribution",
            "patent-use",
            "private-use"
        ],
        "limitations": [
            "no-liability"
        ],
        "content": "                    GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE\n                       Version 3, 29 June 2007\n [...]"
    },
    {
        "key": "mit",
        "name": "MIT License",
        "nickname": null,
        "featured": true,
        "html_url": "http://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/",
        "source_url": "http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT",
        "description": "A permissive license that is short and to the point. It lets people do anything with your code with proper attribution and without warranty.",
        "conditions": [
            "include-copyright"
        ],
        "permissions": [
            "commercial-use",
            "modifications",
            "distribution",
            "private-use"
        ],
        "limitations": [
            "no-liability"
        ],
        "content": "The MIT License (MIT)\n\nCopyright (c) [year] [fullname]\n [...]"
    }
]

Single license template

Get a single license template. You can pass parameters to replace the license placeholder.

GET /templates/licenses/:key

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
key	string	yes	The key of the license template
project	string	no	The copyrighted project name
fullname	string	no	The full-name of the copyright holder

NOTE: Note: If you omit the fullname parameter but authenticate your request, the name of the authenticated user will be used to replace the copyright holder placeholder.

curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your_access_token>" https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/templates/licenses/mit?project=My+Cool+Project

Example response:

{
    "key": "mit",
    "name": "MIT License",
    "nickname": null,
    "featured": true,
    "html_url": "http://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/",
    "source_url": "http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT",
    "description": "A permissive license that is short and to the point. It lets people do anything with your code with proper attribution and without warranty.",
    "conditions": [
        "include-copyright"
    ],
    "permissions": [
        "commercial-use",
        "modifications",
        "distribution",
        "private-use"
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "no-liability"
    ],
    "content": "The MIT License (MIT)\n\nCopyright (c) 2016 John Doe\n [...]"
}