Reply by email
GitLab can be set up to allow users to comment on issues and merge requests by replying to notification emails.
Requirement
Make sure incoming email is setup.
How it works?
1. GitLab sends a notification email
When GitLab sends a notification and Reply by email is enabled, the Reply-To
header is set to the address defined in your GitLab configuration, with the
%{key}
placeholder (if present) replaced by a specific "reply key". In
addition, this "reply key" is also added to the References
header.
2. You reply to the notification email
When you reply to the notification email, your email client will:
- send the email to the
Reply-To
address it got from the notification email - set the
In-Reply-To
header to the value of theMessage-ID
header from the notification email - set the
References
header to the value of theMessage-ID
plus the value of the notification email'sReferences
header.
3. GitLab receives your reply to the notification email
When GitLab receives your reply, it will look for the "reply key" in the following headers, in this order:
- the
To
header - the
References
header
If it finds a reply key, it will be able to leave your reply as a comment on the entity the notification was about (issue, merge request, commit...).
For more details about the Message-ID
, In-Reply-To
, and References headers
,
please consult RFC 5322.