install_gitlab returns error while install_git works

[kweinert]

Hello,
thanks for the great package! I had some problems with install_gitlab on a self-hosted gitlab Community edition.

Initially, I tried:

pat <- "glpat-very.secret" # Project Access Token
remotes::install_gitlab("prj/myrepo", host="https://gitlab.myhost.com", auth_token=pat)

which fails with error message:

Fehler: Failed to install 'unknown package' from GitLab:
  kann URL 'https://gitlab.prognos.com/api/v4/projects/prj%2Fmyrepo/repository/files/DESCRIPTION/raw?ref=HEAD' nicht öffnen

It also fails when I provide the Token via environment variable GITLAB_PAT.

I finally got it working with

git_url <- "https://git:", pat, "@gitlab.myhost.com/prj/myrepo.git" # note the git prefix, does not work without it
remotes::install_git(git_url)

[danwwilson]

I have the same issue with a private repo on gitlab.com when working with the latest version of R (4.5.1) on a Mac. The issue doesn't seem to occur on version R 4.4 on linux.

I can't help but wonder if it's the encoding of the repository parameter inserting the %2F to replace the / that might be causing the issue. It's a bit strange though that the same remotes package on Mac with R4.5.1 and Linux with 4.4.0 produces different results.
EDIT: My Mac issue was after a new setup and my gitlab PAT was not in my Renviron file. Fixing this, fixed my issue.

[kletts]

I had the same problem, my issue was the access token had insufficient privileges.
Of the two methods to install, the first (remotes::install_gitlab("username/repo")) requires your token to have at least read_api permissions, the second (remotes::install_git(git_url)) requires only read_repository permissions. Hope this helps you.

[kweinert]

Thank you kletts, for pointing that out. Turns out that my access token does have the permissions you mentioned:

api, read_api, read_repository, read_registry, write_registry

but with role "Developer". When I created a new access pattern with the same rights but role "Maintainer", install_gitlab works.