Code owner group is empty and optional in approvals
Description
- Code owners is empty despite settings in the CODEOWENRS file.
- Merge requests on a protected branch show the Code Owners group as empty and optional.
Environment
-
Impacted offerings:
- GitLab.com
- GitLab Dedicated
- GitLab Self-Managed
Solution
Ensure users and groups exist and have access to the project.
- Syntax in the CODEOWNERS file for groups and subgroups is case-sensitive and must match the group path.
- Verify correct group inheritence for protected branches.
Cause
The CODEOWNERS file includes users or groups that are inaccessible or malformed, causing them to be ignored.
This can affect previously working approval rules if a username or group path changes.