Allow admins to create rudimentary Service Users
Problem to solve
The first major step toward implementing bots & automation is the ability to create "Service Users" to serve as bot accounts.
Intended users
- Rachel (Release Manager)
- Delaney (Development Team Lead)
- Sasha (Software Developer)
- Devon (DevOps Engineer)
Further details
Bots are commonly used for automating repetitive tasks and can perform these tasks much faster than a human can. Currently, GitLab customers are creating users instead of bots (since there is no bot feature in GitLab) to specifically handle the automation of tasks. This represents the introduction of a rudimentary bot user type.
Proposal
- When an admin creates a User, that admin's ID is permanently associated with the user as the
creating_user_id
- Admins can create Service Users (which are Users with a
bot_type
value ofcustom
per MR !24852) by clicking a "Service User" checkbox in the "Account" section of the "New user" form. - Service Users cannot have DeployKeys or DeployTokens
- GitLab's 3 bots (alert_bot, support_bot, visual_review_bot) are marked as Service Users
Out of scope
- GitlaLab.com support
- Converting existing Users to Service Users.
- Disabling impersonation (need to add admin page for managing personal access tokens first).
- Excluding from licensing.
- Restricting access to the API only.
Permissions and Security
Only admins can create Users, which is consistent with existing permissions.
Documentation
Availability & Testing
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Business outcome: Ability to formally designate a User as a Service User. Acceptance criteria: At least 20% of enterprise users create Service Users.
What is the type of buyer?
All enterprise/paid tiers.
Links / references
Edited by 🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖