## Summary When the "Prevent invitations to groups and projects" setting is enabled (https://docs.gitlab.com/administration/settings/visibility_and_access_controls/#prevent-invitations-to-groups-and-projects), newly created projects in personal namespaces do not automatically add the **non-admin** creator as a member. Some project/repository actions work fine but others do not. For example, the users can edit files and open MRs on the same project, but they cannot merge those MRs into the default branch due to missing permissions. ## Steps to reproduce 1. Admin navigates to Admin > Settings > General > Visibility and access controls 2. Enable "Prevent invitations to groups and projects" setting 3. Non-admin user creates a new project in their personal namespace 4. Non-admin user navigates to the project's Members page 5. Observe that the project creator is not listed as a member {width=900 height=413} ## Current behavior - Members page show 0 members. - User can access project but some actions cannot be performed, like merging MRs. ## Expected behavior - Non-admin project creator should automatically be added as an Owner of the newly created project - The "Prevent invitations" setting should only restrict inviting OTHER users, not the creator's automatic membership ## Environment - Reproduce Self-Managed environment: tested in 18.4, 18.6, 18.8 ## Related issues/MR - Issue: [Disable User Invitations on Self-Managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/work_items/521362) - MR: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/189954