Connect GitLab or Bitbucket
Your code doesn't have to live on GitHub — The Deployer works the same way with GitLab and Bitbucket. You connect an account with an access token, pick a repository when creating a project, and everything else (scanning, deploying, push-to-deploy) behaves identically. GitLab.com and Bitbucket Cloud are supported; self-managed GitLab and Bitbucket Server/Data Center are not.
Current access model. Both hosts use a long-lived token or app password that you create. Set an expiry where the host allows it, use a token created only for The Deployer, and see Permissions & security.
Connect GitLab
You'll create a Personal Access Token with the api scope. That one scope lets The Deployer read your repositories and branches, commit readiness fixes you approve, and register the push-to-deploy webhook.
- Go to gitlab.com, click your avatar (top-left) → Edit profile → Access tokens.
- Click Add new token. Name it something you'll recognize, e.g.
The Deployer, and pick an expiry date. - Under Select scopes, tick
api. - Click Create personal access token and copy the token (it starts with
glpat-and is shown only once). - In The Deployer, open Connections → Git accounts → Add account, choose GitLab, paste the token, and click Connect & verify.
On success the card shows a verified badge and your GitLab username.
Connect Bitbucket
Bitbucket offers a couple of credential types; The Deployer supports the common ones:
- App password (or an Atlassian API token): create it, then enter it together with your Bitbucket username (for Atlassian API tokens, use your Atlassian account email) in the connection form.
- Access token (workspace, project or repository scoped): paste just the token and leave the username field empty.
To create an app password:
- Go to bitbucket.org, click your avatar → Personal Bitbucket settings → App passwords.
- Click Create app password, name it
The Deployer, and tick: Account: Read, Repositories: Read & Write, and Webhooks: Read & Write. - Copy the password (shown once).
- In The Deployer, open Connections → Git accounts → Add account, choose Bitbucket, paste the password, enter your username, and click Connect & verify.
Repositories: Write lets the readiness agent commit the fixes you approve (a Dockerfile, a health endpoint) to your branch. Webhooks lets pushes trigger automatic re-deploys.
Everything else works the same
Whichever host you choose:
- Project creation lists your repositories and branches from that account.
- Push-to-deploy is wired automatically: a webhook on your repository tells The Deployer about every push to the tracked branch, and a polling fallback covers setups where webhooks can't reach the backend. Pushes deploy on the Pro and Team plans; on Free, use Pull & Restart.
- Tokens are encrypted at rest, used by the deployment engine rather than placed in AI prompts, and can be viewed or replaced from the connection card — see Viewing & replacing your credentials.