Group

A namespace that holds projects, sub-groups, members, and group-level features (epics, iterations, audit events).

Source

app/models/group.rb plus dozens of concerns. EE adds heavily — group-scoped epics, scoped boards, SAML group sync, custom roles, security policies.

What groups own

• Sub-groups (children).
• Projects.
• Members and access requests.
• Labels, milestones, iterations.
• Wikis (EE).
• Epics (EE).
• Boards.
• Compliance frameworks (EE).
• Group access tokens (bot users).
• Group hooks.
• Audit events.
• SAML provider settings (EE).

Hierarchy

Groups can nest arbitrarily. Recursive CTE queries are used to walk ancestors and descendants efficiently. lib/gitlab/sql/recursive_cte.rb and Postgres helper functions back this.

Settings

namespace_settings (shared with namespaces) plus group-specific columns:

• 2FA enforcement.
• IP allow-list (EE).
• Default branch protection.
• Allowed email domains (EE).
• Merge methods (squash, fast-forward).

Inheritance of features

Features applied at a group level (like 2FA enforcement) cascade to descendants. The cascade is computed lazily in policies, not by mass-update.

Removal

Group deletion uses a "delayed deletion" period (EE for paid plans). The destroy service walks the tree and queues per-project destroy jobs.

Related

• Namespace.
• Project.
• Member.