---
stage: Create
group: Code Review
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
type: reference
---

# Issue closing pattern **(FREE SELF)**

NOTE:
This is the administration documentation. There is a separate [user documentation](../user/project/issues/managing_issues.md#closing-issues-automatically)
on issue closing pattern.

When a commit or merge request resolves one or more issues, it is possible to
automatically close these issues when the commit or merge request lands
in the project's default branch.

## Change the issue closing pattern

To change the pattern, you must have access to the server that GitLab
is installed on.

The default pattern can be located in [`gitlab.yml.example`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/config/gitlab.yml.example)
under the "Automatic issue closing" section.

NOTE:
You are advised to use <https://rubular.com> to test the issue closing pattern.
Because Rubular doesn't understand `%{issue_ref}`, you can replace this by
`#\d+` when testing your patterns, which matches only local issue references like `#123`.

**For Omnibus installations**

1. Open `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` with your editor.
1. Change the value of `gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern']` to a regular
   expression of your liking:

   ```ruby
   gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_closing_pattern'] = /\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?|\b[Rr]esolv(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ii]mplement(?:s|ed|ing)?)(:?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?: *,? +and +| *,? *)?)|([A-Z][A-Z0-9_]+-\d+))+)/.source
   ```

1. [Reconfigure](restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure) GitLab for the changes to take effect.

**For installations from source**

1. Open `gitlab.yml` with your editor.
1. Change the value of `issue_closing_pattern`:

   ```yaml
   issue_closing_pattern: "\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?|\b[Rr]esolv(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ii]mplement(?:s|ed|ing)?)(:?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?: *,? +and +| *,? *)?)|([A-Z][A-Z0-9_]+-\d+))+)"
   ```

1. [Restart](restart_gitlab.md#installations-from-source) GitLab for the changes to take effect.