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

# Instance template repository **(PREMIUM SELF)**

> - [Improved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/52360) to behave like group-level templates in GitLab 13.9.
> - [Feature flag removed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/321247) in GitLab 14.0.

In hosted systems, enterprises often have a need to share their own templates
across teams. This feature allows an administrator to pick a project to be the
instance-wide collection of file templates. These templates are then exposed to
all users through the [Web Editor](../../user/project/repository/web_editor.md)
while the project remains secure.

## Configuration

To select a project to serve as the custom template repository:

1. On the left sidebar, at the bottom, select **Admin Area**.
1. Select **Settings > Templates**.
1. Expand **Templates**
1. From the dropdown list, select the project to use as the template repository.
1. Select **Save changes**.
1. Add custom templates to the selected repository.

After you add templates, you can use them for the entire instance.
They are available in the [Web Editor](../../user/project/repository/web_editor.md)
and through the [API settings](../../api/settings.md).

These templates cannot be used as a value of the
[`include:template`](../../ci/yaml/index.md#includetemplate) key in `.gitlab-ci.yml`.

## Supported file types and locations

Templates must be added to a specific subdirectory in the repository,
corresponding to the kind of template. The following types of custom templates
are supported:

| Type                    | Directory            | Extension     |
| :---------------:       | :-----------:        | :-----------: |
| `Dockerfile`            | `Dockerfile`         | `.dockerfile` |
| `.gitignore`            | `gitignore`          | `.gitignore`  |
| `.gitlab-ci.yml`        | `gitlab-ci`          | `.yml`        |
| `LICENSE`               | `LICENSE`            | `.txt`        |

Each template must go in its respective subdirectory, have the correct
extension and not be empty. So, the hierarchy should look like this:

```plaintext
|-- README.md
|-- Dockerfile
    |-- custom_dockerfile.dockerfile
    |-- another_dockerfile.dockerfile
|-- gitignore
    |-- custom_gitignore.gitignore
    |-- another_gitignore.gitignore
|-- gitlab-ci
    |-- custom_gitlab-ci.yml
    |-- another_gitlab-ci.yml
|-- LICENSE
    |-- custom_license.txt
    |-- another_license.txt
```

Your custom templates are displayed on the dropdown list when a new file is added through the GitLab UI:

![Custom template dropdown list](img/file_template_user_dropdown.png)

If this feature is disabled or no templates are present,
no **Custom** section displays in the selection dropdown.

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