GitLab Communication Chat

Introduction

At GitLab, Slack is critical to our communication with each other. While it enables real-time communication, we also are careful to remain true to our asynchronous mindset, suggesting that GitLab team-members set “do not disturb” and not expect real-time answers from others all the time.

There are groups of channels that can help with various areas of GitLab. This page speaks to a few subsets of those channel groups.

Search for channels using either the Search GitLab toolbar, using a channel name with the #channel-name format, or go the left sidebar, click on More and then Channel browser.

Channels

Key Slack channels

The alphabetically sorted starter list below spotlights a few of GitLab’s many Slack channels in an effort to provide guidance to team members regarding the best places to ask specific questions and/or engage in discussion on a variety of topics. See Slack’s Help Center for instructions on browsing all available channels.

Channel Purpose
#company-fyi Official company announcements, restricted permission levels to ensure high-signal; all GitLab team members are automatically added to this channel.
#whats-happening-at-gitlab Open to all team members for unofficial updates which are important and/or useful to most or all of GitLab, including reminders, events, project updates, etc.; all GitLab team members are automatically added to this channel.
#diversity_inclusion_and_belonging Stay up to date on GitLabโ€™s latest Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging initiatives and share feedback and thoughts about how we can make our environment even more inclusive.
#expense-reporting-inquiries For questions pertaining to expenses (e.g. Expensify).
#git-help Specific questions about using Git in the terminal.
#is-this-known Get help in finding existing issues for existing problems.
#it_help Create a Help Request in this channel should you have any IT general questions or trouble with setup (e.g. 2FA, accounts, etc.).
#mr-buddies For any questions regarding merge requests.
#new_team_members For new GitLab team members to introduce themselves to the company and for existing team members to share updates with new hires.
#new-vacancies For all GitLab team members to be aware of internal opportunities, as well as all job openings as they are listed. Please review the referral process page to find out more about referring someone for a role.
#payroll For questions pertaining to payroll and contractor invoices (e.g. ADP, etc.).
#people-connect For general People Ops questions (e.g. onboarding, offboarding, team meetings, etc.). Also for anything related to compensation, benefits, or equity. You can also check out the Total Rewards issue tracker and handbook page!
#safe SAFE
#security Security
#talent-acquisition For questions about referrals, the hiring process, and/or candidate status.
#team-member-updates To stay updated on transitions/promotions, new GitLab team members joining, work anniversaries, etc.

General Channels

{: #random-room}

There are a lot of general channels, just to name a few:

  • #questions: Ask all of GitLab for help with any question you have… and then go document it after you find the answer :)
  • #thanks: Where GitLab team-members can say thanks to those GitLab team-members who did a great job, helped a customer, or helped you! Also where managers recoginze discretionary bonuses for their teams.
  • #office-today: GitLab is an all-remote organization. Whereโ€™s your office today?
  • #remote: To share news, thoughts, feedback and anything else pertaining to remote work! Learn more about GitLab’s approach to remote work
  • #travel: A place to discuss all things travel
  • #women: Employee resource group for members and allies.
  • #values: Channel to discuss iterations on GitLab values
  • #random: Socialize and share random snippets with your fellow GitLab team-members.

Getting in touch with the e-group

To get in touch with the e-group on Slack, you can use the following channels. When in doubt, you can use the general #e-group channel to reach out to the entire group.

Member Channel
CEO #ceo
CFO #finance
CProdO #product
CTO #cto
CRO #cro
CMO #cmo
CPO #cpo
CLO #legal
CISO #ciso

Team Channels

To raise an issue with a specific team, please use below most commonly used channels;

  • #people-connect: For general People Operations tasks such us onboarding, offboarding, letter of employment, Team calender events management etc
  • #it-help: For IT related queries, Okta, issues with hardware, software, system access requests and user permissions etc
  • #payroll_expenses: For Navan Expense issues, delayed reimbursements and salaries, payslips, etc
  • #talent acquisition: For referrals based questions, candidate alignments, general talent acquisition etc
  • #total-rewards: For general questions on Total Rewards including compensation, benefits, and equity

Channel Categories

Account Channels (a_)

These channels (prefixed with a a_) are for team members to collaborate and communicate regarding the account for a customer organization. Depending on the customer, they are sometimes internal, marked as private or we shared with the customer by connecting to customer’s own Slack workspace. In order to clearly differentiate between these shared and internal channels, we recommend using a_XYZ-internal and a_XYZ-external naming conventions to be explicitly clear (as the shared symbol can be easily missed in Slack).

To request a new channel or to make changes to existing channels, please use the access request process.

Commercial (Mid-Market and SMB) accounts have specific guidelines around having Slack channels with customers.

Feature Channels (f_)

These channels are for teams and GitLab team-members interested in a specific feature that exists in GitLab or is being built today!

Examples

Group Channels (g_)

Group channels (prefixed with a g_) correspond to a DevOps Stage group and other engineering departments and teams.

Example

Location Channels (loc_)

These channels are used to help GitLab team-members who are in the same general region of the world to talk about get-togethers and other location-specific items. They are also instrumental if you’re going to be visiting somewhere else in the world - there might be a GitLab team-member or two nearby! Feel free to join the channel temporarily to chat with GitLab team-members who live there, and see if there is an opportunity to leverage the visiting grant to add value to your trip.

If there’s a channel not listed below, please add in alphabetical order with an MR.

Channel Name Description
#loc_4corners people that live in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico for meet-ups
#loc_adelaide For the growing team presence in Adelaide, South Australia!
#loc_africa ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ด๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ผ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ถ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ…
#loc_alberta Locals to Alberta, Canada
#loc_amsterdam Amsterdam location-specific channel
#loc_annapolis
#loc_arizona Discussion / Intro / Meetup for people in Arizona, USA
#loc_atl House channel for greater Atlanta area
#loc_atx Austin, Texas!
#loc_australia Australia Specific Chat
#loc_austria A channel around the beautiful city of Vienna, come and visit us!
#loc_avl Asheville, North Carolina ๐Ÿ‚๐Ÿ”๏ธ๐Ÿ‚
#loc_bali Channel for those traveling to Bali in 2022.
#loc_bayarea House channel for Mountain View.
#loc_bc
#loc_belgium ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿบ๐Ÿซ๐ŸŸ
#loc_berlin All things going on in Berlin, Germany. We are regularly meeting up on the 3rd Thursday of the Month.
#loc_bochum For all folks from Bochum, Germany. โ› https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtd9Bg9S85U
#loc_brisbane Discuss all the Brisbane things
#loc_canada All things Canada ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
#loc_cencoastca Connecting those living or passing through the Central Coast of California
#loc_chennai
#loc_cincy
#loc_clt For those who live in/near (or visit) the Charlotte, NC, USA area!
#loc_czech ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ living in or visiting Czech Republic?
#loc_dallas
#loc_delaware delaWHERE?
#loc_delhi_ncr
#loc_denmark
#loc_denver All things Denver, CO and surrounding areas!
#loc_digital-nomad Anyone else living the digital nomad life? Maybe let’s find spots to travel together! Share your travel plans if you’d like and make connections abroad ๐Ÿ™‚
#loc_dmv for people in and around DC, Maryland, Virginia
#loc_dontmesswithtexas
#loc_egypt ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Masr Heya Ommy ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ
#loc_hamburg Local channel for Hamburg, Germany
#loc_hawaii For people traveling to, or living in Hawaii
#loc_houston
#loc_hungary For folks living in or visiting Hungary
#loc_iceland GitLab team members in Iceland
#loc_india Indians at GitLab
#loc_indianapolis Local Indiana/Indianapolis GitLab team members
#loc_ireland
#loc_israel Sync Locally for GitLab team members in Israel
#loc_italy
#loc_japan
#loc_kansas-city Channel for KC GitLabbers
#loc_kerala Anything about Kerala
#loc_korea
#loc_ky Location: Kentucky - Georgetown, Lexington, and Versailles
#loc_leipzig NY Times list of places to visit in 2020: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/travel/places-to-visit.html?place=leipzig
#loc_lille
#loc_london-uk London meetups!
#loc_manchester Channel for GitLab team members from Manchester (UK) and itโ€™s surrounding areas
#loc_mars Being optimistic
#loc_melbourne
#loc_mexico For people living/visiting Mexico ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ
#loc_michigan All Things “Great Lakes State”
#loc_minnesota
#loc_montreal
#loc_moscow
#loc_mt Montana GitLab Team Members
#loc_munich As of today none of us seems to be living in Munich. But there are Meetups and Events and maybe also occasions to meet in Munich for some co-working. Here we can team up.
#loc_n-ireland N.Ireland slack channel, so it is
#loc_nashville Nashvillians Unite!
#loc_newengland Channel for those located in New England
#loc_nigeria
#loc_noco_aka_loconoco Connect GitLab team members who are in Boulder, Larimer and Weld Counties of Northern Colorado
#loc_nyc Coordinate NYC-area coworking days and other events. Let us know if you’re coming to town, and see our visitors doc! ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ—ฝ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aTW4P0V44S9hBppStCOVl3bfLq6qW6hoJFW_Er6HOdA/
#loc_nz ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ For those visiting, living in or interested in Aotearoa New Zealand. Also half of #loc_australia is in here too. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VijZowFu8WpyV17MtRtrvz1GUqw9Y5Bcf-OkUOEU774/edit
#loc_ottawa
#loc_pdx For GitLab team members in/around Portland Oregon
#loc_perth Join us (me) for enthralling (adequate) Perth, Australia conversation
#loc_philadelphia Philly local items/discussion/events
#loc_philippines
#loc_pittsburgh A city of bridges, 3 rivers and fries on top of salads
#loc_pnw For GitLab team members living in or visiting the Pacific Northwest (Cascadia): Washington, Oregon, and BC (Canada), includes Seattle and Portland.
#loc_portugal For anyone living or visiting Portugal ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น
#loc_qld Queeeeeeeenslander!
#loc_quebec All things Quebec โšœ๏ธ
#loc_ratingen I guess it’s just me
#loc_rdu For those who live or visit the Raleigh Durham area in North Carolina, U.S.A.
#loc_romania ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด
#loc_russia
#loc_sacramento_reno Visiting Sacramento, Roseville, Folsom, Elk Grove, Rocklin, Reno or even Tahoe? For GitLab team members based in the area and anyone who is visiting
#loc_sanantonio Channel for San Antonio GitLab Team Members
#loc_sask Saskatchewan (Canada) folks.
#loc_sc For GitLab team members living in South Carolina.
#loc_scotland Aye
#loc_serbia
#loc_singapore
#loc_slovenia
#loc_socal ๐ŸŒด๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
#loc_south_africa Mzanzi! ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ
#loc_south_east_asia Chat for people staying / visiting ASEAN
#loc_spain
#loc_switzerland Everything Switzerland ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ
#loc_sydney
#loc_taiwan
#loc_tn Tennessee!
#loc_tokyo Location: Tokyo, Japan
#loc_toronto This is a channel for the Toronto team members.
#loc_turkey This is a slack channel for Turkey
#loc_uk For folks living, visiting, or interested in the United Kingdom
#loc_us_mid-atlantic US Mid-Atlantic states
#loc_vegas Are you visiting Vegas soon for fun or a conference? Connect with Vegas locals here for coffee meet-ups or recommendations!
#loc_vermont For our sole Vermonter โค๏ธ
#loc_wales ๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ - Come to discuss dragons, Brains ๐Ÿบ and rain ๐ŸŒง
#loc_yugoslavia whatever you wish
#loc-budapest For those who love, live and work in Budapest
#loc-chicagoland To connect folks in the Chicagoland area of the U.S.
#loc-costa-rica
#loc-dublin Connection with the Dublin team
#loc-latam For all team members from Latam , rest of the world welcome as well
#loc-midwest-u-s To connect with GitLab team members in the Midwest region of the U.S.
#loc-utah
#loc-west-lafayette West Lafayette, IN GitLab team members
#locnewyork
#loc_usa General channel for USA

Project Channels (proj_)

These channels are temporary and used to focus communication around a specific project. As an ephemeral channel they are archived once a project is complete and can be found in Slack by searching for proj_

Working Group Channels (wg_)

These channels are temporary and used to focus communication around a specific working group. As an ephemeral channel they are archived once the working group’s exit criteria is met and can be found in Slack by searching for wg_

Stage Channels (s_)

Stage channels (prefixed with s_) correspond to stages within sub-departments.

Examples

Sub-Department Channels (sd_)

Sub-department channels (prefixed with sd_) correspond to sub-departments within departments.

Example

Social Groups

In addition to weekly company group calls that bring us together, GitLab has Social Slack Groups. Social Groups are Slack channels that bring team members together around common interests, hobbies, and lifestyles. Think tennis club, gaming, shell collectors, movie buffs, faith groups, football. You can see a list of Social Slack Groups and their tags below. Feel free to join any that resonate with you. This is a non-exhaustive list, but if you don’t see a group you’d love to see on the list, reach out to our diversity, inclusion and belonging team and we’d love to explore your idea.

Examples:

  • #all-caps: Light-hearted conversation in ALL CAPS.
  • #bookclub: A place for bibliophiles to connect, share recommendations and discuss their latest reads.
  • #cats, #dog, #cute-animal-photos: Show us your cutest pics of your pets! We love all pets, but we made special channels for cats and dog(s).
  • #cheerleader: When you need or want to share encouragement and support!
  • #cooking: Share your favorite recipes, and brag about your homemade dishes.
  • #dad_jokes: Self-explanatory really, give us your best dad jokes!
  • #emilys: For all the Emily/ie/ia/ees at GitLab.
  • #fitlab: Channel to discuss fitness and related topics.
  • #gaming: Discuss gaming (both tabletop and video). We also have a Discord linked in the topic.
  • #i-made-this: Did you make a thing? Or are you in the process of making a thing? Whatever it is, tell us about it and post a photo!
  • #office-today: Whereโ€™s your office today? Share a photo or use words to describe it.
  • #lego: Build, inspire, play. Share your builds and invite your children.
  • #lgbtq: Space for LGBTQ people and allies in GitLab to chat and support each other.
  • #managers: Share ideas, thoughts, and issues on all things to do with being a manager at GitLab.
  • #mental_health_aware: Mental health is super important and we realize that. This is a place to discuss concerns you might be having or find someone to talk to if you’re feeling alone. We aim to be supportive and available for all who need it.
  • #music: Share your current playlist or any interesting music you come across.
  • #postcrossing: Send team members postcards from your home cities, towns and villages from around the world.

Security & Compliance

On a quarterly basis, all users will be logged out of Slack and will need to re-authenticate on all of their devices via Okta.