diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.examples.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.examples.ts
index ac259866e3..c010042701 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.examples.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.examples.ts
@@ -68,4 +68,25 @@ export const examples: TemplateExample[] = [
       ],
     }),
   },
+  {
+    description: 'Initializes a git repository with additional settings.',
+    example: yaml.stringify({
+      steps: [
+        {
+          id: 'publish',
+          action: 'publish:gitlab',
+          name: 'Publish to GitLab',
+          input: {
+            repoUrl: 'gitlab.com?repo=project_name&owner=group_name',
+            settings: {
+              ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
+              visibility: 'public',
+              initialize_with_readme: true,
+              default_branch: 'main',
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    }),
+  },
 ];
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
index 994d1c580a..53b525a6bf 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.test.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,26 @@ describe('publish:gitlab', () => {
     input: {
       repoUrl: 'gitlab.com?repo=repo&owner=owner',
       repoVisibility: 'private' as const,
+      settings: {
+        ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
+      },
+    },
+    workspacePath: 'lol',
+    logger: getVoidLogger(),
+    logStream: new PassThrough(),
+    output: jest.fn(),
+    createTemporaryDirectory: jest.fn(),
+  };
+  const mockContextWithOptions = {
+    input: {
+      repoUrl: 'gitlab.com?repo=repo&owner=owner',
+      repoVisibility: 'private' as const,
+      topics: ['topic'],
+      settings: {
+        ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
+        visibility: 'internal',
+        topics: ['topic1', 'topic2'],
+      },
     },
     workspacePath: 'lol',
     logger: getVoidLogger(),
@@ -162,6 +182,7 @@ describe('publish:gitlab', () => {
       namespace_id: 1234,
       name: 'repo',
       visibility: 'private',
+      ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
     });
   });
 
@@ -179,6 +200,26 @@ describe('publish:gitlab', () => {
       namespace_id: 12345,
       name: 'repo',
       visibility: 'private',
+      ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('should call the correct Gitlab APIs when using project options with override of visibility and topics', async () => {
+    mockGitlabClient.Users.current.mockResolvedValue({ id: 12345 });
+    mockGitlabClient.Namespaces.show.mockResolvedValue({ id: 1234 });
+    mockGitlabClient.Projects.create.mockResolvedValue({
+      http_url_to_repo: 'http://mockurl.git',
+    });
+
+    await action.handler(mockContextWithOptions);
+
+    expect(mockGitlabClient.Namespaces.show).toHaveBeenCalledWith('owner');
+    expect(mockGitlabClient.Projects.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      namespace_id: 1234,
+      name: 'repo',
+      visibility: 'internal',
+      topics: ['topic1', 'topic2'],
+      ci_config_path: '.gitlab-ci.yml',
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
index dbab7b11b8..302d006e05 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/gitlab.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
   return createTemplateAction<{
     repoUrl: string;
     defaultBranch?: string;
+    /** @deprecated in favour of settings field */
     repoVisibility?: 'private' | 'internal' | 'public';
     sourcePath?: string;
     token?: string;
@@ -45,7 +46,9 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
     gitAuthorName?: string;
     gitAuthorEmail?: string;
     setUserAsOwner?: boolean;
+    /** @deprecated in favour of settings field */
     topics?: string[];
+    settings?: Record<string, any>;
   }>({
     id: 'publish:gitlab',
     description:
@@ -63,6 +66,7 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
           },
           repoVisibility: {
             title: 'Repository Visibility',
+            description: `Sets the visibility of the repository. The default value is 'private'. (deprecated, use settings instead)`,
             type: 'string',
             enum: ['private', 'public', 'internal'],
           },
@@ -105,12 +109,19 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
           },
           topics: {
             title: 'Topic labels',
-            description: 'Topic labels to apply on the repository.',
+            description:
+              'Topic labels to apply on the repository. (deprecated, use settings instead)',
             type: 'array',
             items: {
               type: 'string',
             },
           },
+          settings: {
+            title: 'Project settings',
+            description:
+              'Additional project settings, based on https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/projects.html#create-project attributes',
+            type: 'object',
+          },
         },
       },
       output: {
@@ -145,6 +156,7 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
         gitAuthorEmail,
         setUserAsOwner = false,
         topics = [],
+        settings = {},
       } = ctx.input;
       const { owner, repo, host } = parseRepoUrl(repoUrl, integrations);
 
@@ -191,6 +203,7 @@ export function createPublishGitlabAction(options: {
         name: repo,
         visibility: repoVisibility,
         ...(topics.length ? { topics } : {}),
+        ...(Object.keys(settings).length ? { ...settings } : {}),
       });
 
       // When setUserAsOwner is true the input token is expected to come from an unprivileged user GitLab