From a38e03e5d15327ce6e19384579cf3b2ce2ed498e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ElaineDeMattosSilvaB <elaine.mattos@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 20:58:03 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] feat: allow empty commits

Signed-off-by: ElaineDeMattosSilvaB <elaine.mattos@gmail.com>
---
 .../actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.test.ts   | 21 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.ts    | 19 +++++++++++++++++
 .../src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.ts             |  8 +++++++
 3 files changed, 48 insertions(+)

diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.test.ts
index 25b6c89ae4..2a50ee9411 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.test.ts
@@ -181,4 +181,25 @@ describe('gitlab:repo:push', () => {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  describe('Push an empty commit to gitlab repository', () => {
+    it(`Should ${examples[3].description}`, async () => {
+      const input = yaml.parse(examples[3].example).steps[0].input;
+      mockDir.setContent({ [workspacePath]: {} });
+      const ctx = createMockActionContext({ input, workspacePath });
+      await instance.handler(ctx);
+
+      expect(mockGitlabClient.Commits.create).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'owner/repo',
+        'feature-branch',
+        'Initial Commit',
+        [],
+        { allowEmpty: true },
+      );
+      expect(ctx.output).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'commitHash',
+        'f8a2c9bd4e2915b0792b43235c779e82ddad54af',
+      );
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.ts
index 56a59f25bc..e43dbddb42 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.examples.ts
@@ -73,4 +73,23 @@ export const examples: TemplateExample[] = [
       ],
     }),
   },
+  {
+    description:
+      'Push an empty commit to gitlab repository (from GitLab 18.8+ on)',
+    example: yaml.stringify({
+      steps: [
+        {
+          id: 'pushChanges',
+          action: 'gitlab:repo:push',
+          name: 'Push empty commit to gitlab repository',
+          input: {
+            repoUrl: 'gitlab.com?repo=repo&owner=owner',
+            commitMessage: 'Initial Commit',
+            branchName: 'feature-branch',
+            allowEmpty: true,
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    }),
+  },
 ];
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.ts
index 24f2907041..1bf817aac8 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend-module-gitlab/src/actions/gitlabRepoPush.ts
@@ -83,6 +83,12 @@ export const createGitlabRepoPushAction = (options: {
                 'The action to be used for git commit. Defaults to create, but can be set to update or delete',
             })
             .optional(),
+        allowEmpty: z =>
+          z
+            .boolean({
+              description: 'Allow an empty commit to be created.',
+            })
+            .optional(),
       },
       output: {
         projectid: z =>
@@ -107,6 +113,7 @@ export const createGitlabRepoPushAction = (options: {
         sourcePath,
         token,
         commitAction,
+        allowEmpty,
       } = ctx.input;
 
       const { owner, repo, project } = parseRepoUrl(repoUrl, integrations);
@@ -217,6 +224,7 @@ export const createGitlabRepoPushAction = (options: {
               branchName,
               ctx.input.commitMessage,
               actions,
+              ...(allowEmpty !== undefined ? [{ allowEmpty } as object] : []),
             );
             return commit.id;
           },