How to fix remote: GitLab: You are not allowed to push code to protected branches on this project in Git

The intended workflow for protected branches is to use merge requests:

# Create a feature branch from main
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git checkout -b feature/your-changes

# Make your changes and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Add your changes"

# Push the feature branch
git push -u origin feature/your-changes

Then create a merge request in GitLab:
1. Go to your project in GitLab
2. Click Code > Merge requests > New merge request
3. Select your feature branch as source and the protected branch as target
4. Fill in the title and description
5. Click Create merge request

This allows code review and CI/CD checks before merging.

Verify your current role and permissions:

1. Go to your project in GitLab
2. Navigate to Settings > Members (or Project information > Members)
3. Find your username and check your role:
- Guest: No push access
- Reporter: No push access
- Developer: Can push to unprotected branches, limited protected branch access
- Maintainer: Can push to most protected branches
- Owner: Full access

If you need elevated access, ask a project Maintainer or Owner to change your role.

If you have Maintainer access, check the branch protection rules:

1. Go to Settings > Repository
2. Expand Protected branches
3. Find the branch (e.g., main) and check:
- Allowed to merge: Who can merge MRs into this branch
- Allowed to push and merge: Who can push directly
- Allowed to force push: Whether force push is permitted

To allow Developers to push directly (if appropriate):
1. Click the branch name or edit icon
2. Under "Allowed to push and merge", select "Developers + Maintainers"
3. Click Protect

Warning: Allowing direct pushes reduces code review protection.

If a CI/CD pipeline needs to push to protected branches:

Option 1: Enable CI_JOB_TOKEN for protected branches

1. Go to Settings > CI/CD
2. Expand Token Access
3. Ensure the job token has appropriate scope

Option 2: Use a Project Access Token

1. Go to Settings > Access Tokens
2. Create a new token with:
- Name: "CI Push Token"
- Role: Maintainer
- Scopes: write_repository
3. Add the token as a CI/CD variable (e.g., PUSH_TOKEN)
4. Update your .gitlab-ci.yml:

push_changes:
  script:
    - git remote set-url origin "https://oauth2:${PUSH_TOKEN}@gitlab.com/${CI_PROJECT_PATH}.git"
    - git push origin main

Option 3: Use a Deploy Key with write access

1. Generate an SSH key pair
2. Go to Settings > Repository > Deploy keys
3. Add the public key and check "Grant write permissions"
4. Configure your CI to use the private key

For users who need direct push access (use sparingly):

1. Go to Settings > Repository > Protected branches
2. Find your protected branch
3. Under "Allowed to push and merge", you can:
- Select specific users from the dropdown
- Add specific groups
- Use "Maintainers" or "Developers + Maintainers"

In GitLab Premium/Ultimate, you can also:
- Require code owner approval
- Set up push rules for content validation
- Configure protected branches at the group level

If you need to force push (rebase, amend) to a protected branch:

Option 1: Allow force push (if appropriate)

1. Go to Settings > Repository > Protected branches
2. Edit the branch
3. Toggle "Allowed to force push" if available
4. Note: This is only available for certain roles and may require Premium

Option 2: Use the GitLab UI to rewrite history

For simple cases, use GitLab's UI to squash commits during merge.

Option 3: Create a new branch and replace

# Create a corrected branch
git checkout main
git pull
git checkout -b main-fixed
# Make your corrections
git push origin main-fixed

Then have a Maintainer delete and recreate the protected branch (extreme measure).

Best Practice: Avoid force pushing to protected branches. Use merge request squash options instead.