GitLab git user password

It prompted me for password.

It shouldn't.
If you have the right public/private key representing a user authorized to access project-x, then gitlab won't ask you for anything.

But that supposes that ssh -vT [email protected] is working first.

I had this same problem when using a key of 4096 bits:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "GitLab" -b 4096
$ ssh -vT git@gitlabhost
...
debug1: Offering public key: /home/user/.ssh/id_rsa
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,password
debug1: Trying private key: /home/user/.ssh/id_dsa
debug1: Trying private key: /home/user/.ssh/id_ecdsa
debug1: Next authentication method: password
git@gitlabhost's password:
Connection closed by host

But with the 2048 bit key (the default size), ssh connects to gitlab without prompting for a password (after adding the new pub key to the user's gitlab ssh keys)

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa -C "GitLab"
$ ssh -vT git@gitlabhost
Welcome to GitLab, Joe User!

Not strictly related to the current scenario. Sometimes when you are prompted for password, it is because you added the wrong* origin format (HTTPS instead of SSH)

HTTP(S) protocol is commonly used for public repos with strong username+pass
SSH authentication is more common for internal projects where you can authenticate with a ssh-key-file and simple pass-phrase
GitLab users are more likely to use the SSH protocol

View your remote info with

git remote -v

If you see HTTP(S) address, this is the command to change it to SSH:

git remote set-url origin [email protected]_domain.com/example-project.git

The Solution from https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlab-shell/issues/46 worked for me.

By setting the permissions:

chmod 700 /home/git/.ssh
chmod 600 /home/git/.ssh/authorized_keys

password prompt disappears.