About this archive
Origin
The CREDIT framework was created and used by GitLab Inc., which published it openly in its public company handbook. GitLab used these six values to define and protect its culture up until May 2026, after which the framework was retired. This page preserves it as a standalone reference.
Why the values were retired
In May 2026, GitLab set out a broader strategic and organisational shift, which the company framed as its "Act 2", centred on the rise of agentic AI in software development. As part of that shift, CREDIT was retired as the company's values framework and replaced with three new operating principles: Speed with Quality, Ownership Mindset, and Customer Outcomes, underpinned by what GitLab described as a culture of excellence.
In the announcement, GitLab was careful to say the values were not being retired because they were considered wrong. The reasoning given was that CREDIT had served the company's first chapter well (the period that grew it to its first billion in annual recurring revenue and carried it through its IPO), and that the next era simply called for a different operating posture, with many of the same underlying values still seen as relevant.
For GitLab's own account, see GitLab Act 2 (May 2026).
Why I made this archive
I joined GitLab in 2020, and the CREDIT values quickly became central to how I approached my work and worked with colleagues. In my experience the framework was remarkably effective. It helped produce a standout product, productive teams, and a vibrant culture, and it was a big part of the scaffolding that carried GitLab from a remote startup to a multi-billion-dollar public company. When the framework was retired in 2026, I wanted to keep an archive of the values for myself and for anyone else who found them useful. I'm sure others have made their own. This one is mine.
If you're building a company, I believe it's worth studying the CREDIT framework closely, and seriously considering whether to implement it yourself in pursuit of the same success, culture and vibrancy that GitLab did whilst this framework was in use.
What was changed from the original texts
The text is reproduced as closely as practical to the original, with one deliberate alteration: organisation-specific references were generalised. References to the company, its products, its tools, internal channels, named individuals, and outbound promotional links were removed or replaced with neutral equivalents, so the values read as a general-purpose framework. The structure, the value and sub-value names, and the substance of each definition are kept intact.
The original page also carried a per-value "competency" table mapping each value to seniority levels (junior through executive). Those were internal HR scaffolding rather than part of the values, so they are omitted here.
Attribution & licence
GitLab's handbook is published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). In keeping with that licence, this adaptation credits GitLab as the original source and is itself made available under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 terms.
Original source: handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/values.
An independent, generalised reproduction of a values framework. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners and are not reproduced here. Not affiliated with or endorsed by GitLab Inc.