Gitlab runner automatically masks certain CI/CD variables (on protected branch pipelines), that looks like UUIDs (like “79c14111-6272-4222-ba15-0abbb96efbc2”) to prevent accidental exposure of sensitive data.

I have a problem that I can’t use a variable, because it’s being tuned into string [MASKED]

The “masked” checkbox in GitLab’s settings for this variable is not checked.

Example:

job in .gitlab-ci.yml:

Build an App:
  stage: build
  script: 
     - build_app

In the build_app script:

app_store_connect_api_key(
   app_id: ENV['APP_ID'],
)

The app_store_connect_api_key function fails because ENV['APP_ID'] returns [MASKED] instead of the actual value.