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+# Authorization for Merge requests
+
+There are two main ways to have a merge request flow with GitLab:
+
+1. Working with [protected branches] in a single repository.
+1. Working with forks of an authoritative project.
+
+## Protected branch flow
+
+With the protected branch flow everybody works within the same GitLab project.
+
+The project maintainers get Master access and the regular developers get
+Developer access.
+
+The maintainers mark the authoritative branches as 'Protected'.
+
+The developers push feature branches to the project and create merge requests
+to have their feature branches reviewed and merged into one of the protected
+branches.
+
+By default, only users with Master access can merge changes into a protected
+branch.
+
+**Advantages**
+
+- Fewer projects means less clutter.
+- Developers need to consider only one remote repository.
+
+**Disadvantages**
+
+- Manual setup of protected branch required for each new project
+
+## Forking workflow
+
+With the forking workflow the maintainers get Master access and the regular
+developers get Reporter access to the authoritative repository, which prohibits
+them from pushing any changes to it.
+
+Developers create forks of the authoritative project and push their feature
+branches to their own forks.
+
+To get their changes into master they need to create a merge request across
+forks.
+
+**Advantages**
+
+- In an appropriately configured GitLab group, new projects automatically get
+  the required access restrictions for regular developers: fewer manual steps
+  to configure authorization for new projects.
+
+**Disadvantages**
+
+- The project need to keep their forks up to date, which requires more advanced
+  Git skills (managing multiple remotes).
+
+[protected branches]: ../protected_branches.md