/**
   * Retrieves all branches for the repository.
   * @returns {Promise<string[]>} An array of branch names.
   */
  async getRepoBranches() {
    if (!this.#validGitlabUrl() || !this.projectId) return [];
    await this.#validateAccessToken();
    this.branches = [];

    const branchesRequestData = {
      endpoint: `/api/v4/projects/${this.projectId}/repository/branches`,
    };

    let branchesPage = [];
    while ((branchesPage = await this.fetchNextPage(branchesRequestData))) {
      this.branches.push(...branchesPage.map((branch) => branch.name));
    }
    return this.#branchPrefSort(this.branches);
  }

    while ((branchesPage = await this.fetchNextPage(branchesRequestData))) {
      this.branches.push(...branchesPage.map((branch) => branch.name));
    }

  /**
   * Fetches the next page of data from the API.
   * @param {Object} requestData - The request data.
   * @returns {Promise<Array<Object>|null>} The next page of data, or null if no more pages.
   */
  async fetchNextPage(requestData) {
    try {
      if (requestData.page === -1) return null;
      if (!requestData.page) requestData.page = 1;

      const { endpoint, perPage = 100, queryParams = {} } = requestData;
      const params = new URLSearchParams({
        ...queryParams,
        per_page: perPage,
        page: requestData.page,
      });
      const url = `${this.apiBase}${endpoint}?${params.toString()}`;

      const response = await fetch(url, {
        method: "GET",
        headers: this.accessToken ? { "PRIVATE-TOKEN": this.accessToken } : {},
      });

      // Rate limits get hit very often if no PAT is provided
      if (response.status === 401) {
        console.warn(`Rate limit hit for ${endpoint}. Skipping.`);
        return null;
      }

      const totalPages = Number(response.headers.get("x-total-pages"));
      const data = await response.json();
      if (!Array.isArray(data)) {
        console.warn(`Unexpected response format for ${endpoint}:`, data);
        return [];
      }

      console.log(
        `Gitlab RepoLoader: fetched ${endpoint} page ${requestData.page}/${totalPages} with ${data.length} records.`
      );

      if (totalPages === requestData.page) {
        requestData.page = -1;
      } else {
        requestData.page = Number(response.headers.get("x-next-page"));
      }

      return data;
    } catch (e) {
      console.error(`RepoLoader.fetchNextPage`, e);
      return null;
    }
  }

      if (!Array.isArray(data)) {
        console.warn(`Unexpected response format for ${endpoint}:`, data);
        return [];
      }