diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/GitlabAPI.java b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/GitlabAPI.java
index c13de1af..cf24df74 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/GitlabAPI.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/GitlabAPI.java
@@ -1021,6 +1021,33 @@ public List<GitlabJob> getProjectJobs(Integer projectId) {
     }
 
 
+    /**
+     * Run pipeline for selected project and branch
+     * @param project project
+     * @param ref branch
+     * @param variables pipeline variables
+     * @return Created pipeline
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public GitlabPipeline runPipeline(GitlabProject project, String ref, List<GitlabBuildVariable> variables) throws IOException {
+        return runPipeline(project.getId(), ref, variables);
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Run pipeline for selected project and branch
+     * @param projectId project's id
+     * @param ref branch
+     * @param variables pipeline variables
+     * @return Created pipeline
+     * @throws IOException
+     */
+    public GitlabPipeline runPipeline(Integer projectId, String ref, List<GitlabBuildVariable> variables) throws IOException {
+        Query query = new Query().appendIf("ref", ref);
+        String tailUrl = GitlabProject.URL + "/" + sanitizeProjectId(projectId) + GitlabPipeline.CREATE_URL + query.toString();
+        return dispatch().with("variables", variables).to(tailUrl, GitlabPipeline.class);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets a list of project's jobs of the given pipeline in Gitlab
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabBuildVariable.java b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabBuildVariable.java
index e7e202f6..e26b9601 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabBuildVariable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabBuildVariable.java
@@ -14,6 +14,13 @@ public GitlabBuildVariable() {
     public GitlabBuildVariable(String key, String value) {
         this.key = key;
         this.value = value;
+        this.variableType = VariableType.env_var;
+    }
+
+    public GitlabBuildVariable(String key, String value, VariableType variableType) {
+        this.key = key;
+        this.value = value;
+        this.variableType = variableType;
     }
 
     @JsonProperty("key")
@@ -22,6 +29,9 @@ public GitlabBuildVariable(String key, String value) {
     @JsonProperty("value")
     private String value;
 
+    @JsonProperty("variable_type")
+    private VariableType variableType;
+
     public String getKey() {
         return key;
     }
@@ -37,4 +47,18 @@ public String getValue() {
     public void setValue(String value) {
         this.value = value;
     }
+
+    public VariableType getVariableType() {
+        return variableType;
+    }
+
+    public void setVariableType(VariableType variableType) {
+        this.variableType = variableType;
+    }
+
+    public enum VariableType {
+        env_var,
+        file
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabPipeline.java b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabPipeline.java
index fc92b1cd..c2f55b95 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabPipeline.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gitlab/api/models/GitlabPipeline.java
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
 public class GitlabPipeline {
     public static final String URL = "/pipelines";
 
+    public static final String CREATE_URL = "/pipeline";
+
+
     @JsonProperty("id")
     private Integer id;