Since GitLab 9.0, when you click the `New branch` in an empty repository project, GitLab automatically creates the master branch, commits a blank `README.md` file to it and creates and redirects you to a new branch based on the issue title.
If your [project is already configured with a deployment service][project-services-doc] (e.g. Kubernetes), GitLab takes one step further and prompts you to set up [auto deploy][auto-deploy-doc] by helping you create a `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.