diff --git a/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py b/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/bitbucket/lister.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 class BitBucketLister(SWHIndexingHttpLister):
     PATH_TEMPLATE = '/repositories?after=%s'
     MODEL = BitBucketModel
+    LISTER_NAME = 'bitbucket.com'
 
     def get_model_from_repo(self, repo):
         return {
diff --git a/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py b/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/bitbucket/tasks.py
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@
 
 class BitBucketListerTask(ListerTaskBase):
     def new_lister(self):
-        return BitBucketLister(lister_name='bitbucket.com',
-                               api_baseurl='https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0')
+        return BitBucketLister(api_baseurl='https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0')
 
 
 class IncrementalBitBucketLister(BitBucketListerTask,
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py b/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/indexing_lister.py
@@ -205,8 +205,6 @@
 class SWHIndexingHttpLister(SWHListerHttpTransport, SWHIndexingLister):
     """Convenience class for ensuring right lookup and init order
         when combining SWHIndexingLister and SWHListerHttpTransport."""
-    def __init__(self, lister_name=None, api_baseurl=None,
-                 override_config=None):
+    def __init__(self, api_baseurl=None, override_config=None):
         SWHListerHttpTransport.__init__(self, api_baseurl=api_baseurl)
-        SWHIndexingLister.__init__(self, lister_name=lister_name,
-                                   override_config=override_config)
+        SWHIndexingLister.__init__(self, override_config=override_config)
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/lister_base.py b/swh/lister/core/lister_base.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/lister_base.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/lister_base.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
     MODEL = AbstractAttribute('Subclass type (not instance)'
                               ' of swh.lister.core.models.ModelBase'
                               ' customized for a specific service.')
+    LISTER_NAME = AbstractAttribute("Lister's name")
 
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def transport_request(self, identifier):
@@ -199,30 +200,27 @@
 
     @property
     def CONFIG_BASE_FILENAME(self):  # noqa: N802
-        return 'lister-%s' % self.lister_name
+        return 'lister-%s' % self.LISTER_NAME
 
     @property
     def ADDITIONAL_CONFIG(self):  # noqa: N802
         return {
             'lister_db_url':
-                ('str', 'postgresql:///lister-%s' % self.lister_name),
+                ('str', 'postgresql:///lister-%s' % self.LISTER_NAME),
             'credentials':
                 ('list[dict]', []),
             'cache_responses':
                 ('bool', False),
             'cache_dir':
-                ('str', '~/.cache/swh/lister/%s' % self.lister_name),
+                ('str', '~/.cache/swh/lister/%s' % self.LISTER_NAME),
         }
 
     INITIAL_BACKOFF = 10
     MAX_RETRIES = 7
     CONN_SLEEP = 10
 
-    def __init__(self, lister_name=None, override_config=None):
+    def __init__(self, override_config=None):
         self.backoff = self.INITIAL_BACKOFF
-        if lister_name is None:
-            raise NameError("Every lister must be assigned a lister_name.")
-        self.lister_name = lister_name  # 'github?', 'bitbucket?', 'foo.com?'
         self.config = self.parse_config_file(
             base_filename=self.CONFIG_BASE_FILENAME,
             additional_configs=[self.ADDITIONAL_CONFIG]
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/paging_lister.py b/swh/lister/core/paging_lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/paging_lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/paging_lister.py
@@ -131,8 +131,6 @@
        combining SWHPagingLister and SWHListerHttpTransport.
 
     """
-    def __init__(self, lister_name=None, api_baseurl=None,
-                 override_config=None):
+    def __init__(self, api_baseurl=None, override_config=None):
         SWHListerHttpTransport.__init__(self, api_baseurl=api_baseurl)
-        SWHPagingLister.__init__(self, lister_name=lister_name,
-                                 override_config=override_config)
+        SWHPagingLister.__init__(self, override_config=override_config)
diff --git a/swh/lister/core/tests/test_lister.py b/swh/lister/core/tests/test_lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/core/tests/test_lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/core/tests/test_lister.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     first_index = AbstractAttribute('First index in good_api_response')
     last_index = AbstractAttribute('Last index in good_api_response')
     entries_per_page = AbstractAttribute('Number of results in good response')
+    LISTER_NAME = 'fake-lister'
 
     # May need to override this if the headers are used for something
     def response_headers(self, request):
@@ -109,8 +110,7 @@
             with patch(
                 'swh.scheduler.backend.SchedulerBackend.reconnect', noop
             ):
-                self.fl = self.Lister(lister_name='fakelister',
-                                      api_baseurl='https://fakeurl',
+                self.fl = self.Lister(api_baseurl='https://fakeurl',
                                       override_config=override_config)
                 self.fl.INITIAL_BACKOFF = 1
 
diff --git a/swh/lister/debian/lister.py b/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@
 class DebianLister(SWHListerHttpTransport, SWHListerBase):
     MODEL = Package
     PATH_TEMPLATE = None
+    LISTER_NAME = 'debian'
 
     def __init__(self, override_config=None):
         SWHListerHttpTransport.__init__(self, api_baseurl="bogus")
-        SWHListerBase.__init__(self, lister_name='debian',
-                               override_config=override_config)
+        SWHListerBase.__init__(self, override_config=override_config)
 
     def transport_request(self, identifier):
         """Subvert SWHListerHttpTransport.transport_request, to try several
diff --git a/swh/lister/github/lister.py b/swh/lister/github/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/github/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/github/lister.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
     PATH_TEMPLATE = '/repositories?since=%d'
     MODEL = GitHubModel
     API_URL_INDEX_RE = re.compile(r'^.*/repositories\?since=(\d+)')
+    LISTER_NAME = 'github.com'
 
     def get_model_from_repo(self, repo):
         return {
diff --git a/swh/lister/github/tasks.py b/swh/lister/github/tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/github/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/github/tasks.py
@@ -11,8 +11,7 @@
 
 class GitHubListerTask(ListerTaskBase):
     def new_lister(self):
-        return GitHubLister(lister_name='github.com',
-                            api_baseurl='https://api.github.com')
+        return GitHubLister(api_baseurl='https://api.github.com')
 
 
 class IncrementalGitHubLister(GitHubListerTask, IndexingDiscoveryListerTask):
diff --git a/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py b/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/gitlab/lister.py
@@ -15,14 +15,14 @@
     PATH_TEMPLATE = '/projects?page=%d&order_by=id&sort=asc&simple=true'
     API_URL_INDEX_RE = re.compile(r'^.*/projects.*page=(\d+).*')
     MODEL = GitLabModel
+    LISTER_NAME = 'gitlab'
 
-    @property
-    def CONFIG_BASE_FILENAME(self):
-        """One gitlab lister for all instances.  We discriminate between the
-        origin on a per instance basis in the table.
-
-        """
-        return 'lister-gitlab'
+    def __init__(self, api_baseurl=None, instance=None,
+                 override_config=None, sort='asc'):
+        super().__init__(api_baseurl=api_baseurl,
+                         override_config=override_config)
+        self.instance = instance
+        self.PATH_TEMPLATE = '%s&sort=%s' % (self.PATH_TEMPLATE, sort)
 
     @property
     def ADDITIONAL_CONFIG(self):
@@ -32,16 +32,10 @@
            cf. request_params method below
 
         """
-        return {
-            'lister_db_url':
-                ('str', 'postgresql:///lister-gitlab'),
-            'credentials':  # credentials is a dict
-                ('dict', {}),
-            'cache_responses':
-                ('bool', False),
-            'cache_dir':
-                ('str', '~/.cache/swh/lister/%s' % self.lister_name),
-        }
+        default_config = super().ADDITIONAL_CONFIG
+        # 'credentials' is a dict of (instance, {username, password}) dict
+        default_config['credentials'] = ('dict', {})
+        return default_config
 
     def request_params(self, identifier):
         """Get the full parameters passed to requests given the
@@ -67,7 +61,7 @@
         # Retrieve the credentials per instance
         creds = self.config['credentials']
         if creds:
-            creds_lister = creds[self.lister_name]
+            creds_lister = creds[self.instance]
             auth = random.choice(creds_lister) if creds else None
             if auth:
                 params['auth'] = (auth['username'], auth['password'])
@@ -75,7 +69,7 @@
 
     def get_model_from_repo(self, repo):
         return {
-            'instance': self.lister_name,
+            'instance': self.instance,
             'uid': repo['id'],
             'indexable': repo['id'],
             'name': repo['name'],
diff --git a/swh/lister/gitlab/tasks.py b/swh/lister/gitlab/tasks.py
--- a/swh/lister/gitlab/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/lister/gitlab/tasks.py
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@
 
 
 class GitLabListerTask(ListerTaskBase):
-    def new_lister(self, lister_name='gitlab.com',
-                   api_baseurl='https://gitlab.com/api/v4'):
-        return GitLabLister(
-            lister_name=lister_name, api_baseurl=api_baseurl)
+    def new_lister(self, api_baseurl='https://gitlab.com/api/v4',
+                   instance='gitlab.com'):
+        return GitLabLister(api_baseurl=api_baseurl, instance=instance)
 
 
 class RangeGitLabLister(GitLabListerTask, RangeListerTask):