Gitlab CI Docs

GitLab CI/CD Docs

Official GitLab CI/CD documentation synced from gitlab-org/gitlab/doc/ci.

Use this skill for GitLab CI/CD pipeline configuration and behavior. For project/group user workflows use gitlab-user-docs; for REST/GraphQL API endpoints use gitlab-api-docs; for self-managed instance administration use gitlab-admin-docs; for glab CLI commands use glab-docs / glab-cli.

Scope

References are Markdown files under references/:

• references/_index.md — GitLab CI/CD overview and getting started.
• references/yaml/ — .gitlab-ci.yml keyword reference, rules, workflow, include, needs, parallel, matrix, inputs, expressions.
• references/pipelines/, references/jobs/ — pipeline types, DAGs, scheduled/triggered pipelines, job control, job logs, job artifacts.
• references/runners/ — GitLab Runner usage from GitLab docs, runner creation/registration, hosted runners, runner scopes.
• references/variables/, references/secrets/ — CI/CD variables, masked/protected variables, external secrets, ID tokens.
• references/components/, references/inputs/, references/templates/ — reusable CI/CD components, pipeline inputs, templates.
• references/docker/, references/services/, references/cloud_deployment/, references/environments/ — containerized jobs, service containers, deployments and environments.
• references/testing/, references/caching/, references/pipeline_security/, references/debugging.md — test reports, cache, security and troubleshooting.

Hard Rules

• MUST search references/ before answering specific GitLab CI/CD behavior or YAML syntax questions.
• MUST check exact keyword docs before giving .gitlab-ci.yml syntax, defaults, merge behavior, or version constraints.
• MUST distinguish project/group/instance variables, protected/masked/hidden variables, and file variables when docs require it.
• MUST distinguish GitLab Runner configuration from GitLab CI YAML. If the answer depends on runner internals not covered here, say so.
• NEVER invent predefined variables, YAML keywords, rules behavior, or pipeline source names without checking references.

Fast Lookup

rg -n "^#|rules:|workflow:|include:|needs:|parallel:|matrix|inputs|extends|default:|spec:" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/yaml skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/inputs
rg -n "predefined variable|CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE|CI_COMMIT|masked|protected|hidden|file variable|dotenv" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/variables skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references
rg -n "runner|executor|register|tag|hosted runner|instance runner|group runner|project runner" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/runners skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references
rg -n "artifact|cache|dependency|needs|DAG|child pipeline|multi-project|schedule|trigger" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references
rg -n "Docker|service|image:|services:|Kubernetes|environment|deployment|review app" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/docker skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/services skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references/environments
rg -n "Tier:|Offering:|Status:|Introduced|Deprecated|Removed" skills/gitlab-ci-docs/references

Workflow

1. Identify whether the question is YAML syntax, pipeline behavior, runner usage, variables/secrets, artifacts/cache, deployments, testing, or troubleshooting.
2. Search the narrow subtree first, then broader CI docs for history/tier/offering constraints.
3. Quote exact keyword names, variable names, and examples from the docs.
4. If the question requires REST/GraphQL operations or self-managed admin settings, switch to gitlab-api-docs or gitlab-admin-docs.