gitlab-ci

GitLab CI/CD

GitLab CI/CD provides integrated pipeline orchestration directly within GitLab repositories, utilizing reusable CI Components and container-native runners for automated software delivery.

When to Use

• Self-Hosted & Enterprise GitOps CI/CD: Running pipelines within GitLab EE/CE and private runner infrastructures.
• Container Registry & Helm Package Integration: Built-in GitLab Container Registry, Package Registry, and Dependency Proxy.
• Multi-Project & Downstream Pipelines: Triggering coordinated cross-repository builds in complex enterprise architectures.
• Dynamic Parent-Child Pipelines: Generating build steps dynamically at runtime based on modified monorepo paths.

Quick Start

# .gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - build
  - test

build-job:
  stage: build
  image: node:20
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/

test-job:
  stage: test
  image: node:20
  script:
    - npm test
  needs: [build-job]

Core Concepts

Declarative Pipeline with Stages, Caching & Artifacts

Clean, structured .gitlab-ci.yml pipeline:

# .gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - lint
  - test
  - build
  - deploy

default:
  image: node:22-alpine
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - package-lock.json
    paths:
      - .npm/

variables:
  npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

lint:
  stage: lint
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run lint
  rules:
    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == "merge_request_event"
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm test -- --ci --reporters=default --reporters=jest-junit
  artifacts:
    when: always
    reports:
      junit: junit.xml
      coverage_report:
        coverage_format: cobertura
        path: coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml

build-container:
  stage: build
  image: docker:27-cli
  services:
    - docker:27-dind
  variables:
    DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs"
    IMAGE_TAG: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
  script:
    - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY
    - docker build -t $IMAGE_TAG .
    - docker push $IMAGE_TAG
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH