CI Lint API

Use this API to validate your GitLab CI/CD configuration.

These endpoints use JSON-encoded YAML content. In some cases, it can be helpful to use third-party tools like jq to properly format your YAML content before making a request. This can be helpful if you want to maintain the format of your CI/CD configuration.

For example, the following command uses JQ to properly escape a given YAML file, encode it as JSON, and make a request to the API.

jq --null-input --arg yaml "$(<example-gitlab-ci.yml)" '.content=$yaml' \
| curl --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/:id/ci/lint?include_merged_yaml=true" \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data @-

1. Create a YAML file named example-gitlab-ci.yml:

   .api_test:
     rules:
       - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE=="merge_request_event"
         changes:
           - src/api/*
   deploy:
     extends:
       - .api_test
     rules:
       - when: manual
         allow_failure: true
     script:
       - echo "hello world"

2. To escape and encode an input YAML file (example-gitlab-ci.yml), then POST it to the GitLab API, create a one-line command that combines curl and jq:

   jq --null-input --arg yaml "$(<example-gitlab-ci.yml)" '.content=$yaml' \
   | curl --url "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/:id/ci/lint?include_merged_yaml=true" \
       --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
       --data @-

Parse responses from this API

To reformat responses from the CI Lint API, either:

• Pipe the CI Lint response directly to jq.

• Store the API response as a text file, and provide it to jq as an argument, like this:

  jq --raw-output '.merged_yaml | fromjson' <your_input_here>

For example, this JSON array:

{"valid":"true","errors":[],"merged_yaml":"---\n.api_test:\n  rules:\n  - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE==\"merge_request_event\"\n    changes:\n    - src/api/*\ndeploy:\n  rules:\n  - when: manual\n    allow_failure: true\n  extends:\n  - \".api_test\"\n  script:\n  - echo \"hello world\"\n"}

When parsed and reformatted, the resulting YAML file contains:

.api_test:
  rules:
  - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE=="merge_request_event"
    changes:
    - src/api/*
deploy:
  rules:
  - when: manual
    allow_failure: true
  extends:
  - ".api_test"
  script:
  - echo "hello world"

Validate a new CI/CD configuration

Validates a new .gitlab-ci.yml configuration for a specified project. This endpoint validates the CI/CD configuration in the context of the project, including:

• Using the project’s CI/CD variables.
• Searching the project’s files for include:local entries.

POST /projects/:id/ci/lint

Example request:

curl --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/:id/ci/lint" \
  --data @- <<'EOF'
{
  "content": "{
    \"image\": \"ruby:2.6\",
    \"services\": [\"postgres\"],
    \"before_script\": [
      \"bundle install\",
      \"bundle exec rake db:create\"
    ],
    \"variables\": {
      \"DB_NAME\": \"postgres\"
    },
    \"stages\": [\"test\", \"deploy\", \"notify\"],
    \"rspec\": {
      \"script\": \"rake spec\",
      \"tags\": [\"ruby\", \"postgres\"],
      \"only\": [\"branches\"]
    }
  }"
}
EOF

Example responses:

• Valid configuration:

  {
    "valid": true,
    "merged_yaml": "---\ntest_job:\n  script: echo 1\n",
    "errors": [],
    "warnings": [],
    "includes": []
  }

• Invalid configuration:

  {
    "valid": false,
    "errors": [
      "jobs config should contain at least one visible job"
    ],
    "warnings": [],
    "merged_yaml": "---\n\".job\":\n  script:\n  - echo \"A hidden job\"\n",
    "includes": []
  }

Validate an existing CI/CD configuration

Validates an existing .gitlab-ci.yml configuration for a specified project. This endpoint validates the CI/CD configuration in the context of the project, including:

• Using the project’s CI/CD variables.
• Searching the project’s files for include:local entries.

GET /projects/:id/ci/lint

Example request:

curl --url "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects/:id/ci/lint"

Example responses:

• Valid configuration, with include.yml as an included file and include_jobs set to true:

  {
    "valid": true,
    "errors": [],
    "warnings": [],
    "merged_yaml": "---\ninclude-job:\n  script:\n  - echo \"An included job\"\njob:\n  rules:\n  - if: \"$CI_COMMIT_BRANCH\"\n  script:\n  - echo \"A test job\"\n",
    "includes": [
      {
        "type": "local",
        "location": "include.yml",
        "blob": "https://gitlab.example.com/test-group/test-project/-/blob/ef5014c045873c5c4ffeb7a2f5be021a1d3ed703/include.yml",
        "raw": "https://gitlab.example.com/test-group/test-project/-/raw/ef5014c045873c5c4ffeb7a2f5be021a1d3ed703/include.yml",
        "extra": {},
        "context_project": "test-group/test-project",
        "context_sha": "ef5014c045873c5c4ffeb7a2f5be021a1d3ed703"
      }
    ],
    "jobs": [
      {
        "name": "include-job",
        "stage": "test",
        "before_script": [],
        "script": [
          "echo \"An included job\""
        ],
        "after_script": [],
        "tag_list": [],
        "only": {
          "refs": [
            "branches",
            "tags"
          ]
        },
        "except": null,
        "environment": null,
        "when": "on_success",
        "allow_failure": false,
        "needs": null
      },
      {
        "name": "job",
        "stage": "test",
        "before_script": [],
        "script": [
          "echo \"A test job\""
        ],
        "after_script": [],
        "tag_list": [],
        "only": null,
        "except": null,
        "environment": null,
        "when": "on_success",
        "allow_failure": false,
        "needs": null
      }
    ]
  }

• Invalid configuration:

  {
    "valid": false,
    "errors": [
      "jobs config should contain at least one visible job"
    ],
    "warnings": [],
    "merged_yaml": "---\n\".job\":\n  script:\n  - echo \"A hidden job\"\n",
    "includes": []
  }