Scheduled pipelines

Create pipeline schedules to run pipelines at regular intervals based on cron patterns. Use pipeline schedules for tasks that need to run on a time-based schedule rather than triggered by code changes.

Unlike pipelines triggered by commits or merge requests, scheduled pipelines run independently of code changes. This makes them suitable for tasks that need to happen regardless of development activity, such as keeping deployments current or running periodic maintenance.

Create a pipeline schedule

When you create a pipeline schedule, you become the schedule owner. The pipeline runs with your permissions and can access protected environments and use the CI/CD job token based on your access level.

Prerequisites:

• You must have at least the Developer role for the project.
• For protected branches, you must have merge permissions for the target branch.
• Your .gitlab-ci.yml file must have valid syntax. You can validate your configuration before scheduling.

To create a pipeline schedule:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Build > Pipeline schedules.
3. Select New schedule.
4. Complete the fields.
   • Interval Pattern: Select one of the preconfigured intervals, or enter a custom interval in cron notation. You can use any cron value, but scheduled pipelines cannot run more frequently than the instance’s maximum scheduled pipeline frequency.
   • Target branch or tag: Select the branch or tag for the pipeline.
   • Inputs: Set values for any inputs defined in your pipeline’s spec:inputs section. These input values are used every time the scheduled pipeline runs. A schedule can have a maximum of 20 inputs.
   • Variables: Add any number of CI/CD variables to the schedule. These variables are available only when the scheduled pipeline runs, and not in any other pipeline run. Inputs are recommended for pipeline configuration instead of variables because they offer improved security and flexibility.

If the project has reached the maximum number of pipeline schedules, delete unused schedules before adding another.

Edit a pipeline schedule

Prerequisites:

• You must be the schedule owner or take ownership of the schedule.
• For schedules that run on protected tags, you must be allowed to create protected tags.

To edit a pipeline schedule:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Build > Pipeline schedules.
3. Next to the schedule, select Edit ( ).
4. Make your changes, then select Save changes.

Run manually

You can manually run scheduled pipelines once per minute. When you run a scheduled pipeline manually, it uses your permissions instead of the schedule owner’s permissions.

To trigger a pipeline schedule immediately instead of waiting for the next scheduled time:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Build > Pipeline schedules.
3. Next to the schedule, select Run ( ).

Take ownership

Prerequisites:

• You need at least the Maintainer role to take ownership of a schedule created by someone else.

If a pipeline schedule becomes inactive because the original owner is unavailable, you can take ownership. Scheduled pipelines execute with the permissions of the user who owns the schedule.

To take ownership of a schedule:

1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
2. Select Build > Pipeline schedules.
3. Next to the schedule, select Take ownership.

View your scheduled pipelines

To view the active pipeline schedules that you own across all your projects:

1. On the left sidebar, select your avatar.
2. Select Edit profile.
3. Select Account.
4. Scroll to Scheduled pipelines you own.

Related topics

• CI/CD pipelines
• Run jobs for scheduled pipelines
• Pipeline schedules API
• Pipeline efficiency

Troubleshooting

When working with pipeline schedules, you might encounter the following issues.

Scheduled pipeline becomes inactive

If a scheduled pipeline status changes to Inactive unexpectedly, the schedule owner might have been blocked or removed from the project.

Take ownership of the schedule to reactivate it.

Distribute pipeline schedules to prevent system load

To prevent excessive load from too many pipelines starting simultaneously, review and distribute your pipeline schedules:

1. Run this command to extract and format schedule data:

   outfile=/tmp/gitlab_ci_schedules.tsv
   sudo gitlab-psql --command "
    COPY (SELECT
        ci_pipeline_schedules.cron,
        projects.path   AS project,
        users.email
    FROM ci_pipeline_schedules
    JOIN projects ON projects.id = ci_pipeline_schedules.project_id
    JOIN users    ON users.id    = ci_pipeline_schedules.owner_id
    ) TO '$outfile' CSV HEADER DELIMITER E'\t' ;"
   sort  "$outfile" | uniq -c | sort -n

2. Review the output to identify popular cron patterns. For example, many schedules might run at the start of every hour (0 * * * *).

3. Adjust the schedules to create a staggered cron pattern, especially for large repositories. For example, instead of multiple schedules running at the start of every hour, distribute them throughout the hour (5 * * * *, 15 * * * *, 25 * * * *).