CI Lint API

Validate the CI/CD configuration for a namespace

Checks if CI/CD YAML configuration is valid. This endpoint has namespace specific context. 

POST /projects/:id/ci/lint
Attribute Type Required Description
content string Yes The CI/CD configuration content.
dry_run boolean No Run pipeline creation simulation, or only do static check. Default: false.
include_jobs boolean No If the list of jobs that would exist in a static check or pipeline simulation should be included in the response. Default: false.
ref string No When dry_run is true, sets the branch or tag context to use to validate the CI/CD YAML configuration. Defaults to the project’s default branch when not set.

Example request: 

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

Example responses:

  • Valid configuration: 

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

  • Invalid configuration: 

    {
  "valid": false,
  "merged_yaml": "---\n:test_job:\n  :script: echo 1\n",
  "errors": [
    "jobs config should contain at least one visible job"
  ],
  "warnings": []
}

Validate a project’s CI configuration

sha attribute introduced in GitLab 16.5.

Checks if a project’s .gitlab-ci.yml configuration in a given commit (by default HEAD of the project’s default branch) is valid. This endpoint uses all namespace specific data available, including variables and local includes. 

GET /projects/:id/ci/lint
Attribute Type Required Description
dry_run boolean No Run pipeline creation simulation, or only do static check.
include_jobs boolean No If the list of jobs that would exist in a static check or pipeline simulation should be included in the response. Default: false.
ref string No When dry_run is true, sets the branch or tag context to use to validate the CI/CD YAML configuration. Defaults to the project’s default branch when not set.
sha string No The commit SHA of a branch or tag. Defaults to the SHA of the head of the project’s default branch when not set.

Example request: 

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

Example responses:

  • Valid configuration: 
{
  "valid": true,
  "merged_yaml": "---\n:test_job:\n  :script: echo 1\n",
  "errors": [],
  "warnings": []
}
  • Invalid configuration: 
{
  "valid": false,
  "merged_yaml": "---\n:test_job:\n  :script: echo 1\n",
  "errors": [
    "jobs config should contain at least one visible job"
  ],
  "warnings": []
}

Use jq to create and process YAML & JSON payloads

To POST a YAML configuration to the CI Lint endpoint, it must be properly escaped and JSON encoded. You can use jq and curl to escape and upload YAML to the GitLab API.

Escape YAML for JSON encoding

To escape quotes and encode your YAML in a format suitable for embedding within a JSON payload, you can use jq. For example, create a 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"

Next, use jq to escape and encode the YAML file into JSON: 

jq --raw-input --slurp < example-gitlab-ci.yml

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

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

Parse a CI Lint response

To reformat the CI Lint response, you can use jq. You can pipe the CI Lint response to jq, or store the API response as a text file and provide it as an argument: 

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

Example input: 

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

Becomes: 

:.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"

With a one-line command, you can:

  1. Escape the YAML
  2. Encode it in JSON
  3. POST it to the API with curl
  4. Format the response 
jq --null-input --arg yaml "$(<example-gitlab-ci.yml)" '.content=$yaml' \
| curl "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/ci/lint?include_merged_yaml=true" \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data @- \
| jq --raw-output '.merged_yaml | fromjson'