---
stage: Verify
group: Pipeline Execution
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
disqus_identifier: 'https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/pipelines/settings.html'
type: reference, howto
---

# Customize pipeline configuration **(FREE)**

You can customize how pipelines run for your project.

<i class="fa fa-youtube-play youtube" aria-hidden="true"></i>
For an overview of pipelines, watch the video [GitLab CI Pipeline, Artifacts, and Environments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCKDICEe10s).
Watch also [GitLab CI pipeline tutorial for beginners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jav4vbUrqII).

## Change which users can view your pipelines

For public and internal projects, you can change who can see your:

- Pipelines
- Job output logs
- Job artifacts
- [Pipeline security dashboard](../../user/application_security/security_dashboard/index.md#view-vulnerabilities-in-a-pipeline)

To change the visibility of your pipelines and related features:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Select or clear the **Public pipelines** checkbox.
   When it is selected, pipelines and related features are visible:

   - For **public** projects, to everyone.
   - For **internal** projects, to all logged-in users except [external users](../../user/permissions.md#external-users).
   - For **private** projects, to all project members (Guest or higher).

   When it is cleared:

   - For **public** projects, job logs, job artifacts, the pipeline security dashboard,
     and the **CI/CD** menu items are visible only to project members (Reporter or higher).
     Other users, including guest users, can only view the status of pipelines and jobs, and only
     when viewing merge requests or commits.
   - For **internal** projects, pipelines are visible to all logged in users except [external users](../../user/permissions.md#external-users).
     Related features are visible only to project members (Reporter or higher).
   - For **private** projects, pipelines and related features are visible to project members (Reporter or higher) only.

## Auto-cancel redundant pipelines

You can set pending or running pipelines to cancel automatically when a new pipeline runs on the same branch. You can enable this in the project settings:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General Pipelines**.
1. Select the **Auto-cancel redundant pipelines** checkbox.
1. Select **Save changes**.

Use the [`interruptible`](../yaml/index.md#interruptible) keyword to indicate if a
running job can be cancelled before it completes.

## Skip outdated deployment jobs

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/25276) in GitLab 12.9.

Your project may have multiple concurrent deployment jobs that are
scheduled to run in the same time frame.

This can lead to a situation where an older deployment job runs after a
newer one, which may not be what you want.

To avoid this scenario:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Select the **Skip outdated deployment jobs** checkbox.
1. Select **Save changes**.

Older deployment jobs are skipped when a new deployment starts.

For more information, see [Deployment safety](../environments/deployment_safety.md).

## Retry outdated jobs

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/211339) in GitLab 13.6.

A deployment job can fail because a newer one has run. If you retry the failed deployment job, the
environment could be overwritten with older source code. If you click **Retry**, a modal warns you
about this and asks for confirmation.

For more information, see [Deployment safety](../environments/deployment_safety.md).

## Specify a custom CI/CD configuration file

> Support for external `.gitlab-ci.yml` locations [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/14376) in GitLab 12.6.

GitLab expects to find the CI/CD configuration file (`.gitlab-ci.yml`) in the project's root
directory. However, you can specify an alternate filename path, including locations outside the project.

To customize the path:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. In the **CI/CD configuration file** field, enter the filename. If the file:
   - Is not in the root directory, include the path.
   - Is in a different project, include the group and project name.
   - Is on an external site, enter the full URL.
1. Select **Save changes**.

NOTE:
You cannot use your project's [pipeline editor](../pipeline_editor/index.md) to
edit CI/CD configuration files in other projects or on an external site.

### Custom CI/CD configuration file examples

If the CI/CD configuration file is not in the root directory, the path must be relative to it.
For example:

- `my/path/.gitlab-ci.yml`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml`

If the CI/CD configuration file is on an external site, the URL must end with `.yml`:

- `http://example.com/generate/ci/config.yml`

If the CI/CD configuration file is in a different project:

- The file must exist on its default branch, or specify the branch as refname.
- The path must be relative to the root directory in the other project.
- The path must include the group and project name at the end.

For example:

- `.gitlab-ci.yml@mygroup/another-project`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml@mygroup/another-project`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml@mygroup/another-project:refname`

If the configuration file is in a separate project, you can set more granular permissions. For example:

- Create a public project to host the configuration file.
- Give write permissions on the project only to users who are allowed to edit the file.

Then other users and projects can access the configuration file without being
able to edit it.

## Choose the default Git strategy

You can choose how your repository is fetched from GitLab when a job runs.

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Under **Git strategy**, select an option:
   - `git clone` is slower because it clones the repository from scratch
     for every job. However, the local working copy is always pristine.
   - `git fetch` is faster because it re-uses the local working copy (and falls
     back to clone if it doesn't exist). This is recommended, especially for
     [large repositories](../large_repositories/index.md#git-strategy).

The configured Git strategy can be overridden by the [`GIT_STRATEGY` variable](../runners/configure_runners.md#git-strategy)
in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

## Limit the number of changes fetched during clone

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/28919) in GitLab 12.0.
> - [Changed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/77576) `git depth` value in GitLab 14.7.

You can limit the number of changes that GitLab CI/CD fetches when it clones
a repository.

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. Under **Git strategy**, under **Git shallow clone**, enter a value.
   The maximum value is `1000`. To disable shallow clone and make GitLab CI/CD
   fetch all branches and tags each time, keep the value empty or set to `0`.

In GitLab versions 14.7 and later, newly created projects have a default `git depth`
value of `20`. GitLab versions 14.6 and earlier have a default `git depth` value of `50`.

This value can be overridden by the [`GIT_DEPTH` variable](../large_repositories/index.md#shallow-cloning)
in the `.gitlab-ci.yml` file.

## Set a limit for how long jobs can run

You can define how long a job can run before it times out.

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. In the **Timeout** field, enter the number of minutes, or a human-readable value like `2 hours`.

Jobs that exceed the timeout are marked as failed.

You can override this value [for individual runners](../runners/configure_runners.md#set-maximum-job-timeout-for-a-runner).

## Add test coverage results to a merge request (DEPRECATED)

> [Deprecated](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17633) in GitLab 14.9. Replaced by [`coverage` keyword](../yaml/index.md#coverage).

WARNING:
This feature is in its end-of-life process. It is [deprecated](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17633)
for use in GitLab 14.9, and is planned for [removal](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17633) in GitLab 15.0.

If you use test coverage in your code, you can use a regular expression to
find coverage results in the job log. You can then include these results
in the merge request in GitLab.

If the pipeline succeeds, the coverage is shown in the merge request widget and
in the jobs table. If multiple jobs in the pipeline have coverage reports, they are
averaged.

![MR widget coverage](img/pipelines_test_coverage_mr_widget.png)

![Build status coverage](img/pipelines_test_coverage_build.png)

To define a coverage-parsing regular expression:

- Using the project's `.gitlab-ci.yml`, provide a regular expression using the [`coverage`](../yaml/index.md#coverage)
  keyword. Setting the regular expression this way takes precedence over the project's CI/CD settings.

- Using the Project's CI/CD settings:
  - Set using the GitLab UI:

    1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
    1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
    1. Expand **General pipelines**.
    1. In the **Test coverage parsing** field, enter a regular expression. Leave blank to disable this feature.

  - Set when [editing a project](../../api/projects.md#edit-project) or [creating a project](../../api/projects.md#create-project)
    using the GitLab API with the `build_coverage_regex` attribute:

    ```shell
    curl --request PUT --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <your-token>" \
       --url 'https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/<your-project-ID>' \
       --data "build_coverage_regex=<your-regular-expression>"
    ```

You can use <https://rubular.com> to test your regular expression. The regular expression returns the **last**
match found in the output.

### Test coverage examples

Use this regex for commonly used test tools.

<!-- vale gitlab.Spelling = NO -->

- Simplecov (Ruby). Example: `\(\d+.\d+\%\) covered`.
- pytest-cov (Python). Example: `^TOTAL.+?(\d+\%)$`.
- Scoverage (Scala). Example: `Statement coverage[A-Za-z\.*]\s*:\s*([^%]+)`.
- `phpunit --coverage-text --colors=never` (PHP). Example: `^\s*Lines:\s*\d+.\d+\%`.
- gcovr (C/C++). Example: `^TOTAL.*\s+(\d+\%)$`.
- `tap --coverage-report=text-summary` (NodeJS). Example: `^Statements\s*:\s*([^%]+)`.
- `nyc npm test` (NodeJS). Example: `All files[^|]*\|[^|]*\s+([\d\.]+)`.
- excoveralls (Elixir). Example: `\[TOTAL\]\s+(\d+\.\d+)%`.
- `mix test --cover` (Elixir). Example: `\d+.\d+\%\s+\|\s+Total`.
- JaCoCo (Java/Kotlin). Example: `Total.*?([0-9]{1,3})%`.
- `go test -cover` (Go). Example: `coverage: \d+.\d+% of statements`.
- .NET (OpenCover). Example: `(Visited Points).*\((.*)\)`.
- .NET (`dotnet test` line coverage). Example: `Total\s*\|\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)`.
- tarpaulin (Rust). Example: `^\d+.\d+% coverage`.

<!-- vale gitlab.Spelling = YES -->

### View code coverage history

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/209121) the ability to download a `.csv` in GitLab 12.10.
> - Graph [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/33743) in GitLab 13.1.

To see the evolution of your project code coverage over time,
you can view a graph or download a CSV file with this data.

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Analytics > Repository**.

The historic data for each job is listed in the dropdown above the graph.

To view a CSV file of the data, select **Download raw data (`.csv`)**.

![Code coverage graph of a project over time](img/code_coverage_graph_v13_1.png)

Code coverage data is also [available at the group level](../../user/group/repositories_analytics/index.md).

### Coverage check approval rule **(PREMIUM)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/15765) in GitLab 14.0.
> - [Made configurable in Project Settings](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/331001) in GitLab 14.1.

You can implement merge request approvals to require approval by selected users or a group
when merging a merge request would cause the project's test coverage to decline.

Follow these steps to enable the `Coverage-Check` MR approval rule:

1. Set up a [`coverage`](../yaml/index.md#coverage) regular expression for all jobs you want to include in the overall coverage value.
1. Go to your project and select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Merge request approvals**.
1. Select **Enable** next to the `Coverage-Check` approval rule.
1. Select the **Target branch**.
1. Set the number of **Approvals required** to greater than zero.
1. Select the users or groups to provide approval.
1. Select **Add approval rule**.

![Coverage-Check approval rule](img/coverage_check_approval_rule_14_1.png)

### Remove color codes from code coverage

Some test coverage tools output with ANSI color codes that aren't
parsed correctly by the regular expression. This causes coverage
parsing to fail.

Some coverage tools don't provide an option to disable color
codes in the output. If so, pipe the output of the coverage tool through a
small one line script that strips the color codes off.

For example:

```shell
lein cloverage | perl -pe 's/\e\[?.*?[\@-~]//g'
```

## Pipeline badges

Pipeline badges indicate the pipeline status and a test coverage value
for your project. These badges are determined by the latest successful pipeline.

### View the code for the pipeline status and coverage reports badges

You can view the exact link for your badges. Then you can embed the badge in your HTML
or Markdown pages.

1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Projects** and find your project.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > CI/CD**.
1. Expand **General pipelines**.
1. In the **Pipeline status** or **Coverage report** sections, view the URLs for the images.

![Pipelines badges](img/pipelines_settings_badges.png)

### Pipeline status badge

Depending on the status of your pipeline, a badge can have the following values:

- `pending`
- `running`
- `passed`
- `failed`
- `skipped`
- `canceled`
- `unknown`

You can access a pipeline status badge image by using the following link:

```plaintext
https://gitlab.example.com/<namespace>/<project>/badges/<branch>/pipeline.svg
```

#### Display only non-skipped status

To make the pipeline status badge display only the last non-skipped status, use the `?ignore_skipped=true` query parameter:

```plaintext
https://gitlab.example.com/<namespace>/<project>/badges/<branch>/pipeline.svg?ignore_skipped=true
```

### Test coverage report badge

You can define the regular expression for the [coverage report](#add-test-coverage-results-to-a-merge-request-deprecated)
that each job log is matched against. This means that each job in the
pipeline can have the test coverage percentage value defined.

To access the test coverage badge, use the following link:

```plaintext
https://gitlab.example.com/<namespace>/<project>/badges/<branch>/coverage.svg
```

To get the coverage report from a specific job, add
the `job=coverage_job_name` parameter to the URL. For example, the following
Markdown code embeds the test coverage report badge of the `coverage` job
in your `README.md`:

```markdown
![coverage](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/badges/main/coverage.svg?job=coverage)
```

#### Test coverage report badge colors and limits

The default colors and limits for the badge are as follows:

- 95 up to and including 100% - good (`#4c1`)
- 90 up to 95% - acceptable (`#a3c51c`)
- 75 up to 90% - medium (`#dfb317`)
- 0 up to 75% - low (`#e05d44`)
- no coverage - unknown (`#9f9f9f`)

NOTE:
*Up to* means up to, but not including, the upper bound.

You can overwrite the limits by using the following additional parameters ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/28317) in GitLab 14.4):

- `min_good` (default 95, can use any value between 3 and 100)
- `min_acceptable` (default 90, can use any value between 2 and min_good-1)
- `min_medium` (default 75, can use any value between 1 and min_acceptable-1)

If an invalid boundary is set, GitLab automatically adjusts it to be valid. For example,
if `min_good` is set `80`, and `min_acceptable` is set to `85` (too high), GitLab automatically
sets `min_acceptable` to `79` (`min_good` - `1`).

### Badge styles

Pipeline badges can be rendered in different styles by adding the `style=style_name` parameter to the URL. Two styles are available:

- Flat (default):

  ```plaintext
  https://gitlab.example.com/<namespace>/<project>/badges/<branch>/coverage.svg?style=flat
  ```

  ![Badge flat style](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/badges/main/coverage.svg?job=coverage&style=flat)

- Flat square ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/30120) in GitLab 11.8):

  ```plaintext
  https://gitlab.example.com/<namespace>/<project>/badges/<branch>/coverage.svg?style=flat-square
  ```

  ![Badge flat square style](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/badges/main/coverage.svg?job=coverage&style=flat-square)

### Custom badge text

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17555) in GitLab 13.1.

The text for a badge can be customized to differentiate between multiple coverage jobs that run in the same pipeline. Customize the badge text and width by adding the `key_text=custom_text` and `key_width=custom_key_width` parameters to the URL:

```plaintext
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/badges/main/coverage.svg?job=karma&key_text=Frontend+Coverage&key_width=130
```

![Badge with custom text and width](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/badges/main/coverage.svg?job=karma&key_text=Frontend+Coverage&key_width=130)

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