---
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.
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#pipeline-security)
However:
- Job output logs and artifacts are [never visible for Guest users and non-project members](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/25649).
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, pipelines are visible to everyone. Related features are visible
only to project members (Reporter or higher).
- 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 job 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](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/14376) introduced 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**.
### 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 path must be relative
to the root directory in the other project. Include the group and project name at the end:
- `.gitlab-ci.yml@mygroup/another-project`
- `my/path/.my-custom-file.yml@mygroup/another-project`
If the configuration file is in a separate project, you can more 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.
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 12.0 and later, newly created projects automatically 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
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.
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.
You can use to test your regex. The regex returns the **last**
match found in the output.
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.
### Test coverage examples
Use this regex for commonly used test tools.
- 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+)?)`.
### 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 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. 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**.
### 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.
### 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///badges//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///badges//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)
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///badges//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
```
### 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///badges//coverage.svg?style=flat
```
- Flat square ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/30120) in GitLab 11.8):
```plaintext
https://gitlab.example.com///badges//coverage.svg?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
```
