CI/CD pipelines in the VS Code extension

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• Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate
• Offering: GitLab.com, GitLab Self-Managed, GitLab Dedicated

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• Introduced in GitLab VS Code extension 6.14.0 for GitLab 18.1 and later.
• Added downstream pipeline logs for GitLab 18.1 and later.

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If your GitLab project uses CI/CD pipelines, you can start, watch, and debug CI/CD pipelines from the GitLab for VS Code extension. When you work locally on a Git branch, the bottom status bar shows either:

• The status of its most recent pipeline.
• No pipeline if a pipeline hasn't run yet.

Possible statuses include:

• Pipeline canceled
• Pipeline failed
• Pipeline passed
• Pipeline pending
• Pipeline running
• Pipeline skipped

View pipeline information

Use this extension to start, monitor, and debug CI/CD pipelines in GitLab.

Prerequisites:

• Your project uses CI/CD pipelines.
• A merge request exists for your current Git branch.
• The most recent commit on your current Git branch has a CI/CD pipeline.

To view pipeline information:

1. In VS Code, on the bottom status bar, select the pipeline status to display actions in the Command Palette.

2. In the Command Palette, select your desired action:

   • Create New Pipeline from Current Branch: Start a new pipeline.
   • Cancel Last Pipeline
   • Download Artifacts from Latest Pipeline: Download the pipeline artifact in ZIP or JSON format.
   • Retry Last Pipeline
   • View Latest Pipeline on GitLab: Open the pipeline's page in a browser tab.

Show pipeline alerts

This extension can display an alert in VS Code when a pipeline for your current branch completes:

To show alerts for your current Git branch:

1. In VS Code, open the Settings editor:
   • For macOS, press <kbd>Command</kbd>+<kbd>,</kbd>.
   • For Windows or Linux, press <kbd>Control</kbd>+<kbd>,</kbd>.
2. Depending on your configuration, select either User or Workspace settings.
3. Select Extensions > GitLab > Other.
4. Under GitLab: Show Pipeline Update Notifications, select the Show notification in VS Code when the pipeline status changes checkbox.

View CI/CD job output

To view the output for a CI/CD job for your current branch:

1. On the left vertical menu bar, select GitLab ({{< icon name="tanuki" >}}) to display the extension sidebar.

2. In the sidebar, expand For current branch to show its most recent pipeline.

3. Select your desired job to open it in a new VS Code tab:

   The downstream pipelines appear under the pipelines. To open a downstream pipeline job log:

   1. Select the arrow icons to expand or collapse the visibility of the downstream pipelines.
   2. Select a downstream pipeline. The job log opens in a new VS Code tab.

Test GitLab CI/CD configuration

Use the GitLab: Validate GitLab CI Config command to test your project's GitLab CI/CD configuration locally.

1. In VS Code, open your .gitlab-ci.yml file, and ensure the file's tab is in focus.
2. Open the Command Palette:
   • For macOS, press <kbd>Command</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>P</kbd>.
   • For Windows or Linux, press <kbd>Control</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>P</kbd>.
3. In the Command Palette, search for GitLab: Validate GitLab CI Config and press <kbd>Enter</kbd>.

The extension shows an alert if it detects a problem with your configuration.

Show merged GitLab CI/CD configuration

Use this command to see a preview of your merged CI/CD configuration file, with all includes and references resolved.

1. In VS Code, open your .gitlab-ci.yml file, and ensure the file's tab is in focus.

2. In the upper right, select Show Merged GitLab CI/CD Configuration:

VS Code opens a new tab (.gitlab-ci (Merged).yml) with full information.

CI/CD variable autocompletion

Quickly find the CI/CD variable you are looking for with CI/CD variable autocompletion.

Prerequisites:

• The name of your CI/CD configuration file starts with .gitlab-ci and ends with .yml or .yaml. For example .gitlab-ci.yml or .gitlab-ci.production.yml

To autocomplete a variable:

1. In VS Code, open your .gitlab-ci.yml file, and ensure the file's tab is in focus.

2. Begin entering the name of a variable to display auto-complete options.

3. Select an option to use it: