GitLab CI Parallel Matrix Expansion
Both GitLab parallelisation forms in one file: a plain `parallel: 4` shard split and a `parallel: matrix` block whose two entries expand to seven combinations. Eleven jobs in total, documented so an expander can be checked exactly.
stages: [test]
.base:
image: registry.example.invalid/ci/python:3.12
stage: test
pytest:
extends: .base
parallel: 4
script:
- pytest --shard "$CI_NODE_INDEX/$CI_NODE_TOTAL"
matrix-tests:
extends: .base
parallel:
matrix:
- PYTHON: ["3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]
TARGET: [unit, integration]
- PYTHON: ["3.12"]
TARGET: [slow]
TIMEOUT: ["30m"]
script:
- echo "python $PYTHON target $TARGET"
Specifications
- System
- GitLab CI
- Parallel Shards
- 4
- Matrix Entries
- 2
- Matrix Combinations
- 7
- Total Jobs
- 11
Testing contract
Expected to pass- Scenario
- Expand both GitLab parallelisation forms — shard count and parallel matrix entries
- Expected result
- The shard job yields 4 instances and the matrix job yields 7, for 11 generated jobs in total
What is a .yml file?
YML is an alternate file extension for YAML, a human-readable data-serialization format based on indentation, key-value mappings, and lists. The content and parsing rules are identical to .yaml; only the extension differs. It is widely used for CI and application configuration files.
How to use this file
Use an example YML file to test that config loaders treat .yml and .yaml identically, and to exercise indentation, comment, and multi-document parsing.
How to use this file for testing
“GitLab CI Parallel Matrix Expansion” is a deterministic Novus Examples fixture for Config testing, Config parsing, Editor testing. TOML, INI, YAML, .env, and dotfile configuration samples with nested sections and typed values — for testing config parsers, loaders, and environment tooling.
Documented properties for this file: YML · 448 bytes. Compare results against paired or grouped companions on this page when present (clean↔damaged, searchable↔scanned, or format twins) so scores stay reproducible across runs.
Download the file once, keep the path stable in CI or local scripts, and treat the spec table as the contract: dimensions, seeds, field lists, and roles are intentional. Corrupt or invalid samples are labelled as such — expect parsers to fail loudly rather than silently accept them.
Pipeline and infrastructure fixtures are inert configuration: steps reference fictional images and scripts, and nothing here executes. Run your linter, schema validator, migrator, or policy engine against them, and expect the deprecated-syntax and intentionally invalid variants to be rejected.
Point your config loader at the file and assert it reads the documented sections and typed values, including any deliberately-tricky nesting or comments.
Code examples
import yaml # pip install pyyaml
with open("gitlab-ci-parallel-matrix.yml") as f:
data = yaml.safe_load(f)
print(data)Related files
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