GitLab CI Visualizer
Preview and analyze GitLab CI pipelines directly in VSCode. Open a .gitlab-ci.yml, simulate any branch or pipeline condition, and see which jobs actually run — rendered as an interactive graph.
Usage
Open any .yml or .yaml file, then click the preview button in the editor title bar or run Preview GitLab CI from the command palette.
Tip: working with include: files?
The GitLab Workflow extension can merge all included files into a single expanded YAML (via GitLab: Show merged GitLab CI configuration). Paste that output into a new file and open the preview on it to visualize the full pipeline.
The panel opens beside your file with:
- your current git branch pre-filled
- the open file already loaded
- analysis running automatically
Click any job node to see the full rule trace: every rules:, only:, or except: entry, whether it matched, and why the job runs or is skipped.
Features
- Pipeline graph — stage lanes with dependency edges, including
needs: edges
- Rule evaluation —
rules:if, only:, except: evaluated against your chosen branch, pipeline source, and variables
- Rule trace — click a job to see every rule and its outcome
extends: resolution — single and multi-parent inheritance, child wins on conflictsparallel:matrix expansion — full cartesian product into individual job instances- Variable suggestions — branches and CI variables are read from your config and offered as suggestions
What the analyzer handles
| Feature |
Notes |
rules:if |
==, !=, =~, !~, &&, \|\|, null checks |
only: / except: |
refs, branches, tags, merge requests, schedules, regex |
extends: |
single and multi-parent, deep merge |
parallel:matrix |
cartesian expansion |
needs: |
explicit dependencies as direct edges |
when: |
on_success, on_failure, always, manual, never |
.pre / .post |
dropped when no middle-stage job runs |
include: files are not fetched. changes: and exists: are both assumed true.
License
MIT
| |
