Configuring CI Using GitLab and Nx

Below is an example of a GitLab pipeline setup for an Nx workspace only building and testing what is affected.

image: node:16

stages:
  - test
  - build

.distributed:
  interruptible: true
  only:
    - main
    - merge_requests
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - package-lock.json
    paths:
      - .npm/
  before_script:
    - npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline
    - NX_HEAD=$CI_COMMIT_SHA
    - NX_BASE=${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_BEFORE_SHA}
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - node_modules/.cache/nx

workspace-lint:
  stage: test
  extends: .distributed
  script:
    - npx nx workspace-lint --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD

format-check:
  stage: test
  extends: .distributed
  script:
    - npx nx format:check --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD

lint:
  stage: test
  extends: .distributed
  script:
    - npx nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=lint --parallel=3

test:
  stage: test
  extends: .distributed
  script:
    - npx nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=test --parallel=3 --ci --code-coverage

build:
  stage: build
  extends: .distributed
  script:
    - npx nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=build --parallel=3

The build and test jobs implement the CI workflow using .distributed as template to keep CI configuration file more readable.

Distributed CI with Nx Cloud

In order to use distributed task execution, we need to start agents and set the NX_CLOUD_DISTRIBUTED_EXECUTION flag to true.

Read more about the Distributed CI setup with Nx Cloud.

image: node:18
variables:
  CI: 'true'

# Creating template for DTE agents
.dte-agent:
  interruptible: true
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - yarn.lock
    paths:
      - '.yarn-cache/'
  script:
    - yarn install --cache-folder .yarn-cache --prefer-offline --frozen-lockfile
    - yarn nx-cloud start-agent
  artifacts:
    expire_in: 5 days
    paths:
      - dist

# Creating template for a job running DTE (orchestrator)
.base-pipeline:
  interruptible: true
  only:
    - main
    - merge_requests
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - yarn.lock
    paths:
      - '.yarn-cache/'
  before_script:
    - yarn install --cache-folder .yarn-cache --prefer-offline --frozen-lockfile
    - NX_HEAD=$CI_COMMIT_SHA
    - NX_BASE=${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_DIFF_BASE_SHA:-$CI_COMMIT_BEFORE_SHA}
  artifacts:
    expire_in: 5 days
    paths:
      - node_modules/.cache/nx

# Main job running DTE
nx-dte:
  stage: affected
  extends: .base-pipeline
  script:
    - yarn nx-cloud start-ci-run --stop-agents-after="build"
    - yarn nx-cloud record -- yarn nx workspace-lint --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD
    - yarn nx-cloud record -- yarn nx format:check --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD
    - yarn nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=lint --parallel=3 & yarn nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=test --parallel=3 --ci --code-coverage & yarn nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=e2e --parallel=3 --ci --code-coverage & yarn nx affected --base=$NX_BASE --head=$NX_HEAD --target=build --parallel=3

# Create as many agents as you want
nx-dte-agent1:
  extends: .dte-agent
  stage: affected
nx-dte-agent2:
  extends: .dte-agent
  stage: affected
nx-dte-agent3:
  extends: .dte-agent
  stage: affected