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GitLab CI template for Python

This project implements a GitLab CI/CD template to build, test and analyse your Python projects.

Usage

This template can be used both as a CI/CD component or using the legacy include:project syntax.

Use as a CI/CD component

Add the following to your .gitlab-ci.yml:

include:
  # 1: include the component
  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.5.1
    # 2: set/override component inputs
    inputs:
      image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
      pytest-enabled: true

Use as a CI/CD template (legacy)

Add the following to your .gitlab-ci.yml:

include:
  # 1: include the template
  - project: 'to-be-continuous/python'
    ref: '7.5.1'
    file: '/templates/gitlab-ci-python.yml'

variables:
  # 2: set/override template variables
  PYTHON_IMAGE: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
  PYTEST_ENABLED: "true"

Global configuration

The Python template uses some global configuration used throughout all jobs.

Input / Variable Description Default value
image / PYTHON_IMAGE The Docker image used to run Python
⚠ set the version required by your project
registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3-slim
project-dir / PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR Python project root directory .
build-system / PYTHON_BUILD_SYSTEM Python build-system to use to install dependencies, build and package the project (see below) auto (auto-detect)
PIP_INDEX_URL Python repository url none
PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL Extra Python repository url none
pip-opts / PIP_OPTS pip extra options none
extra-deps / PYTHON_EXTRA_DEPS Python extra sets of dependencies to install
For Setuptools or Poetry only
none
reqs-file / PYTHON_REQS_FILE Main requirements file (relative to $PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR)
For Requirements Files build-system only
requirements.txt
extra-reqs-files / PYTHON_EXTRA_REQS_FILES Extra dev requirements file(s) to install (relative to $PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR) requirements-dev.txt

The cache policy also makes the necessary to manage pip cache (not to download Python dependencies over and over again).

Multi build-system support

The Python template supports the most popular dependency management & build systems.

By default it tries to auto-detect the build system used by the project (based on the presence of pyproject.toml and/or setup.py and/or requirements.txt), but the build system might also be set explicitly using the $PYTHON_BUILD_SYSTEM variable:

Value Build System (scope)
none (default) or auto The template tries to auto-detect the actual build system
setuptools Setuptools (dependencies, build & packaging)
poetry Poetry (dependencies, build, test & packaging)
uv uv (dependencies, build, test & packaging)
pipenv Pipenv (dependencies only)
reqfile Requirements Files (dependencies only)

⚠ You can explicitly set the build tool version by setting $PYTHON_BUILD_SYSTEM variable including a version identification. For example PYTHON_BUILD_SYSTEM="poetry==1.1.15"

Jobs

py-package job

This job allows building your Python project distribution packages.

It is bound to the build stage, it is disabled by default and can be enabled by setting $PYTHON_PACKAGE_ENABLED to true.

Lint jobs

py-lint job

This job is disabled by default and performs code analysis based on pylint Python lib. It is activated by setting $PYLINT_ENABLED to true.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
pylint-enabled / PYLINT_ENABLED Set to true to enable the pylint job none (disabled)
pylint-args / PYLINT_ARGS Additional pylint CLI options none
pylint-files / PYLINT_FILES Files or directories to analyse none (by default analyses all found python source files)

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-lint.codeclimate.json Code Climate GitLab integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-lint.parseable.txt parseable SonarQube integration

Test jobs

The Python template features four alternative test jobs:

  • py-unittest that performs tests based on unittest Python lib,
  • or py-pytest that performs tests based on pytest Python lib,
  • or py-nosetest that performs tests based on nose Python lib,
  • or py-compile that performs byte code generation to check syntax if not tests are available.

py-unittest job

This job is disabled by default and performs tests based on unittest Python lib. It is activated by setting $UNITTEST_ENABLED to true.

In order to produce JUnit test reports, the tests are executed with the xmlrunner module.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
unittest-enabled / UNITTEST_ENABLED Set to true to enable the unittest job none (disabled)
unittest-args / UNITTEST_ARGS Additional xmlrunner/unittest CLI options none

ℹ use a .coveragerc file at the root of your Python project to control the coverage settings.

Example:

[run]
# enables branch coverage
branch = True
# list of directories/packages to cover
source =
    module_1
    module_2

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/TEST-*.xml xUnit test report(s) GitLab integration & SonarQube integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-coverage.cobertura.xml Cobertura XML coverage report GitLab integration & SonarQube integration

py-pytest job

This job is disabled by default and performs tests based on pytest Python lib. It is activated by setting $PYTEST_ENABLED to true.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
pytest-enabled / PYTEST_ENABLED Set to true to enable the pytest job none (disabled)
pytest-args / PYTEST_ARGS Additional pytest or pytest-cov CLI options none

ℹ use a .coveragerc file at the root of your Python project to control the coverage settings.

Example:

[run]
# enables branch coverage
branch = True
# list of directories/packages to cover
source =
    module_1
    module_2

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/TEST-*.xml xUnit test report(s) GitLab integration & SonarQube integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-coverage.cobertura.xml Cobertura XML coverage report GitLab integration & SonarQube integration

py-nosetests job

This job is disabled by default and performs tests based on nose Python lib. It is activated by setting $NOSETESTS_ENABLED to true.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
nosetests-enabled / NOSETESTS_ENABLED Set to true to enable the nose job none (disabled)
nosetests-args / NOSETESTS_ARGS Additional nose CLI options none

By default coverage will be run on all the project directories. You can restrict it to your packages by setting the $NOSE_COVER_PACKAGE variable. More info

ℹ use a .coveragerc file at the root of your Python project to control the coverage settings.

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/TEST-*.xml xUnit test report(s) GitLab integration & SonarQube integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-coverage.cobertura.xml Cobertura XML coverage report GitLab integration & SonarQube integration

py-compile job

This job is a fallback if no unit test has been set up ($UNITTEST_ENABLED and $PYTEST_ENABLED and $NOSETEST_ENABLED are not set), and performs a compileall.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
compile-args / PYTHON_COMPILE_ARGS compileall CLI options *

py-bandit job (SAST)

This job is disabled by default and performs a Bandit analysis.

It is bound to the test stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
bandit-enabled / BANDIT_ENABLED Set to true to enable Bandit analysis none (disabled)
bandit-args / BANDIT_ARGS Additional Bandit CLI options --recursive .

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day and only available for download by users with the Developer role or higher:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-bandit.bandit.csv CSV SonarQube integration
This report is generated only if SonarQube template is detected
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-bandit.bandit.json JSON DefectDojo integration
This report is generated only if DefectDojo template is detected

py-trivy job (dependency check)

This job performs a dependency check analysis using Trivy. ⚠ This job is now enabled by default since version 7.0.0

It is bound to the test stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
trivy-disabled / PYTHON_TRIVY_DISABLED Set to true to disable Trivy job none (enabled)
trivy-dist-url / PYTHON_TRIVY_DIST_URL Url to the tar.gz package for linux_amd64 of Trivy to use (ex: https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/releases/download/v0.51.1/trivy_0.51.1_Linux-64bit.tar.gz)
When unset, the latest version will be used
none
trivy-args / PYTHON_TRIVY_ARGS Additional Trivy CLI options --ignore-unfixed --pkg-types library --detection-priority comprehensive

Other Trivy parameters shall be configured using Trivy environment variables. Examples: https://documentation.defectdojo.com/integrations/parsers/file/ * TRIVY_SEVERITY: severities of security issues to be displayed (comma separated values: UNKNOWN, LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, CRITICAL) * TRIVY_SERVER: server address (enables client/server mode) * TRIVY_DB_REPOSITORY: OCI repository to retrieve Trivy Database from * ...

⚠ if you're using Trivy in multiple templates with different parameter values (ex: different TRIVY_SEVERITY threshold with Python and - says - Docker templates), then it is recommanded to pass the configuration as CLI options using the trivy-args input / PYTHON_TRIVY_ARGS variable.

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day and only available for download by users with the Developer role or higher:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-trivy.trivy.json JSON DefectDojo integration
This report is generated only if DefectDojo template is detected

py-sbom job

This job generates a SBOM file listing all dependencies using syft.

It is bound to the test stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
sbom-disabled / PYTHON_SBOM_DISABLED Set to true to disable this job none
sbom-syft-url / PYTHON_SBOM_SYFT_URL Url to the tar.gz package for linux_amd64 of Syft to use (ex: https://github.com/anchore/syft/releases/download/v0.62.3/syft_0.62.3_linux_amd64.tar.gz)
When unset, the latest version will be used
none
sbom-name / PYTHON_SBOM_NAME Component name of the emitted SBOM $CI_PROJECT_PATH/$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR
sbom-opts / PYTHON_SBOM_OPTS Options for syft used for SBOM analysis --override-default-catalogers python-package-cataloger

In addition to logs in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one week:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-sbom.cyclonedx.json CycloneDX JSON Security & Compliance integration

py-black job

This job disabled by default and runs black on the repo. It is bound to the build stage.

Input / Variable Description Default value
black-enabled / PYTHON_BLACK_ENABLED Set to true to enable black job none (disabled)

py-isort job

This job disabled by default and runs isort on the repo. It is bound to the build stage.

Input / Variable Description Default value
isort-enabled / PYTHON_ISORT_ENABLED Set to true to enable isort job none (disabled)

py-ruff job

This job disabled by default and runs Ruff on the repo. It is bound to the build stage.

Input / Variable Description Default value
ruff-enabled / RUFF_ENABLED Set to true to enable ruff job none (disabled)
ruff-args / RUFF_ARGS Additional Ruff Linter CLI options none

⚠ Ruff can replace isort, Bandit, Pylint and much more. More info.

In addition to logs in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one week:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-ruff.gitlab.json GitLab GitLab integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-ruff.native.json JSON SonarQube integration
This report is generated only if SonarQube template is detected

py-ruff-format job

This job disabled by default and runs Ruff on the repo. It is bound to the build stage.

Input / Variable Description Default value
ruff-format-enabled / RUFF_FORMAT_ENABLED Set to true to enable ruff job none (disabled)

⚠ Ruff can replace Black and much more. More info.

py-mypy job

This job is disabled by default and performs code analysis based on mypy. It is activated by setting $MYPY_ENABLED to true.

It is bound to the build stage, and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
mypy-enabled / MYPY_ENABLED Set to true to enable the mypy job none (disabled)
mypy-args / MYPY_ARGS Additional mypy CLI options none
mypy-files / MYPY_FILES Files or directories to analyse none (by default analyses all found python source files)

In addition to a textual report in the console, this job produces the following reports, kept for one day:

Report Format Usage
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-mypy.codeclimate.json Code Climate GitLab integration
$PYTHON_PROJECT_DIR/reports/py-mypy.console.txt mypy console output SonarQube integration

SonarQube analysis

If you're using the SonarQube template to analyse your Python code, here is a sample sonar-project.properties file:

# see: https://docs.sonarqube.org/latest/analyzing-source-code/test-coverage/python-test-coverage/
# set your source directory(ies) here (relative to the sonar-project.properties file)
sonar.sources=.
# exclude unwanted directories and files from being analysed
sonar.exclusions=**/test_*.py

# set your tests directory(ies) here (relative to the sonar-project.properties file)
sonar.tests=.
sonar.test.inclusions=**/test_*.py

# tests report: xUnit format
sonar.python.xunit.reportPath=reports/TEST-*.xml
# coverage report: Cobertura format
sonar.python.coverage.reportPaths=reports/py-coverage.cobertura.xml
# pylint: parseable format (if enabled)
sonar.python.pylint.reportPaths=reports/py-lint.parseable.txt
# Bandit: CSV format (if enabled)
sonar.python.bandit.reportPaths=reports/py-bandit.bandit.csv
# Ruff: JSON format (if enabled)
sonar.python.ruff.reportPaths=reports/py-ruff.native.json
# mypy: JSON format (if enabled)
sonar.python.mypy.reportPaths=reports/py-mypy.console.txt

More info:

py-release job

This job is disabled by default and allows to perform a complete release of your Python code:

  1. increase the Python project version,
  2. Git commit changes and create a Git tag with the new version number,
  3. build the Python packages,
  4. publish the built packages to a PyPI compatible repository (GitLab packages by default).

The Python template supports three packaging systems:

The release job is bound to the publish stage, appears only on production and integration branches and uses the following variables:

Input / Variable Description Default value
release-enabled / PYTHON_RELEASE_ENABLED Set to true to enable the release job none (disabled)
release-next / PYTHON_RELEASE_NEXT The part of the version to increase (one of: major, minor, patch) minor
semrel-release-disabled / PYTHON_SEMREL_RELEASE_DISABLED Set to true to disable semantic-release integration none (disabled)
GIT_USERNAME Git username for Git push operations (see below) none
🔒 GIT_PASSWORD Git password for Git push operations (see below) none
🔒 GIT_PRIVATE_KEY SSH key for Git push operations (see below) none
release-commit-message / PYTHON_RELEASE_COMMIT_MESSAGE The Git commit message to use on the release commit. This is templated using the Python Format String Syntax. Available in the template context are current_version and new_version. chore(python-release): {current_version} → {new_version}
repository-url / PYTHON_REPOSITORY_URL Target PyPI repository to publish packages GitLab project's PyPI packages repository
PYTHON_REPOSITORY_USERNAME Target PyPI repository username credential gitlab-ci-token
🔒 PYTHON_REPOSITORY_PASSWORD Target PyPI repository password credential $CI_JOB_TOKEN

Setuptools tip

If you're using a Setuptools configuration, then you will have to write a .bumpversion.toml or pyproject.toml file.

Example of .bumpversion.toml file:

[tool.bumpversion]
current_version = "0.0.0"

Example of pyproject.toml file:

[project]
name = "project-name"

[build-system]
requires = ["setuptools"]
build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

[tool.bumpversion]
current_version = "0.0.0"

[[tool.bumpversion.files]]
filename = "project-name/__init__.py"

semantic-release integration

If you activate the semantic-release-info job from the semantic-release template, the py-release job will rely on the generated next version info. Thus, a release will be performed only if a next semantic release is present.

You should disable the semantic-release job (as it's the py-release job that will perform the release and so we only need the semantic-release-info job) by setting SEMREL_RELEASE_DISABLED to true.

Finally, the semantic-release integration can be disabled with the PYTHON_SEMREL_RELEASE_DISABLED variable.

Git authentication

A Python release involves some Git push operations.

You can either use a SSH key or user/password credentials.

Using a SSH key

We recommend you to use a project deploy key with write access to your project.

The key should not have a passphrase (see how to generate a new SSH key pair).

Specify 🔒 $GIT_PRIVATE_KEY as secret project variable with the private part of the deploy key.

-----BEGIN 0PENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
blablabla
-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

The template handles both classic variable and file variable.

Using user/password credentials

Simply specify 🔒 $GIT_USERNAME and 🔒 $GIT_PASSWORD as secret project variables.

Note that the password should be an access token (preferably a project or group access token) with write_repository scope and Maintainer role.

Pip repositories

When depending on Python packages published in GitLab's packages registry, it could be useful to configure a group level Package. But such repository will require an authenticated access.

To do so, simply set the PIP_INDEX_URL and use the CI job token.

variables:
  PIP_INDEX_URL: "${CI_SERVER_PROTOCOL}://gitlab-ci-token:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}:${CI_SERVER_PORT}/api/v4/groups/<group-id>/-/packages/pypi/simple"

In a corporate environment, you can be faced to two repositories: the corporate proxy-cache and the project repository.

Simply use both PIP_INDEX_URL and PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL.

variables:
  PIP_INDEX_URL: "https://cache.corp/repository/pypi/simple"
  PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL: "${CI_SERVER_PROTOCOL}://gitlab-ci-token:${CI_JOB_TOKEN}@${CI_SERVER_HOST}:${CI_SERVER_PORT}/api/v4/groups/<group-id>/-/packages/pypi/simple"

Variants

The Python template can be used in conjunction with template variants to cover specific cases.

Vault variant

This variant allows delegating your secrets management to a Vault server.

Configuration

In order to be able to communicate with the Vault server, the variant requires the additional configuration parameters:

Input / Variable Description Default value
TBC_VAULT_IMAGE The Vault Secrets Provider image to use (can be overridden) registry.gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/tools/vault-secrets-provider:latest
vault-base-url / VAULT_BASE_URL The Vault server base API url none
vault-oidc-aud / VAULT_OIDC_AUD The aud claim for the JWT $CI_SERVER_URL
🔒 VAULT_ROLE_ID The AppRole RoleID must be defined
🔒 VAULT_SECRET_ID The AppRole SecretID must be defined

Usage

Then you may retrieve any of your secret(s) from Vault using the following syntax:

@url@http://vault-secrets-provider/api/secrets/{secret_path}?field={field}

With:

Parameter Description
secret_path (path parameter) this is your secret location in the Vault server
field (query parameter) parameter to access a single basic field from the secret JSON payload

Example

include:
  # main component
  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.5.1
  # Vault variant
  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-vault@7.5.1
    inputs:
      vault-base-url: "https://vault.acme.host/v1"
      # audience claim for JWT
      vault-oidc-aud: "https://vault.acme.host"

variables:
    # Secrets managed by Vault
    GIT_PASSWORD: "@url@http://vault-secrets-provider/api/secrets/b7ecb6ebabc231/git/semantic-release?field=group-access-token"
    GIT_PRIVATE_KEY: "@url@http://vault-secrets-provider/api/secrets/b7ecb6ebabc231/git/semantic-release?field=private-key"
    PYTHON_REPOSITORY_PASSWORD: "@url@http://vault-secrets-provider/api/secrets/b7ecb6ebabc231/pip-repo/repository?field=password"
    # $VAULT_ROLE_ID and $VAULT_SECRET_ID defined as a secret CI/CD variable

Google Cloud variant

This variant allows to use Python Google Clients. The variant follow the recommendation Authenticate for using client libraries with ADC

Detailed article on internal OIDC impersonated with Workload Identify Federation

List of requirements before using this variant for use Python Google Clients:

  1. You must have a Workload Identity Federation Pool,
  2. You must have a Service Account with enough permissions to run your python job.
  3. Optional, you can define GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT in template variable to define the default Google project

Configuration

The variant requires the additional configuration parameters:

Input / Variable Description Default value
gcp-oidc-aud / GCP_OIDC_AUD The aud claim for the JWT token (only required for OIDC authentication) $CI_SERVER_URL
gcp-oidc-provider / GCP_OIDC_PROVIDER Default Workload Identity Provider associated with GitLab to authenticate with OpenID Connect none
gcp-oidc-account / GCP_OIDC_ACCOUNT Default Service Account to which impersonate with OpenID Connect authentication none

Example

include:
  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.5.1
    # 2: set/override component inputs
    inputs:
      image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
      pytest-enabled: true

  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-gcp@7.5.1
    inputs:
      # common OIDC config for non-prod envs
      gcp-oidc-provider: "projects/<gcp_nonprod_proj_id>/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/<pool_id>/providers/<provider_id>"
      gcp-oidc-account: "<name>@$<gcp_nonprod_proj_id>.iam.gserviceaccount.com"

AWS CodeArtifact variant

This variant allows to use PyPi packages from AWS CodeArtifact. The variant follow the recommendation Authenticate for using client libraries

It authenticates with AWS CodeArtifact, retrieves and sets the following environment variable:

  • CODEARTIFACT_AUTH_TOKEN - the AWS CodeArtifact authentication token
  • CODEARTIFACT_REPOSITORY_ENDPOINT - the AWS CodeArtifact repository endpoint
  • CODEARTIFACT_URL - Formatted URL for the AWS CodeArtifact repository

Most importantly, the variant sets the pip global.index-url to the CodeArtifact url.

The variant supports two authentication methods:

  1. federated authentication using OpenID Connect (recommended method),
  2. or basic authentication with AWS access key ID & secret access key.

⚠ when using this variant, you must have created the CodeArtifact repository.

Configuration

The variant requires the additional configuration parameters:

Input / Variable Description Default value
TBC_AWS_PROVIDER_IMAGE The AWS Auth Provider image to use (can be overridden) registry.gitlab.com/to-be-continuous/tools/aws-auth-provider:latest
aws-region / AWS_REGION Default region (where the Codeartifact repository is located) none
aws-codeartifact-domain / AWS_CODEARTIFACT_DOMAIN The CodeArtifact domain name none
aws-codeartifact-domain-owner / AWS_CODEARTIFACT_DOMAIN_OWNER The CodeArtifact domain owner account ID none
aws-codeartifact-repository / AWS_CODEARTIFACT_REPOSITORY The CodeArtifact repository name none
OIDC authentication config

This is the recommended authentication method. In order to use it, first carefuly follow GitLab's documentation, then set the required configuration.

Input / Variable Description Default value
aws-oidc-aud / AWS_OIDC_AUD The aud claim for the JWT token $CI_SERVER_URL
aws-oidc-role-arn / AWS_OIDC_ROLE_ARN Default IAM Role ARN associated with GitLab none
Basic authentication config
Variable Description Default value
🔒 AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID Default access key ID none (disabled)
🔒 AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY Default secret access key none (disabled)

Example

include:
  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python@7.5.1
    # 2: set/override component inputs
    inputs:
      image: registry.hub.docker.com/library/python:3.12-slim
      pytest-enabled: true

  - component: $CI_SERVER_FQDN/to-be-continuous/python/gitlab-ci-python-aws-codeartifact@7.5.1
    inputs:
      aws-region: "us-east-1"
      aws-codeartifact-domain: "acme"
      aws-codeartifact-domain-owner: "123456789012"
      aws-codeartifact-repository: "my-repo"
      # common OIDC config for non-prod envs
      aws-oidc-role-arn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/gitlab-ci"