Config compilation failed CI/CD Origin: Build & delivery Last updated 25 Oct 2026

CircleCI: Error calling workflow: 'build'. Cannot find a definition for job named test / Config does not conform to schema

CircleCI could not compile .circleci/config.yml — a workflow refers to a missing job, a key is invalid, or the YAML is malformed.

Exact message you may see Cannot find a definition for job namedConfig does not conform to schemaError calling workflowUnexpected argument(s) CircleCI configConfig compilation failed CircleCI
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Seen on: CircleCI

Meaning

Use the CircleCI CLI to validate locally: circleci config validate. Errors name the workflow, job or key. Make sure version: 2.1, jobs referenced in workflows exist, orbs are declared, and parameters have the right types.

Common causes

  • Workflow jobs: references a job that is not defined
  • Misspelled key or wrong nesting
  • Using 2.1 features (orbs, parameters) with version: 2
  • Parameter type mismatch
  • YAML indentation error

⚡ Quick fix

  1. Run circleci config validate before pushing
  2. Match job names between jobs: and workflows:
  3. Use version: 2.1 for orbs and parameters

Detailed fix by platform

CircleCI

  1. Install the CLI and validate: circleci config validate .circleci/config.yml
  2. Preview the expanded config: circleci config process .circleci/config.yml

Code examples

Matching job and workflow

yaml
version: 2.1
jobs:
  test:
    docker: [{ image: cimg/node:20.11 }]
    steps: [checkout, { run: npm test }]
workflows:
  main:
    jobs: [test]

How to diagnose

  1. Validate — circleci config validate output?
  2. Names — Workflow jobs defined?
  3. Version — 2.1 used?

🔧 Still not fixed?

Many errors look alike. If the steps above didn’t solve it, one of these is probably what you’re facing:

Where this error sits

Origin: Build & delivery. Errors that are often confused with or caused by this one (click to open):

.gitlab-ci.yml invalid — GitLab CI: Found errors in your .gitlab-ci.yml: jobs:build config contains unknown keys: scripts (CI/CD).gitlab-ci.yml invalidCannot find orb — CircleCI: Cannot find orb 'circleci/node@9.9.9'. Check the namespace and version exist (CI/CD)Cannot find orbComparisonError: manifest generation failed — Argo CD: ComparisonError: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Manifest generation error (cached): kustomize build failed (CI/CD)ComparisonError: mani…compose validation — docker compose: services.x Additional property y is not allowed / yaml: line N: mapping values are not allowed (Docker)compose validationContainer exceeded memory limit — Bitbucket Pipelines: Container 'Build' exceeded memory limit / Docker container exited with code 137 (CI/CD)Container exceeded me…depends on undefined service — service "web" depends on undefined service "db": invalid compose project (Docker)depends on undefined …Invalid workflow file — GitHub Actions: Invalid workflow file: .github/workflows/ci.yml#L12 — You have an error in your yaml syntax on line 12 (CI/CD)Invalid workflow fileTemplate file not found — Azure Pipelines: /azure-pipelines.yml: File /templates/build.yml not found in repository / Unable to find template (CI/CD)Template file not fou…Config co…

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