GitLab CI: This job could not start because it could not retrieve the needed artifacts (dependencies: build).

Meaning

With dependencies: or needs: [artifacts: true], the earlier job must have succeeded and still hold its artifacts. If expire_in has passed, or you retried a later job in an old pipeline, they are gone. Re-run the producing job, extend expire_in, or keep the artifacts of the latest successful pipeline.

Common causes

• Artifacts expired (expire_in passed)
• Producing job failed or was skipped by rules
• Retrying a late stage of an old pipeline
• Job names in dependencies do not match
• Artifacts deleted manually or by cleanup

Detailed fix by platform

Code examples

test:
  stage: test
  needs:
    - job: build
      artifacts: true
  script: ./run-tests.sh dist/

How to diagnose

1. Producer — Did the build job succeed?
2. Age — Past expire_in?
3. Names — Matching job names?

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