Matrix Job - CI/CD Glossary Definition

A matrix job fans one job out into parallel jobs across combinations of variables.

A matrix job uses strategy.matrix to expand one job definition into many parallel jobs, one per combination of the listed variables such as language versions or operating systems.

Matrix builds test many configurations from a single job block. Each combination runs as its own job on its own runner, in parallel by default.

Example

.github/workflows/ci.yml

strategy:
  matrix:
    node: [18, 20, 22]
    os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]

Related guides

fail-fast - CI/CD Glossary Definitionfail-fast: fail-fast is a matrix strategy option that, when `true` (the default), cancels all remaining matri… runs-on - CI/CD Glossary Definitionruns-on: runs-on is the required job key that selects which runner executes the job, either by hosted label l…