How to Set a Job Timeout in GitLab CI

GitLab caps a job with the timeout keyword using a human-readable duration like 30m or 1h 30m.

Set timeout: on a job to bound its runtime. It must be below the runner timeout, which itself overrides the project-level default.

Per-job timeout

This job is killed if it runs longer than 30 minutes, regardless of the project default.

test:
  timeout: 30m
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm test

e2e:
  timeout: 1h 30m
  script:
    - npm run test:e2e

Gotchas

• The effective limit is the smallest of job timeout, runner timeout, and project timeout - a job timeout larger than the runner timeout is ignored.
• Durations are human-readable (30m, 1h, 3h 30m), not seconds.
• A timed-out job fails; use it as a safety net so a hung job does not occupy a runner indefinitely.

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