Serialization

The GitLab lexicon serializes resources into .gitlab-ci.yml YAML. Keys are converted to snake_case and jobs use kebab-case names. Stages are automatically collected from all job definitions.

Building

Run chant build to produce a .gitlab-ci.yml from your declarations:

chant build
# Writes dist/.gitlab-ci.yml

The generated file includes:

• stages: list — automatically collected from all job stage properties
• default: section — if a Default resource is exported
• workflow: section — if a Workflow resource is exported
• Job definitions with snake_case keys and kebab-case job names

Key conversions

Chant (TypeScript)	YAML output	Rule
export const buildApp = new Job({...})	build-app:	Export name → kebab-case job key
expire_in: "1 week"	expire_in: 1 week	Property names use spec-native snake_case
new Image({ name: "node:20" })	image: node:20	Single-property objects are collapsed

Validating locally

The output is standard GitLab CI YAML. Validate with the GitLab CI Lint API or locally:

# Using the GitLab API
curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_TOKEN" \
  --data-urlencode "content=$(cat dist/.gitlab-ci.yml)" \
  "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/ci/lint"

# Using the glab CLI
glab ci lint dist/.gitlab-ci.yml

Compatibility

The output is compatible with:

• GitLab CI/CD (any recent GitLab version)
• GitLab CI Lint API
• glab CLI tool
• Any tool that processes .gitlab-ci.yml files