Artifacts Unit Test Reports

In this guide, you’ll learn how to collect JUnit-style XML results from a Node.js project using Mocha, upload them as artifacts in GitLab CI/CD, and visualize test reports in merge requests and pipelines. We’ll cover:

Basic artifacts configuration
Customizing retention and upload settings
Enabling artifacts:reports for JUnit
Available report types
Viewing failures in a merge request
Analyzing test summaries in the pipeline

Prerequisites

A GitLab project with CI/CD enabled
A Node.js test suite configured with mocha-junit-reporter

Install the JUnit reporter locally:

npm install --save-dev mocha-junit-reporter

Ensure your package.json test script invokes the reporter.

1. Basic CI/CD Job to Run Tests and Upload Artifacts

Start with a simple CI job that runs tests and uploads all generated files upon success:

stages:
  - test

variables:
  MONGO_URI: 'mongodb+srv://supercluster.d83jj.mongodb.net/superData'
  MONGO_USERNAME: superuser
  MONGO_PASSWORD: $M_DB_PASSWORD

unit_testing:
  stage: test
  image: node:17-alpine3.14
  before_script:
    - npm install
  script:
    - npm test
  artifacts:
    when: on_success
    expire_in: 30 days

This configuration uploads every file created during the job and retains them for 30 days.

2. Always Upload & Customize Artifact Retention

To ensure test results are available even on failure, adjust the artifacts block:

unit_testing:
  stage: test
  image: node:17-alpine3.14
  before_script:
    - npm install
  script:
    - npm test
  artifacts:
    when: always
    expire_in: 3 days
    name: "Mocha-Test-Result"
    paths:
      - test-results.xml

when: always – captures artifacts on success or failure
expire_in: 3 days – limits storage time to 3 days
name – assigns a meaningful archive name
paths – points to the JUnit XML file

Generating the JUnit XML

Make sure your test command includes the JUnit reporter:

npm test
# Output:
> mocha app-test.js --timeout 10000 --reporter mocha-junit-reporter --exit

A sample test-results.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<testsuite name="Mocha Tests" time="4.968" tests="11" failures="0">
  <testsuite name="Root Suite" timestamp="2024-01-30T13:59:59" tests="0" time="0.000" failures="0">
    <testcase name="Planets API Suite" timestamp="2024-01-30T13:59:59" tests="8">
      <testcase name="it should fetch a planet named Mercury" time="3.383"/>
      <!-- more testcases... -->
    </testcase>
  </testsuite>
</testsuite>

3. Registering JUnit Reports with `artifacts:reports`

GitLab can parse JUnit XML and display it natively in merge requests and pipeline views. Extend your job:

unit_testing:
  stage: test
  image: node:17-alpine3.14
  before_script:
    - npm install
  script:
    - npm test
  artifacts:
    when: always
    expire_in: 3 days
    name: "Mocha-Test-Result"
    paths:
      - test-results.xml
  reports:
    junit: test-results.xml

This enables the Test Reports tab in merge requests and shows detailed test metrics in the pipeline.

4. Available Artifact Report Types

GitLab supports a variety of built-in report types that surface in Merge Request widgets and the pipeline UI:

Report Type	Use Case	File Format
junit	Unit test results	JUnit XML
cobertura	Code coverage metrics	Cobertura XML
sast	Static Application Security Test	SARIF
dast	Dynamic Application Security	HTML / JSON
codequality	Code Quality analysis	JSON
license_management	Dependency license scanning	JSON

The image shows a GitLab documentation page about CI/CD artifact report types, detailing how to use artifacts:reports for collecting various reports in jobs. The page includes a sidebar with navigation links and a list of report types.

5. Viewing Failures in a Merge Request

When tests fail, GitLab surfaces a summary of the failures directly in the Merge Request:

The image shows a GitLab documentation page about viewing failed tests in unit test reports. It includes a test summary panel with details of failed tests and navigation options on the side.

6. Checking Test Summaries in the Pipeline

In the pipeline’s Tests tab, you’ll see:

Total tests run
Number of failures
Success rate (%)
Average test duration

The image shows a GitLab documentation page about viewing unit test reports, displaying a summary of test results with 3 tests, 2 failures, and a 33.33% success rate.

After job completion, artifact upload logs appear:

Uploading artifacts...
test-results.xml: found 1 matching artifact files and directories
Uploading artifacts as "archive" to coordinator... 201 Created
Uploading artifacts as "junit" to coordinator... 201 Created
Cleaning up project directory and file based variables
Job succeeded

You can browse or download the raw XML:

Browsing artifacts…
test-results.xml

Or view it visually:

The image shows a GitLab CI/CD pipeline test report with 11 successful tests, each related to fetching planet details, achieving a 100% success rate.

Introduction

Architecture & Core Concepts

Continuous Integration with GitLab

Continuous Deployment with GitLab

Optimization, Security and Monitoring

Self-Managed Runners

Auto DevOps

Artifacts Unit Test Reports

Prerequisites

1. Basic CI/CD Job to Run Tests and Upload Artifacts

2. Always Upload & Customize Artifact Retention

Generating the JUnit XML

3. Registering JUnit Reports with `artifacts:reports`

4. Available Artifact Report Types

5. Viewing Failures in a Merge Request

6. Checking Test Summaries in the Pipeline

References

Watch Video

​Prerequisites

​1. Basic CI/CD Job to Run Tests and Upload Artifacts

​2. Always Upload & Customize Artifact Retention

​Generating the JUnit XML

​3. Registering JUnit Reports with artifacts:reports

​4. Available Artifact Report Types

​5. Viewing Failures in a Merge Request

​6. Checking Test Summaries in the Pipeline

​References

Watch Video

Prerequisites

1. Basic CI/CD Job to Run Tests and Upload Artifacts

2. Always Upload & Customize Artifact Retention

Generating the JUnit XML

3. Registering JUnit Reports with `artifacts:reports`

4. Available Artifact Report Types

5. Viewing Failures in a Merge Request

6. Checking Test Summaries in the Pipeline

References