What is the 'default' keyword in GitLab CI and how does it reduce duplication?

The default keyword defines configuration that applies to all jobs in the pipeline unless overridden at the job level. It acts as a global default for common settings, reducing repetition across many jobs.

# Set defaults for all jobs
default:
  image: ubuntu:24.04
  before_script:
    - apt-get update -qq
    - echo "Setting up environment..."
  after_script:
    - echo "Job complete"
  retry:
    max: 1
    when: runner_system_failure
  timeout: 1 hour
  interruptible: true           # allow newer pipelines to cancel this job

# Jobs inherit defaults but can override individual settings:
build-job:
  image: node:20-alpine         # overrides the default ubuntu image
  script:
    - npm ci && npm run build   # before_script from default still runs

python-test:
  # uses all defaults: ubuntu image, before_script, retry, timeout
  script:
    - pip install -r requirements.txt
    - pytest
  before_script:
    - pip install --upgrade pip # overrides global before_script entirely

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