How to release built artifacts back-and-forth from one to another repo on GitLab?

Ideally, you would not push a generated artifact to another Git source repository.

But a GitLab pipeline can retrieve an artifact produced by another one from its URL.

To avoid the back and forth, I would rather have 3 jobs instead of two

• the first generates XLF file
• the second curls/fetches that file, and use it to generate new XLF file
• the third job curls/fetches that file, and complete the process.

How to release built artifacts back-and-forth from one to another repo on GitLab?

• Repository A:
  • Compile Angular code and create a XLF file
  • Send a hook to repository B that it just compiled
    • just trigger: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#trigger , works like a charm. It's even nicely visible in the gui.
    • or API https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/triggers/
    • pass variables: PARENT_PIPELINE_ID: $CI_PIPELINE_ID to repository B so it can download artifacts from specific pipeline
• Repository B:
  • Use the 'XLF File' generated above
    • use needs: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#artifact-downloads-to-child-pipelines to download artifacts
    • or API: have personal access token from repository A https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/profile/personal_access_tokens.html added to environment variables and use API to download artifacts https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/api/job_artifacts.html .
  • create a new XLF file
  • use trigger: or API to trigger repository A
    • but this time trigger different .gitlab-ci.yml file like: trigger: - project: repositoryA file: second_stage.gitlab-ci.yml https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/yaml/#trigger-child-pipeline-with-files-from-another-project
    • or use like variables: SECOND_STAGE: "true" and use a variable to differentiate
• Repository A:
  • run pipeline from the file second_stage.gitlab-ci.yml
  • download artifacts from repository B - needs: or API
  • use the newly generated XLF file to create the final output file

Overall, what you need is rules: and needs: documentation. On older gitlab, it was done with API.

CI on Repo A should wait until Repo B pushes a new artifact to Repo A to complete the process

Don't wait. Let the API trigger it.

I tried the following approach and it worked fine or at least I was able to proceed

Due to some reason 'variables' along with CURL did not work as expected but I did not analyze the root cause

Repo A - Pipeline

trigger-repob:                        (Trigger Project B of Repo B)                           
  stage: repob
  trigger:
    project: repob-namespace/projectb
    branch: devops 

test_job:
  image: $CI_REGISTRY/$CI_PROJECT_PATH/base-image:latest
  stage: test_pipeline
  when: delayed
  start_in: 2 minutes
  needs:                                (Use artifacts from Repo B/Project B)
    - 
      project: repob-namespace/projectb
      job: buildprojectb
      ref: devops
      artifacts: true
  script:
  - do something here

Repo B Pipeline

buildprojectb:
  image: php:7.4.11  
  stage: build
  script:
  - do something here
  artifacts:
    paths:
    - outputs/*.xlf