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Hardware-in-the-loop testing in GitLab CI ​

Two ways to put real hardware in a GitLab pipeline: the ready-made CI template (CLI-based, zero setup) or the Python SDK for full pytest suites. Both flash your binary to a physical board and fail the pipeline when the hardware run fails.

Template source on GitHub

Option 1: the CI template ​

Include the template and extend it:

yaml
include:
  - remote: 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/siliconrig/srig-integrations/main/templates/gitlab-ci.yml'

hil-test:
  extends: .siliconrig-hil
  stage: test
  variables:
    SRIG_BOARD: stm32-h753
    SRIG_FIRMWARE: build/firmware.bin
    SRIG_SERIAL_TIMEOUT: "30s"
  timeout: 10m

.siliconrig-hil installs the CLI, creates a session, flashes SRIG_FIRMWARE, captures serial output to serial-output.txt (kept as a job artifact, also on failure), and ends the session in after_script so a failing test never leaves a session running.

Override script: to assert on the output:

yaml
hil-test:
  extends: .siliconrig-hil
  variables:
    SRIG_BOARD: rp2350
    SRIG_FIRMWARE: build/app.uf2
  script:
    - srig serial --timeout 30s --log serial-output.txt
    - grep "BENCH_DONE" serial-output.txt

There is also .siliconrig-flash for flash-only jobs (e.g. deploying a golden image) without serial capture.

Option 2: the Python SDK ​

For richer assertions, drive the board from pytest:

yaml
hardware-test:
  image: python:3.12
  stage: test
  variables:
    SRIG_API_KEY: $SRIG_API_KEY
  script:
    - pip install siliconrig pytest
    - pytest tests/hil/ -v
  timeout: 10m

See the Python SDK guide for the board fixture pattern (session per test, flash once, interact over serial).

Setup ​

  1. Create an API key in the dashboard, named after the project (e.g. GitLab CI - my-firmware).
  2. Add it as a masked CI/CD variable SRIG_API_KEY (Settings → CI/CD → Variables).
  3. Pick a board type and point SRIG_FIRMWARE at your build output.

Tips ​

  • Always set timeout: on the job. A board that never prints the expected line should fail fast, not eat your pipeline minutes.
  • Keep serial logs as artifacts (the template already does) so a red pipeline shows you what the board actually said.
  • Firmware uploads are limited to 16 MB.