needs can start jobs from the next stage early…
job1:
stage: stage1
#...
job2:
stage: stage2
needs: job1
#...
…or delay them in the same stage
job1:
stage: test
#...
job2:
stage: test
needs: job1
#...
Depend on a job but do not consume artifacts :
job_name:
#...
job_name2:
needs:
job: job_name
artifacts: false
Consume artifacts from parent (upstream) pipeline :
job_name:
script: cat artifact.txt
needs:
- pipeline: $PARENT_PIPELINE_ID
job: create-artifact
See chapter Job dependencies