Problem

The [ci skip] or [skip ci] tag should skip CircleCI builds but sometimes doesn't work. This happens when the tag is placed incorrectly or when you're in an unsupported scenario.

Why this occurs: CircleCI only checks the first 250 characters of the commit title or body for skip tags.

Solutions

Solution 1: Place Tag at the Start

Put [ci skip] or [skip ci] in your commit title or at the very beginning:

git commit -m "[ci skip] Update docs"

Solution 2: Check for Unsupported Scenarios

Skip tags do NOT work in these cases:

• Fork pull requests
• Scheduled workflows
• GitHub App pipelines triggered via webhooks or schedules

For these scenarios, use pipeline parameters instead (see Solution 3).

Solution 3: Use Pipeline Parameters

For API-triggered builds or when skip tags don't work:

version: 2.1

parameters:
  run_workflow:
    type: boolean
    default: true

workflows:
  build:
    when: << pipeline.parameters.run_workflow >>
    jobs:
      - build

Outcome

Builds are skipped: The tag is correctly placed in the first 250 characters.

Builds still run: You're in an unsupported scenario. Use pipeline parameters or conditional workflows instead.

Additional Notes

• Only the latest commit message is checked when pushing multiple commits
• Skipped pipelines won't appear on the pipelines page (GitHub App) or show as NOT RUN (GitHub OAuth/GitLab/Bitbucket)
• The tag must be in the first 250 characters

Additional Resources

• Skip CI and Cancel Workflows - Complete skip build documentation
• Pipeline Parameters - Using parameters in configuration
• Conditional Workflows - Controlling workflow execution