What do the status icons mean in CircleCI pipelines?

Overview

The CircleCI web app shows status icons next to each job in the workflow graph. This article explains what each icon means, including the deep blue circle with a horizontal line through it (often described as a “dash”).

What the three main icons mean

Here is an example of what these icons look like in a workflow graph:

You may also see other states such as running (blue spinner), on hold / needs approval (paused icon), or queued (waiting icon). This article focuses on the three final states above.

When does "Not Run" (the deep blue circle) appear in the workflow graph?

The icons described above appear in the workflow graph, where each node represents a job. A job shows as Not Run when:

• It has a requires: dependency on another job that failed, so CircleCI never starts it.
• It was canceled before it could start.
• A workflow-level condition or filter prevented it from running.

Example config where deploy would show as Not Run if test fails:

workflows:
  build_and_deploy:
    jobs:
      - build
      - test:
          requires:
            - build
      - deploy:
          requires:
            - test

If test fails, deploy never starts and appears with the deep blue circle icon in the workflow graph.

What to do next

• If a job shows the deep blue circle: open the workflow graph and find the job it depended on (requires:). That upstream job likely failed or was canceled. Fix the upstream job first.
• After a successful rerun, jobs that previously showed Not Run should now show green checkmarks (assuming they pass).

Additional resources

• CircleCI docs: Jobs and steps
• Job status transitions
• Configuration reference
• Contact CircleCI Support