DataDog · bengl · Aug 6, 2026 · Aug 6, 2026 · Aug 7, 2026
@@ -8,15 +8,16 @@
 - `.gitlab/compile_extension.sh` — compiles ddtrace.so (used by the
   `compile extension: debug` prerequisite)
 - `Makefile` — defines the `test_c`, `test_unit`, `test_opcache`,
-  `test_extension_ci`, etc. targets
+  `test_extension_ci_normal`, `test_extension_ci_valgrind`, etc. targets
 
 | CI Job | Image | What it does |
 |--------|-------|-------------|
 | `compile extension: debug` | `dd-trace-ci:php-{ver}_bookworm-6` | Compiles ddtrace.so in debug mode; produces artifact consumed by all test jobs below |
 | `compile extension: debug-zts-asan` | same | Compiles ddtrace.so with ASAN+ZTS; used by ASAN test jobs |
 | `Unit tests: [{ver}]` | `dd-trace-ci:php-{ver}_bookworm-6` | Runs PHPUnit `--testsuite=unit` |
 | `API unit tests: [{ver}]` | same | Runs PHPUnit API unit tests |
-| `test_extension_ci: [{ver}]` | same | Runs .phpt extension tests + valgrind wrapper, with test-agent |
+| `test_extension_ci: [{ver}]` | same | Runs .phpt extension tests (normal pass), with test-agent |
+| `test_extension_ci: [{ver}, valgrind]` | same | Same suite under valgrind for leak checking; much slower, so it is a separate job |
 | `PHP Language Tests: [{ver}]` | same | Runs the upstream PHP test suite with ddtrace loaded; uses an xfail list |
 | `Opcache tests: [{ver}]` | same | Runs .phpt tests in `tests/opcache/` with opcache.so loaded |
 | `xDebug tests: [{ver}, {xdebug_ver}]` | same | Runs xdebug-specific .phpt tests + unit tests with xdebug loaded |
@@ -549,14 +550,22 @@ make test_opcache
   Each new `dockerh` invocation must re-run `make install_all` even
   when the compiled artifacts are cached.
 
-- **`test_extension_ci` uses a valgrind wrapper.** The Makefile
-  prepends `tests/ext/valgrind` to `$PATH`, which intercepts `php`
-  calls to run them under valgrind. This makes the job significantly
-  slower and is specific to CI.
-
-- **`PHP Language Tests` has retry:2 in CI.** These tests are
-  inherently flaky due to timing-sensitive PHP runtime tests. The CI
-  job retries up to 2 times on script failure.
+- **The valgrind pass is a separate job.** `make test_extension_ci_normal`
+  runs the suite normally; `make test_extension_ci_valgrind` re-runs it
+  under valgrind (`run-tests.php -m`) for leak checking. Both prepend
+  `tests/ext/valgrind` to `$PATH` — the shim there intercepts `valgrind`
+  invocations to add the suppressions file. The valgrind pass is roughly
+  an order of magnitude slower, which is why it no longer shares a job
+  with the normal pass. `make test_extension_ci` still runs both
+  serially for local use.
+
+- **Retries are infrastructure-only.** `test_extension_ci`,
+  `ASAN test_c`, and `PHP Language Tests` inherit `default.retry` from
+  `.gitlab/generate-common.php`, which retries runner/API/timeout
+  failures but *not* `script_failure`. A genuine test failure is not
+  retried — retrying it tripled compute without changing the outcome.
+  These job classes are listed in `flaky-jobs.txt`, so their failures
+  are already non-gating.
 
 - **`test_integration` talks to test-agent on port 9126** and mongodb.
   `test_composer`, `test_auto_instrumentation`, and

@@ -237,7 +237,6 @@ function before_script_steps($with_docker_auth = false) {
           - PHP_MAJOR_MINOR: "<?= $major_minor ?>"
             ARCH: "<?= $arch ?>"
       artifacts: true
-  retry: 2
   variables:
     WAIT_FOR: test-agent:9126
     KUBERNETES_CPU_REQUEST: 6
@@ -355,6 +354,8 @@ function before_script_steps($with_docker_auth = false) {
 <?php
 foreach ($all_minor_major_targets as $major_minor):
 ?>
+<?php /* Normal and valgrind passes run as separate jobs: valgrind is far
+   slower, so run in parallel. */ ?>
 "test_extension_ci: [<?= $major_minor ?>]":
   extends: .debug_test
   services:
@@ -369,13 +370,46 @@ function before_script_steps($with_docker_auth = false) {
   variables:
     WAIT_FOR: test-agent:9126
     KUBERNETES_CPU_REQUEST: 12
+<?php if (version_compare($major_minor, "7.4", ">=")): ?>
+    # Match the CPU request.
+    MAX_TEST_PARALLELISM: 12
+<?php endif; ?>
+    PHP_MAJOR_MINOR: "<?= $major_minor ?>"
+    ARCH: "amd64"
+    KUBERNETES_POD_ANNOTATIONS_1: "ci.ddbuild.io/enforce-static-cpus=true"
+<?php if (version_compare($major_minor, "7.4", ">=")): ?>
+  timeout: 45m
+<?php else: ?>
+  # run-tests.php only gets -j on PHP >= 7.4 (RUN_TESTS_IS_PARALLEL in the
+  # Makefile), so these versions run serially and need the larger budget.
+  timeout: 120m
+<?php endif; ?>
+  script:
+    - make test_extension_ci_normal
+<?php after_script("tmp/build_extension", has_test_agent: true); ?>
+
+"test_extension_ci: [<?= $major_minor ?>, valgrind]":
+  extends: .debug_test
+  services:
+<?php agent_httpbin_service() ?>
+  needs:
+    - job: "compile extension: debug"
+      parallel:
+        matrix:
+          - PHP_MAJOR_MINOR: "<?= $major_minor ?>"
+            ARCH: "amd64"
+      artifacts: true
+  variables:
+    WAIT_FOR: test-agent:9126
+    KUBERNETES_CPU_REQUEST: 12
+    # Below the CPU request: each worker spawns its own valgrind process.
     MAX_TEST_PARALLELISM: 4
     PHP_MAJOR_MINOR: "<?= $major_minor ?>"
     ARCH: "amd64"
     KUBERNETES_POD_ANNOTATIONS_1: "ci.ddbuild.io/enforce-static-cpus=true"
   timeout: 120m
   script:
-    - make test_extension_ci
+    - make test_extension_ci_valgrind
 <?php after_script("tmp/build_extension", has_test_agent: true); ?>
 
 "Unit tests: [<?= $major_minor ?>]":
@@ -534,17 +568,6 @@ function before_script_steps($with_docker_auth = false) {
     DD_INSTRUMENTATION_TELEMETRY_ENABLED: 0
 <?php endif; ?>
   timeout: 40m
-  retry:
-    max: 2
-    when:
-      - script_failure
-      - unknown_failure
-      - data_integrity_failure
-      - runner_system_failure
-      - scheduler_failure
-      - api_failure
-      - stuck_or_timeout_failure
-      - job_execution_timeout
   script:
     - make install_all
     - export XFAIL_LIST="dockerfiles/ci/xfail_tests/${PHP_MAJOR_MINOR}.list"

@@ -202,18 +202,32 @@ test_c2php: $(SO_FILE) $(INIT_HOOK_TEST_FILES) $(BUILD_DIR)/run-tests.php
 test_with_init_hook: $(SO_FILE) $(INIT_HOOK_TEST_FILES) $(BUILD_DIR)/run-tests.php
 	$(if $(ASAN), USE_ZEND_ALLOC=0 USE_TRACKED_ALLOC=1) $(RUN_TESTS_CMD) -d extension=$(SO_FILE) $(TRACER_SOURCES_INI) $(INIT_HOOK_TEST_FILES);
 
-test_extension_ci: $(SO_FILE) $(TEST_FILES) $(TEST_STUB_FILES) $(BUILD_DIR)/run-tests.php
+# The .phpt suite runs twice: normally, and under valgrind for leak checking.
+# Separate targets so CI can parallelize them -- valgrind is far slower.
+# The PATH shim in tests/ext/valgrind adds the suppressions file.
+test_extension_ci_normal: $(SO_FILE) $(TEST_FILES) $(TEST_STUB_FILES) $(BUILD_DIR)/run-tests.php
 	( \
 	set -xe; \
 	export PATH="$(PROJECT_ROOT)/tests/ext/valgrind:$$PATH"; \
 	export TEST_PHP_JUNIT=$(JUNIT_RESULTS_DIR)/normal-extension-test.xml; \
 	$(ALL_TEST_ENV_OVERRIDE) $(RUN_TESTS_CMD) -d extension=$(SO_FILE) $(BUILD_DIR)/$(TESTS); \
-	\
+	)
+
+test_extension_ci_valgrind: $(SO_FILE) $(TEST_FILES) $(TEST_STUB_FILES) $(BUILD_DIR)/run-tests.php
+	( \
+	set -xe; \
+	export PATH="$(PROJECT_ROOT)/tests/ext/valgrind:$$PATH"; \
 	export TEST_PHP_JUNIT=$(JUNIT_RESULTS_DIR)/valgrind-extension-test.xml; \
 	export TEST_PHP_OUTPUT=$(JUNIT_RESULTS_DIR)/valgrind-run-tests.out; \
 	DD_SPAWN_WORKER_STABLE_TRAMPOLINE=1 $(ALL_TEST_ENV_OVERRIDE) DD_TRACE_AGENT_TIMEOUT=5000 $(RUN_TESTS_CMD) -d extension=$(SO_FILE) -m -s $$TEST_PHP_OUTPUT $(BUILD_DIR)/$(TESTS) && ! grep -e '^LEAKED TEST SUMMARY' $$TEST_PHP_OUTPUT; \
 	)
 
+# Recursive $(MAKE), not prerequisites: under `make -jN` prerequisites would run
+# concurrently and both passes share the same .phpt sandbox (.out/.diff/.mem).
+test_extension_ci:
+	$(MAKE) test_extension_ci_normal
+	$(MAKE) test_extension_ci_valgrind
+
 build_tea: TEA_BUILD_TESTS=ON
 build_tea: TEA_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/catch2
 build_tea: build_tea_common
@@ -1637,5 +1651,5 @@ test_internal_api_randomized: $(SO_FILE)
 composer.lock: composer.json
 	$(call run_composer_with_retry,,)
 
-.PHONY: dev dist_clean clean cores all clang_format_check clang_format_fix install sudo_install test_c test_c_mem test_extension_ci test_zai test_zai_asan test install_ini install_all \
+.PHONY: dev dist_clean clean cores all clang_format_check clang_format_fix install sudo_install test_c test_c_mem test_extension_ci test_extension_ci_normal test_extension_ci_valgrind test_zai test_zai_asan test install_ini install_all \
 	.apk .rpm .deb .tar.gz sudo debug prod strict run-tests.php verify_pecl_file_definitions verify_package_xml cbindgen cbindgen_binary