Multi-Line Strings

YAML's superpower vs JSON.

Literal (|): preserves newlines.

description: |
  This is line 1.
  This is line 2.
  This is line 3.

Result: "This is line 1.\nThis is line 2.\nThis is line 3.\n".

Folded (>): joins lines with spaces; double-newlines stay.

text: >
  These lines
  fold into one.

  This is a new paragraph.

Result: "These lines fold into one.\nThis is a new paragraph.\n".

Indentation: content indented MORE than the YAML key. Indent level becomes content's "zero".

key: |
  Hello
    World

Content: "Hello\n World\n" (note: 2 extra spaces preserved).

Chomping indicators (control trailing newlines):

• (none) — keep ONE trailing newline.
• - — strip ALL trailing newlines.
• + — keep ALL trailing newlines.

strip: |-
  text
  another

clip: |
  text
  another

keep: |+
  text
  another

Trailing newlines:

• strip: "text\nanother".
• clip: "text\nanother\n".
• keep: "text\nanother\n\n\n".

Used for:

• Embedded scripts in CI files:

script: |
  echo "starting"
  npm install
  npm test

• Multi-line config (long descriptions, certificates).

Example certificates inside YAML:

ca_cert: |
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  MIIDXTCCAkWgAwIBAg...
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----

Quoting alternative: double-quoted spans multiple lines (with explicit \n).