PMLE Automating and Orchestrating ML Pipelines Practice Question
A team uses Cloud Build to automatically trigger a Vertex AI pipeline when changes are pushed to the model code repository. They have a cloudbuild.yaml file that builds a container image and submits the pipeline. However, they want to run the pipeline only if the commit includes changes to the 'training/' directory. Which Cloud Build configuration option should be used to filter the trigger?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse `ignoreFiles` with `includedFiles`, or assume that a custom solution like Cloud Functions is required when Cloud Build already provides a native, simpler mechanism for path-based filtering.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set the 'includedFiles' field to 'training/**' in the trigger configuration.
Cloud Build triggers support an `includedFiles` field that specifies a glob pattern. When set to `training/**`, the trigger will only fire if the commit includes changes to files under the `training/` directory. This is the native, declarative way to filter triggers based on changed file paths without additional infrastructure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add a 'ignoreFiles' field with 'training/**' to the trigger.
Why it's wrong here
Adding `ignoreFiles: training/**` inverts the requirement: it fires the build whenever anything *outside* `training/` changes, and skips commits touching only that directory. The `ignoreFiles` field exists to suppress builds for paths such as documentation or README edits, so it would be the right choice only if `training/` changes should never trigger the pipeline.
- ✗
Use a 'substitutions' field with a regex pattern to filter commits.
Why it's wrong here
Substitutions supply variable values consumed by the build steps; they cannot evaluate which repository paths a push touched, so no regex there gates the trigger. Substitutions are for injecting environment-specific values such as image tags or project IDs into cloudbuild.yaml.
- ✗
Configure a Cloud Function to check the commit diff and call Cloud Build API conditionally.
Why it's wrong here
A Cloud Function inspecting commit diffs adds an external component and latency, whereas Cloud Build triggers natively support includedFiles path filtering. The Cloud Function pattern fits orchestrating cross-service logic that Cloud Build triggers cannot express.
- ✓
Set the 'includedFiles' field to 'training/**' in the trigger configuration.
Why this is correct
The includedFiles field with 'training/**' restricts the trigger to commits touching that directory, directly satisfying the requirement to run the pipeline only for training-code changes. Cloud Build evaluates this glob against changed paths before executing cloudbuild.yaml, avoiding unnecessary builds.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PMLE question from scratch — 775 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PMLE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PMLE exam.