2 files changed, 21 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/config/entry/composable_hash.rb b/lib/gitlab/config/entry/composable_hash.rb
index 9531b7e56fd..0b892fd4552 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/config/entry/composable_hash.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/config/entry/composable_hash.rb
@@ -25,9 +25,9 @@ module Gitlab
               entry_class_name = entry_class.name.demodulize.underscore
 
               factory = ::Gitlab::Config::Entry::Factory.new(entry_class)
-                .value(config || {})
+                .value(config.nil? ? {} : config)
                 .with(key: name, parent: self, description: "#{name} #{entry_class_name} definition") # rubocop:disable CodeReuse/ActiveRecord
-                .metadata(name: name)
+                .metadata(composable_metadata.merge(name: name))
 
               @entries[name] = factory.create!
             end
@@ -38,9 +38,15 @@ module Gitlab
           end
         end
 
+        private
+
         def composable_class(name, config)
           opt(:composable_class)
         end
+
+        def composable_metadata
+          {}
+        end
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/config/entry/validators.rb b/lib/gitlab/config/entry/validators.rb
index cc24ae837f3..337cfbc5287 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/config/entry/validators.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/config/entry/validators.rb
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ module Gitlab
           end
         end
 
+        # This will be removed with the FF `ci_variables_refactoring_to_variable`.
         class VariablesValidator < ActiveModel::EachValidator
           include LegacyValidationHelpers
 
@@ -336,6 +337,18 @@ module Gitlab
           end
         end
 
+        class AlphanumericValidator < ActiveModel::EachValidator
+          def self.validate(value)
+            value.is_a?(String) || value.is_a?(Symbol) || value.is_a?(Integer)
+          end
+
+          def validate_each(record, attribute, value)
+            unless self.class.validate(value)
+              record.errors.add(attribute, 'must be an alphanumeric string')
+            end
+          end
+        end
+
         class ExpressionValidator < ActiveModel::EachValidator
           def validate_each(record, attribute, value)
             unless value.is_a?(String) && ::Gitlab::Ci::Pipeline::Expression::Statement.new(value).valid?