  Nonperturbative determinations of the renormalization group $\beta$ function
are essential to connect lattice results to perturbative predictions of
strongly coupled gauge theories and to determine the $\Lambda$ parameter or the
strong coupling constant. The continuous $\beta$ function is very well suited
for this task because it is applicable both in the weakly coupled deconfined
regime as well as the strongly coupled confined regime. Here we report on our
results for the $\beta$ function of the pure gauge SU(3) Yang-Mills theory in
the gradient flow scheme. Our calculations cover the renormalized coupling
range $g^2_{\textrm{GF}} \sim 1.2 - 27$, allowing for a direct determination of
$\sqrt{8t_0} \Lambda_{\overline{\textrm{MS}}}$ in this system. Our prediction,
$\sqrt{8 t_0} \Lambda_{\overline{\textrm{MS}}}=0.622(10)$, is in good agreement
with recent direct determinations of this quantity.
