Environment Variables

General

Environment variables can be specified for pipeline steps using the environment: section:

steps:
  - name: 'step name'
    image: registry/repo/image:tag
    environment:
      MY_ENV_VAR: 'my_value'
    commands:
      - echo "$MY_ENV_VAR"

The environment section is not able to expand variables. If this is needed (e.g., to alter $PATH), the variable should be defined (and exported) in the commands section:

steps:
  - name: 'step name'
    image: registry/repo/image:tag
    commands:
      - export PATH=$PATH:/go

Pipeline Variables

You can define reusable variables in the top-level variables: block of your pipeline YAML. Scalar string values defined here are available for ${...} interpolation throughout the rest of the file:

variables:
  HELM_VERSION: "3.12"
  UNITTEST_VERSION: "0.3.1"

steps:
  - name: test
    image: docker.io/helmunittest/helm-unittest:${HELM_VERSION}-${UNITTEST_VERSION}
    commands:
      - helm unittest .

Pipeline variables can also reference CI variables:

variables:
  FULL_IMAGE: "docker.io/myorg/myapp:${CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

steps:
  - name: deploy
    image: ${FULL_IMAGE}
    commands:
      - echo "Deploying..."

Pipeline variables have lower priority than CI variables (like CI_COMMIT_BRANCH) and matrix axes, so they cannot override built-in values.

The variables: block can also be used for YAML anchors and aliases as before — non-scalar values (maps, sequences) are ignored for interpolation but work normally as anchors.

String Substitution

Substitution runs over the raw YAML text before it is parsed, line by line. Comment lines are skipped: when the first non-whitespace character of a line is #, any ${...} on that line is left untouched.

steps:
  - name: build
    image: alpine
    commands:
      # ${CI_COMMIT_SHA} is not substituted here, this line is a comment
      - echo "building ${CI_COMMIT_SHA}"

Because this is a text-level check and not YAML parsing, it also applies to #-leading lines that YAML treats as content rather than as a comment, such as a heredoc written by a step:

steps:
  - name: write-readme
    image: alpine
    commands:
      - |
        cat > README.md <<'EOF'
        # Release ${CI_COMMIT_TAG}
        EOF

${CI_COMMIT_TAG} is not substituted on that line and ends up in README.md verbatim. Move the value onto a non-comment line if you need it interpolated.

A ${...} that is not a valid substitution expression fails the pipeline with variable substitution failed on line <n>. Bash array syntax such as ${ARRAY[@]} is the common case; escape the $ as $$ to pass it through literally.

String Operations

Bash string operations are supported to manipulate env vars. The manipulation happens before the variable substitution.

The table below lists supported actions including examples:

Variables:

VAR: VALUE
bar: bar
FOO: foo
VERSION: v1.0.0
FILE_TYPE: .tar.gz

Action	Description	Original lue	Manipulated value
`${VAR,}`	lowercase first character	VALUE	vALUE
`${VAR,,}`	lowercase all characters	VALUE	value
`${bar^}`	uppercase first character	bar	Bar
`${bar^^}`	uppercase all characters	bar	BAR
`${VAR:3}`	extract substring from position 3 to end	VALUE	LUE
`${VAR:2:3}`	extract 3 characters starting from position 2	VALUE	AL
`${VAR=FOO}`	set default value if VAR is unset	VALUE	foo
`${VERSION##v}`	remove longest matching prefix pattern	`v1.0.0`	1.0.0
`${FILE_TYPE%%.gz}`	remove shortest matching suffix pattern	`.tar.gz`	`.tar`
`${VAR/UE/AA}`	replace first occurrence of UE with II	VALUE	VALAA

Default environment variables

General

NAME	Description	Example
`CI`	CI environment name	`crow`
`CI_WORKSPACE`	Workspace path where source code gets cloned to	`/crow/src/git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo`
`CI_REPO`	repo full name: `<owner>/<name>`	`john-doe/my-repo`
`CI_REPO_OWNER`	repo owner	`john-doe`
`CI_REPO_NAME`	repo name	`my-repo`
`CI_REPO_REMOTE_ID`	repo remote ID (= UID from forge)	`82`
`CI_REPO_URL`	repo web URL	`https://git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo`
`CI_REPO_CLONE_URL`	repo clone URL	`https://git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo.git`
`CI_REPO_CLONE_SSH_URL`	repo SSH clone URL	`git@git.example.com:john-doe/my-repo.git`
`CI_REPO_DEFAULT_BRANCH`	repo default branch	`main`
`CI_REPO_PRIVATE`	repo is private	`true`
`CI_REPO_TRUSTED_NETWORK`	repo “trusted network access”	`false`
`CI_REPO_TRUSTED_VOLUMES`	repo “trusted volumes access”	`false`
`CI_REPO_TRUSTED_SECURITY`	repo “trusted security access”	`false`

Current Commit

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_COMMIT_SHA`	commit SHA	`eba09b46064473a1d345da7abf28b477468e8dbd`
`CI_COMMIT_REF`	commit ref	`refs/heads/main`
`CI_COMMIT_REFSPEC`	commit ref spec	`issue-branch:main`
`CI_COMMIT_BRANCH`	commit branch (equals target branch (`CI_COMMIT_TARGET_BRANCH`) for pull requests)	`main`
`CI_COMMIT_SOURCE_BRANCH`	commit source branch (set only for pull request events)	`issue-branch`
`CI_COMMIT_TARGET_BRANCH`	commit target branch (set only for pull request events)	`main`
`CI_COMMIT_TAG`	commit tag name (empty if event != `tag`)	`v1.10.3`
`CI_COMMIT_PULL_REQUEST`	commit pull request number (set only for pull request events)	`1`
`CI_COMMIT_PULL_REQUEST_LABELS`	labels assigned to pull request (set only for pull request events)	`server`
`CI_COMMIT_MESSAGE`	commit message	`Initial commit`
`CI_COMMIT_AUTHOR`	commit author username	`john-doe`
`CI_COMMIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	commit author email address	`john-doe@example.com`
`CI_COMMIT_PRERELEASE`	release is a pre-release (empty if event is not `release`)	`false`

Current pipeline

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_PIPELINE_NUMBER`	pipeline number	`8`
`CI_PIPELINE_PARENT`	number of parent pipeline	`0`
`CI_PIPELINE_EVENT`	pipeline event (see `event`)	`push`, `pull_request`, `pull_request_merged`, `tag`, …
`CI_PIPELINE_URL`	link to the web UI for the pipeline	`https://ci.example.com/repos/7/pipeline/8`
`CI_PIPELINE_FORGE_URL`	link to the forge’s web UI for the commit(s) or tag that triggered the pipeline	`https://git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo/commit/eba09b46064473a1d345da7abf28b477468e8dbd`
`CI_PIPELINE_DEPLOY_TARGET`	pipeline deploy target for `deployment` events	`production`
`CI_PIPELINE_DEPLOY_TASK`	pipeline deploy task for `deployment` events	`migration`
`CI_PIPELINE_CREATED`	pipeline created UNIX timestamp	`1722617519`
`CI_PIPELINE_STARTED`	pipeline started UNIX timestamp	`1722617519`
`CI_PIPELINE_FILES`	changed files (empty if event is not `push` or `pull_request`), it is undefined if more than 500 files are touched	`[]`, `[".crow.yml","README.md"]`
`CI_PIPELINE_AUTHOR`	pipeline author username	`octocat`
`CI_PIPELINE_AVATAR`	pipeline author avatar URL	`https://git.example.com/avatars/5dcbcadbce6f87f8abef`

Current workflow

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_WORKFLOW_NAME`	workflow name	`release`

Current step

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_STEP_NAME`	step name	`build package`
`CI_STEP_NUMBER`	step number	`0`
`CI_STEP_STARTED`	step started UNIX timestamp	`1722617519`
`CI_STEP_URL`	UI URL for step	`https://ci.example.com/repos/7/pipeline/8`

Previous commit

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_SHA`	previous commit SHA	`15784117e4e103f36cba75a9e29da48046eb82c4`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_REF`	previous commit ref	`refs/heads/main`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_REFSPEC`	previous commit ref spec	`issue-branch:main`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_BRANCH`	previous commit branch	`main`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_SOURCE_BRANCH`	previous commit source branch (set only for pull request events)	`issue-branch`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_TARGET_BRANCH`	previous commit target branch (set only for pull request events)	`main`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_URL`	previous commit link in forge	`https://git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo/commit/15784117e4e103f36cba75a9e29da48046eb82c4`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_MESSAGE`	previous commit message	`test`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_AUTHOR`	previous commit author username	`john-doe`
`CI_PREV_COMMIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	previous commit author email address	`john-doe@example.com`

Previous pipeline

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_NUMBER`	previous pipeline number	`7`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_PARENT`	previous pipeline number of parent pipeline	`0`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_EVENT`	previous pipeline event (see `event`)	`push`, `pull_request`, `pull_request_merged`, `tag`, …
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_URL`	previous pipeline link in CI	`https://ci.example.com/repos/7/pipeline/7`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_FORGE_URL`	previous pipeline link to event in forge	`https://git.example.com/john-doe/my-repo/commit/15784117e4e103f36cba75a9e29da48046eb82c4`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_DEPLOY_TARGET`	previous pipeline deploy target for `deployment` events	`production`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_DEPLOY_TASK`	previous pipeline deploy task for `deployment` events	`migration`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_STATUS`	previous pipeline status	`success`, `failure`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_CREATED`	previous pipeline created UNIX timestamp	`1722610173`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_STARTED`	previous pipeline started UNIX timestamp	`1722610173`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_FINISHED`	previous pipeline finished UNIX timestamp	`1722610383`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_AUTHOR`	previous pipeline author username	`octocat`
`CI_PREV_PIPELINE_AVATAR`	previous pipeline author avatar URL	`https://git.example.com/avatars/5dcbcadbce6f87f8abef`

System

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_SYSTEM_NAME`	name of the CI system	`crow`
`CI_SYSTEM_URL`	link to CI system	`https://ci.example.com`
`CI_SYSTEM_HOST`	hostname of CI server	`ci.example.com`
`CI_SYSTEM_VERSION`	version of the server	`2.7.0`

Forge

NAME	Description	Example
`CI_FORGE_TYPE`	name of forge	`bitbucket` , `bitbucket_dc` , `forgejo` , `gitea` , `github` , `gitlab`
`CI_FORGE_URL`	root URL of configured forge	`https://git.example.com`

Internal

NAME	Description
`CI_SCRIPT`	Internal script path. Used to call pipeline step commands.
`CI_NETRC_USERNAME`	Credentials for private repos to be able to clone data. (Only available for specific images)
`CI_NETRC_PASSWORD`	Credentials for private repos to be able to clone data. (Only available for specific images)
`CI_NETRC_MACHINE`	Credentials for private repos to be able to clone data. (Only available for specific images)