Variables & Templates

Step parameters can use values from variables, the environment, global variables and the previous step. Tipeline fills them in right before each step runs.

Two syntaxes

Syntax	Result	Use it for
{{ name }}	Always a string (LiquidJS)	Text: messages, URLs, file names. Supports filters and logic: {{ name | upcase }}, {% if %}
{= name =}	The value as it is — number, object, array, browser, connection	Passing data and live handles to the next step. Must be the whole parameter value, with no text around it

Both take dot and bracket paths: {{ order.items[0].sku }}, {= response.data.users =}.

- group: browser
  name: goTo
  params:
    browser: "{= browser =}"            # the live browser from an earlier step
    url: "https://example.com/{{ slug }}"  # text built from a variable

What you can reference

Reference	Resolves to
name	A variable of this workflow
_env.KEY	An environment value — see Environment files
_global.name	A global variable
_previous	The result of the step right before this one

Names starting with _ are reserved for Tipeline, so a workflow variable can't be called _env, _global or _previous (variable names must start with a letter or digit).

Storing results

A step's destination stores its result in a variable. Prefix it with _global. to write a global variable instead:

- group: http
  name: request
  params:
    url: "{{ apiUrl }}/token"
  destination: tokenResponse        # a workflow variable

- group: object
  name: getProperty
  params:
    object: "{= tokenResponse =}"
    property: "data.access_token"
  destination: _global.apiToken     # a global variable, kept for later runs

The Set variable step (variable.set) takes the same _global. prefix in its name.

_previous

_previous is the result of the step that ran just before, without storing it first:

- group: math
  name: multiply
  params: { multiplier: 6, multiplicand: 7 }

- group: system
  name: message
  params:
    text: "Result: {{ _previous }}"     # → "Result: 42"

It walks into objects like any variable: {{ _previous.name }}.

It only reaches back one step, inside the same block: it's empty at the start of every loop iteration and every If/Else branch. After an If, Switch or Else If step, it holds that step's own bookkeeping, not the last data. Use a named variable for anything you need further on.

Environment files

{{ _env.KEY }} reads KEY from, in this order:

1. the environment Core was started with,
2. a .env file next to the workflow file (only when you run a file, e.g. tipeline workflow run report.yaml),
3. ~/Tipeline/.env.

# ~/Tipeline/.env
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
API_KEY=your-key-here

A variable can also take its default from the environment or a global variable:

pipeline:
  variables:
    - name: apiKey
      type: string
      secret: true
      valueFromEnv: API_KEY          # or valueFromGlobal: apiKey

A value passed in when the run starts (a run form, --var, an app) wins over these defaults.

Where secret values are kept

• Global secrets are encrypted in the database, and so are the secret values a run keeps, including any variable a step copied a secret into. A run that can still resume keeps them encrypted; a run that completes erases them.
• Assistant API keys, hub tokens and remote tokens are encrypted in the database the same way.
• Exports and backups leave secret values out unless you ask for them.
• A token a workflow saves to a file (some OAuth examples use ~/Tipeline/.tokens/token.json) stays as that workflow wrote it. Keep tokens in a secret global variable instead.
• On a Tipeline Server, viewers see secret values as empty, and only admins can read API keys and tokens (who can see what).
• The key is in ~/Tipeline/.database/secret.key. It protects the database when it's copied on its own, not from someone who can read your whole home folder. Back it up along with the database: without it, encrypted values can't be read and have to be set again.
• A value written into the workflow (value: on a secret variable) stays readable in the saved workflow, so prefer valueFromGlobal or valueFromEnv.

Overriding variables when you run

tipeline workflow run report.yaml --var month=2026-04 --var format=pdf

Apps, sub-workflows and the assistant can only set public and protected variables. See Visibility.