Variables

About variables

You can use variables to store information that you want to reference in your workflow. You reference variables within a workflow step or an action, and the variables are interpolated on the runner machine that runs your workflow. Commands that run in actions or workflow steps can create, read, and modify variables.

You can set your own custom variables, you can use the default variables that GitHub sets automatically, and you can also use any other variables that are set in the working environment on the runner. Variables are case-sensitive.

Defining environment variables

To set a custom environment variable, you can define it using the env key in the workflow file. The scope of a custom variable set by this method is limited to the element in which it is defined. You can define variables that are scoped for:

• The entire workflow, by using env at the top level of the workflow file.
• The contents of a job within a workflow, by using jobs.<job_id>.env.
• A specific step within a job, by using jobs.<job_id>.steps[*].env.

name: Greeting on variable day

on:
  workflow_dispatch

env:
  DAY_OF_WEEK: Monday

jobs:
  greeting_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest