Environment Variables
Zerops manages environment variables at two scopes: service level and project level. These variables are handled automatically without requiring .env
files.
Service Variables​
Variables that are specific to individual services.
User-Defined Variables​
You can define service-level variables in two ways:
1. Build & Runtime Variables​
These variables are defined with envVariables
attribute in the build
or run
section of your zerops.yaml file and are accessible within their respective containers.
See how to reference variables between services and between build and runtime environments.
Your application must be redeployed when updating environmental variables in zerops.yaml
.
2. Secret Variables​
For storing sensitive data you don't want in your source repository. They can be updated without redeployment (though services need to be restarted).
Secret variables can be managed through:
GUI Interface​
Navigate to service details and find Environment variables in the menu. You can:
- Add individual variables using the "Add secret variable" button
- Edit individual variables through the menu that appears on hover
- Use the bulk editor for managing multiple variables in .env format

Import Configuration​
Create secret variables for a service with envSecrets
attribute. See the complete import.yaml structure.
System-Generated Variables​
Zerops automatically generates variables based on service type.
These variables cannot be deleted and are always listed at the bottom of the environment variables page. Some are read-only (like hostname
), while others can be edited (like PATH
).
These variables can also be referenced.
Project Variables​
Variables that apply across all services within a project. These provide a way to share common configuration across services.
They work similarly to service secret variables but at project scope - they're managed through the GUI and can be updated without redeployment (though services need to be restarted).
User-Defined Variables​
You can set project-wide variables through:
GUI Interface​
Access Project environment variables in your project detail to:
- Add individual variables one by one
- Edit individual variables
- Use the bulk editor with .env format:
Import Configuration​
Create project variables with envVariables
attribute. See the complete import.yaml structure.
System-Generated Variables​
Zerops automatically generates project-level variables containing that can be referenced from services.
Variable Restrictions​
All environment variables must follow these restrictions:
Key​
- Alphanumeric characters only (use
_
to separate words) - Must be unique within their scope
- Case-sensitive
Value​
- ASCII characters only
- No EOL characters
Variable Management​
Variable Precedence​
When the same environment variable key exists in multiple places, Zerops follows these precedence rules:
- Service-level variables take precedence over project variables
- Within service-level:
- Build/runtime variables override secret variables
- Build and runtime containers are separate environments
Referencing Variables​
You can reference other variables using the ${variable_name}
syntax:
Within Same Service​
Across Services​
Prefix variables with their respective service name:
Between Build and Runtime Environments​
Build and runtime are two distinct environments in Zerops. Each environment can have its own set of variables, and you can use the same variable names in both environments since they are separate. Due to this separation, variables defined in one are not automatically accessible in the other.
To share variables between environments, you need to use specific prefixes:
- Use
RUNTIME_
prefix to access runtime variables during build - Use
BUILD_
prefix to access build variables during runtime
Here's an example of zerops.yaml
file showing how to reference a runtime variable during build:
Project Variables​
No prefix needed when referencing project variables:
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