Variables and environments

Write {{name}} anywhere in a request: the URL, headers, parameters, bodies, authentication fields. Getman replaces it just before sending.

url: "{{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}"

A variable's value can contain other variables; they are replaced too. A variable that is not defined is sent as written, {{name}}, and the response view lists it so a typo does not go unnoticed. In the editors, known variables are purple and unknown ones are underlined in red.

Where values come from

When two places define the same name, the more specific wins. From weakest to strongest:

1. Globals: in getman.local.yaml, on this machine only
2. Workspace variables: in getman.yaml
3. The selected environment: environments/<name>.yaml, then its .local.yaml
4. Folder variables: in each _folder.yaml, outermost first
5. Request variables: the request's own variables
6. The current data row, in a run with a data file
7. Local variables: set by scripts with gm.variables.set, for the rest of the run

The UI shows the scope a value comes from when you complete a variable name after typing {{.

Dynamic values

{{$name}} makes a new value each time it appears:

Secrets from the environment

{{$env.GETMAN_NAME}} reads an environment variable of the process. Only names that start with GETMAN_ can be read: a collection someone sent you cannot read your other secrets, such as cloud credentials, just by referring to them.

This is the simplest way to give CI a secret:

# GitHub Actions
- run: getman run --env staging
  env:
    GETMAN_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.API_TOKEN }}

# in a request or environment file
auth:
  type: bearer
  token: "{{$env.GETMAN_API_TOKEN}}"

getman run --var name=value and getman send --var name=value set a variable for one run, above every other scope.

Values that stay on your machine

Three files are never committed (getman init adds them to .gitignore):

When a script sets a variable with gm.environment.set, gm.collectionVariables.set or gm.globals.set while you work in the UI, the value is saved to the matching local file. getman run keeps such values in memory for the run only, unless you pass --persist.