Execution Context Variables

Use this page to find out what data is available inside {{ ... }} at runtime — including flow metadata, inputs, outputs, trigger values, secrets, and namespace variables.

Understand the execution context

Kestra expressions combine the Pebble templating engine with the execution context to dynamically render flow properties.

The execution context usually includes:

• flow
• execution
• inputs
• outputs
• labels
• tasks
• trigger when the flow was started by a trigger
• vars when the flow defines variables
• namespace in Enterprise Edition when namespace variables are configured
• envs for environment variables
• globals for global configuration values
• item inside a Loop task iteration

The Debug Expression console is available in the Kestra UI under Executions → Logs → Debug Expression. Enter any expression and evaluate it against the live execution context without modifying the flow.

Default execution context variables

Example:

id: expressions
namespace: company.team

tasks:
  - id: debug_expressions
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.debug.Return
    format: |
      taskId: {{ task.id }}
      date: {{ execution.startDate | date("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSSSSS") }}

Trigger variables

When the execution is started by a Schedule trigger:

When the execution is started by a Flow trigger:

Loop iteration context

Inside a Loop task, each iteration runs as an isolated sub-execution. The item variable is available to all tasks within that sub-execution.

Because item is bound to the loop execution rather than individual task runs, flowable tasks nested inside a Loop (such as If or Parallel) can access item directly without any parent. prefix.

tasks:
  - id: loop
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.flow.Loop
    values: ["value 1", "value 2", "value 3"]
    tasks:
      - id: check
        type: io.kestra.plugin.core.flow.If
        condition: '{{ item.value == "value 2" }}'
        then:
          - id: log
            type: io.kestra.plugin.core.log.Log
            message: "Matched at index {{ item.index }}: {{ item.value }}"

Environment and global variables

Kestra provides access to environment variables prefixed with ENV_ by default, unless configured otherwise in the runtime and storage configuration.

• reference ENV_FOO as {{ envs.foo }}
• reference the configured environment name as {{ kestra.environment }}
• reference the configured Kestra URL as {{ kestra.url }}
• reference global variables from configuration as {{ globals.foo }}

Flow variables and inputs

Use flow-level variables with vars.*:

id: flow_variables
namespace: company.team

variables:
  my_variable: "my_value"

tasks:
  - id: print_variable
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.debug.Return
    format: "{{ vars.my_variable }}"

Use inputs with inputs.*:

id: render_inputs
namespace: company.team

inputs:
  - id: myInput
    type: STRING

tasks:
  - id: myTask
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.debug.Return
    format: "{{ inputs.myInput }}"

Secrets, credentials, namespace variables, and outputs

Use secret() to inject secret values at runtime:

tasks:
  - id: myTask
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.debug.Return
    format: "{{ secret('MY_SECRET') }}"

Use credential() in Enterprise Edition to inject a short-lived token from a managed Credential:

tasks:
  - id: request
    type: io.kestra.plugin.core.http.Request
    method: GET
    uri: https://api.example.com/v1/ping
    auth:
      type: BEARER
      token: "{{ credential('my_oauth') }}"

credential() returns the short-lived token only. The credential itself is managed in the Kestra UI.

Use namespace variables in Enterprise Edition with namespace.*. To set them up:

1. Open the Kestra UI and navigate to Namespaces.
2. Select the namespace where the flow runs.
3. Open the Variables tab.
4. Add a key-value pair such as github.token with the desired value.

Reference namespace variables in expressions using dot notation:

format: "{{ namespace.github.token }}"

If a namespace variable itself contains Pebble, evaluate it with render():

format: "{{ render(namespace.github.token) }}"

Use outputs with outputs.taskId.attribute:

message: |
  First: {{ outputs.first.value }}
  Second: {{ outputs['second-task'].value }}