Environment Variables Reference

This page provides comprehensive documentation for all environment variables that control Probe's behavior, configuration, and execution.

Overview

Probe uses environment variables for:

• Runtime Configuration - Control logging, timeouts, and behavior
• Authentication - API keys, tokens, and credentials
• Integration - CI/CD systems, monitoring tools
• Customization - Plugin directories, default configurations

Environment variables can be set at the system level, in CI/CD pipelines, or defined within workflow files using the env section.

Runtime Configuration Variables

PROBE_LOG_LEVEL

Type: String
Values: debug, info, warn, error
Default: info
Description: Controls the verbosity of Probe's logging output

# Enable debug logging
export PROBE_LOG_LEVEL=debug
probe workflow.yml

# Reduce to warnings and errors only
export PROBE_LOG_LEVEL=warn
probe workflow.yml

Output Examples:

# info level (default)
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [INFO] Starting workflow: API Health Check
2023-09-01 12:30:01 [INFO] Job 'health-check' completed successfully

# debug level
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [DEBUG] Loading workflow file: workflow.yml
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [DEBUG] Parsing YAML configuration
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [INFO] Starting workflow: API Health Check
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [DEBUG] Starting job: health-check
2023-09-01 12:30:00 [DEBUG] Executing step: Check API Status
2023-09-01 12:30:01 [DEBUG] HTTP request: GET https://api.example.com/health
2023-09-01 12:30:01 [DEBUG] HTTP response: 200 OK (345ms)
2023-09-01 12:30:01 [INFO] Job 'health-check' completed successfully

PROBE_NO_COLOR

Type: Boolean
Values: true, false, 1, 0
Default: false
Description: Disables colored output in terminal

# Disable colors (useful for CI/CD logs)
export PROBE_NO_COLOR=true
probe workflow.yml

# Force color output (override terminal detection)
export PROBE_NO_COLOR=false
probe workflow.yml

PROBE_TIMEOUT

Type: Duration
Default: 300s (5 minutes)
Description: Global timeout for entire workflow execution

# Set 10-minute timeout
export PROBE_TIMEOUT=600s
probe long-running-workflow.yml

# Set 30-second timeout for quick tests
export PROBE_TIMEOUT=30s
probe quick-health-check.yml

PROBE_CONFIG

Type: String (file path)
Default: None
Description: Path to default configuration file that gets merged with all workflows

# Use global defaults
export PROBE_CONFIG=/etc/probe/defaults.yml
probe workflow.yml  # Merges with defaults.yml

# User-specific defaults
export PROBE_CONFIG=~/.probe/defaults.yml
probe workflow.yml

Example default configuration file:

# /etc/probe/defaults.yml
vars:
  # Environment variables accessed via vars
  user_agent: "{{USER_AGENT ?? 'Probe Monitor v1.0'}}"
  default_timeout: "{{DEFAULT_TIMEOUT ?? '30s'}}"

defaults:
  http:
    timeout: "{{vars.default_timeout}}"
    headers:
      User-Agent: "{{vars.user_agent}}"
      Accept: "application/json"

PROBE_PLUGIN_DIR

Type: String (directory path)
Default: ~/.probe/plugins
Description: Directory containing custom action plugins

# Use system-wide plugins
export PROBE_PLUGIN_DIR=/usr/local/lib/probe/plugins
probe workflow.yml

# Use project-specific plugins
export PROBE_PLUGIN_DIR=./plugins
probe workflow.yml

Plugin directory structure:

/usr/local/lib/probe/plugins/
├── custom-http/
│   └── custom-http-plugin
├── database/
│   └── db-plugin
└── notification/
    └── notification-plugin

Authentication Variables

API Authentication

Common patterns for API authentication in workflows:

API_TOKEN / API_KEY

# Bearer token authentication
export API_TOKEN="eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."

# workflow.yml
vars:
  api_token: "{{API_TOKEN}}"

defaults:
  http:
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer {{vars.api_token}}"

USERNAME / PASSWORD

# Basic authentication credentials
export API_USERNAME="admin"
export API_PASSWORD="secret123"

# workflow.yml
vars:
  username: "{{API_USERNAME}}"
  password: "{{API_PASSWORD}}"

steps:
  - name: "Authenticated Request"
    uses: http
    with:
      url: "https://api.example.com/protected"
      headers:
        Authorization: "Basic {{encode_base64(vars.username + ':' + vars.password)}}"

Email Authentication

SMTP Configuration

# Gmail with app password
export SMTP_HOST="smtp.gmail.com"
export SMTP_PORT=587
export SMTP_USERNAME="alerts@example.com"
export SMTP_PASSWORD="app-specific-password"

# Office 365
export SMTP_HOST="smtp.office365.com"
export SMTP_PORT=587
export SMTP_USERNAME="alerts@company.com"
export SMTP_PASSWORD="account-password"

# workflow.yml
vars:
  smtp_host: "{{SMTP_HOST}}"
  smtp_port: "{{SMTP_PORT}}"
  smtp_username: "{{SMTP_USERNAME}}"
  smtp_password: "{{SMTP_PASSWORD}}"

defaults:
  smtp:
    host: "{{vars.smtp_host}}"
    port: "{{vars.smtp_port}}"
    username: "{{vars.smtp_username}}"
    password: "{{vars.smtp_password}}"
    from: "{{vars.smtp_username}}"

Application Configuration Variables

Service URLs

# API endpoints
export API_BASE_URL="https://api.production.com"
export API_VERSION="v2"
export HEALTH_CHECK_URL="${API_BASE_URL}/${API_VERSION}/health"

# Database connections
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/db"
export REDIS_URL="redis://localhost:6379/0"

# External services
export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/T00000000/B00000000/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
export MONITORING_URL="https://monitoring.example.com/api/alerts"

Feature Flags

# Enable/disable features
export ENABLE_MONITORING=true
export ENABLE_SLACK_NOTIFICATIONS=false
export ENABLE_DETAILED_LOGGING=true
export ENABLE_PERFORMANCE_TRACKING=true

# workflow.yml
vars:
  enable_monitoring: "{{ENABLE_MONITORING}}"
  enable_performance_tracking: "{{ENABLE_PERFORMANCE_TRACKING}}"
  enable_slack_notifications: "{{ENABLE_SLACK_NOTIFICATIONS}}"
  api_base_url: "{{API_BASE_URL}}"
  slack_webhook_url: "{{SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL}}"

jobs:
  monitoring:
    if: vars.enable_monitoring == "true"
    steps:
      - name: "Performance Check"
        if: vars.enable_performance_tracking == "true"
        uses: http
        with:
          url: "{{vars.api_base_url}}/metrics"

  notifications:
    if: vars.enable_slack_notifications == "true"
    needs: [monitoring]
    steps:
      - name: "Slack Alert"
        uses: http
        with:
          url: "{{vars.slack_webhook_url}}"
          method: "POST"
          body: |
            {
              "text": "Monitoring completed: {{jobs.monitoring.status}}"
            }

CI/CD Integration Variables

GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/probe.yml
name: API Tests
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Run Probe Tests
        env:
          API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.API_TOKEN }}
          ENVIRONMENT: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && 'production' || 'staging' }}
          BRANCH_NAME: ${{ github.ref_name }}
          COMMIT_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
          RUN_ID: ${{ github.run_id }}
        run: probe workflow.yml

Available in workflow:

export GITHUB_REPOSITORY="owner/repo"
export GITHUB_REF="refs/heads/main"
export GITHUB_SHA="abc123def456"
export GITHUB_RUN_ID="123456789"
export GITHUB_ACTOR="username"

GitLab CI

# .gitlab-ci.yml
probe-test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - probe workflow.yml
  variables:
    API_TOKEN: $API_TOKEN
    ENVIRONMENT: $CI_ENVIRONMENT_NAME
    BRANCH_NAME: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
    COMMIT_SHA: $CI_COMMIT_SHA
    PIPELINE_ID: $CI_PIPELINE_ID

Available in workflow:

export CI_PROJECT_NAME="project-name"
export CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME="main"
export CI_COMMIT_SHA="abc123"
export CI_PIPELINE_ID="123456"
export CI_JOB_ID="789012"

Jenkins

// Jenkinsfile
pipeline {
    agent any
    environment {
        API_TOKEN = credentials('api-token')
        ENVIRONMENT = "${BRANCH_NAME == 'main' ? 'production' : 'staging'}"
        BUILD_NUMBER = "${BUILD_NUMBER}"
        JOB_NAME = "${JOB_NAME}"
    }
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh 'probe workflow.yml'
            }
        }
    }
}

Available in workflow:

export BUILD_NUMBER="123"
export JOB_NAME="api-tests"
export WORKSPACE="/var/jenkins_home/workspace/api-tests"
export JENKINS_URL="https://jenkins.example.com"

Environment-Specific Configuration

Multi-Environment Setup

# Base configuration (always set)
export API_VERSION="v1"
export DEFAULT_TIMEOUT="30s"

# Environment-specific (set per environment)
case $ENVIRONMENT in
  "production")
    export API_BASE_URL="https://api.prod.com"
    export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://prod-db:5432/app"
    export LOG_LEVEL="warn"
    export ENABLE_MONITORING=true
    ;;
  "staging")  
    export API_BASE_URL="https://api.staging.com"
    export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://staging-db:5432/app"
    export LOG_LEVEL="info"
    export ENABLE_MONITORING=true
    ;;
  "development")
    export API_BASE_URL="http://localhost:3000"
    export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://localhost:5432/app_dev"
    export LOG_LEVEL="debug"
    export ENABLE_MONITORING=false
    ;;
esac

Docker Configuration

# Dockerfile
FROM alpine:latest

# Install Probe
RUN curl -L https://github.com/linyows/probe/releases/latest/download/probe-linux-amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/probe && \
    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/probe

# Set default environment variables
ENV PROBE_LOG_LEVEL=info
ENV PROBE_NO_COLOR=true
ENV PROBE_TIMEOUT=300s

COPY workflows/ /workflows/
WORKDIR /workflows

ENTRYPOINT ["probe"]
CMD ["workflow.yml"]

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  probe:
    build: .
    environment:
      - API_TOKEN=${API_TOKEN}
      - API_BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
      - ENVIRONMENT=production
      - PROBE_LOG_LEVEL=info
    volumes:
      - ./workflows:/workflows
      - ./reports:/reports
    command: monitoring.yml

Security Considerations

Sensitive Variables

Never commit sensitive values to version control:

# ❌ Bad: Hardcoded in workflow file
env:
  API_TOKEN: "secret-token-here"

# ✅ Good: Reference environment variable
vars:
  api_token: "{{API_TOKEN}}"

Variable Management

# Use secure secret management
export API_TOKEN=$(aws ssm get-parameter --name "/app/api-token" --with-decryption --query 'Parameter.Value' --output text)
export DB_PASSWORD=$(vault kv get -field=password secret/database)

# Use temporary files for complex secrets
echo "$GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS_JSON" > /tmp/gcp-key.json
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/tmp/gcp-key.json

Environment Isolation

# Prefix variables by environment to avoid conflicts
export PROD_API_TOKEN="prod-token"
export STAGING_API_TOKEN="staging-token"  
export DEV_API_TOKEN="dev-token"

# Use environment-specific selection
export API_TOKEN="${ENVIRONMENT}_API_TOKEN"
export API_TOKEN="${!API_TOKEN}"  # Indirect variable expansion

Debugging Environment Variables

Viewing Available Variables

# List all environment variables
env | grep -E '^(PROBE_|API_|SMTP_)' | sort

# Check specific variables
echo "API_TOKEN: $API_TOKEN"
echo "PROBE_LOG_LEVEL: $PROBE_LOG_LEVEL"

# Debug in workflow (be careful with sensitive data)
probe -v workflow.yml 2>&1 | grep -i "environment"

Template Debugging

# workflow.yml - Debug environment variable expansion
vars:
  api_base_url: "{{API_BASE_URL}}"
  environment: "{{ENVIRONMENT}}"
  default_timeout: "{{DEFAULT_TIMEOUT || 'not set'}}"

steps:
  - name: "Debug Environment"
    action: hello
    with:
      message: |
        Environment Debug:
        API_URL: "{{vars.api_base_url}}"
        Environment: "{{vars.environment}}"
        Timeout: "{{vars.default_timeout}}"
        
  - name: "Test Variable Access"
    echo: |
      Available variables:
      {{range $key, $value := vars}}
        {{$key}}: {{$value}}
      {{end}}

Common Patterns

Configuration Cascading

# System defaults
export PROBE_CONFIG=/etc/probe/system.yml

# Team defaults  
export TEAM_CONFIG=/opt/team/defaults.yml

# Project-specific
export PROJECT_CONFIG=./probe-defaults.yml

# Runtime execution with cascading
probe ${PROBE_CONFIG},${TEAM_CONFIG},${PROJECT_CONFIG},workflow.yml

Dynamic Configuration

# Generate configuration based on environment
WORKFLOW_FILE="workflow-${ENVIRONMENT}.yml"
if [[ ! -f "$WORKFLOW_FILE" ]]; then
  WORKFLOW_FILE="workflow.yml"
fi

probe "$WORKFLOW_FILE"

Conditional Execution

# Skip certain jobs based on environment
export SKIP_PERFORMANCE_TESTS=$([[ "$ENVIRONMENT" == "development" ]] && echo "true" || echo "false")
export ENABLE_SLACK_ALERTS=$([[ "$ENVIRONMENT" == "production" ]] && echo "true" || echo "false")

# workflow.yml
vars:
  skip_performance_tests: "{{SKIP_PERFORMANCE_TESTS}}"
  enable_slack_alerts: "{{ENABLE_SLACK_ALERTS}}"

jobs:
  performance-tests:
    if: "{{vars.skip_performance_tests}}" != "true"
    # Performance test steps
    
  alerts:
    if: "{{vars.enable_slack_alerts}}" == "true"
    needs: [performance-tests]
    # Alert steps

See Also

• CLI Reference - Command-line environment variable usage
• YAML Configuration - Using environment variables in workflows
• How-tos: Environment Management - Practical environment management strategies
• Concepts: File Merging - Configuration composition patterns