When to use it
You engage with values whenever you:- Add a step and need to map its placeholders to data sources.
- Define what a user must supply before a run starts (run inputs).
- Capture an output from one step and pass it into another.
- Want to pin a value that never changes (hard-coded) or reference a secret safely.
- Create a named case that pre-fills a specific set of values.
Key concepts
Run inputs are values the user (or calling system) supplies at the moment a journey runs. They’re the journey’s external interface — things like ausername or order_id that vary per run and cannot be predetermined.
Variables are named values declared in the journey. They can hold a static value set at authoring time, or they can be derived. Variables are available to any step in the journey.
Derived values are variables or outputs whose value comes from somewhere else at runtime: a previous step’s response, a variable preset, or another declared value source. Derivation happens automatically — you configure the source and Reqflo resolves it during the run.
Step outputs are values extracted from a step’s response and made available to subsequent steps. You name an output (e.g., access_token) and tell Reqflo where to find it in the response (e.g., response.body.token). Downstream steps reference it by name.
Hard-coded values are values baked directly into the journey or step configuration. Use them for values that should never change between runs — a fixed API version string, a constant header. Hard-coding a value that varies between environments is usually a mistake; use environment values instead.
Environment values are pulled in from the selected Environment at run time. They provide system-level config — base URLs, service-level defaults — without requiring you to re-enter them per run.
Secret references let you reference a secret by name without ever seeing or storing the value. The actual secret is resolved by the Cloud Runner (for cloud runs) or the local environment (for local CLI runs). See Secrets.
“Me” values are user-specific values — things like your own user ID or test account credentials — that are scoped to you and not shared with the rest of the team.
Variable presets allow you to define a set of preset values for a variable, which can be selected at run time or saved as part of a case.
How it works
When you add a step, Reqflo surfaces the value placeholders that step’s template defines. For each placeholder, you pick a source:- Run input — prompt the runner to supply this value at run time.
- Variable — use a declared journey variable.
- Step output — pull from a previous step’s named output.
- Hard-coded — fix the value in the journey definition.
- Environment value — resolve from the active environment.
- Secret reference — reference a secret by name.
- “Me” value — use your personal value for this field.
Examples
A journey that creates an order uses these value sources:| Placeholder | Source | Why |
|---|---|---|
base_url | Environment value | Changes per environment |
username | Run input | Varies per run |
password | Secret reference | Never displayed |
access_token | Step output (step 1) | Captured from auth response |
api_version | Hard-coded (v2) | Never changes |
my_user_id | ”Me” value | Tester-specific |