Referencing environment variables

How to use environment variables in scripts

To access a variable, add the $ symbol in front of its name. For example, access API_TOKEN by using $API_TOKEN. Note that it is required to use quotation marks with multi-line variables when you are referencing them in custom scripts.

Setting environment variables during the build

By default, if you define an environment variable inside your script, you can only use it within the script itself. However, you can make an environment variable available to any subsequent step of your workflow by defining or updating the environment variable and writing it to the CM_ENV environment file.

Specifically, you can do this by writing a "KEY=value" pair to the CM_ENV environment file. CM_ENV can contain multiple environment variables separated by newlines. Instructions on how to write variables to the file can be found below.

Setting an environment variable on macOS and Linux

echo "KEY=value" >> $CM_ENV

You can then reference the variable in subsequent parts of your workflow by using $KEY.

Setting an environment variable on Windows

Add-Content -Path $env:CM_ENV -Value "KEY=value"

You can then reference the variable in subsequent parts of your workflow by using $env:KEY.

Setting a multiline environment variable

To add a multiline environment variable, you need to use << instead of an = to mark the end of the key in the key-value pair. In addition, set a delimiter to mark the start and the end of the variable.

In the following example, the DELIMITER keyword can be replaced by any word of your choice, however, make sure that the delimiter at the beginning and at the end match.

echo 'MULTILINE_VAR<<DELIMITER' >> $CM_ENV
echo 'line_one\nline_two' >> $CM_ENV
echo 'DELIMITER' >> $CM_ENV

Note that the example is specific to Linux and macOS machines but the same principles apply when building on Windows.

Accessing environment variables from your application

The following examples show how to place your Google Maps API key into an Android or iOS application from an environment variable. With this approach you will not have to store your secret key in the repository.

1. Add your key as an environment variable with the name MAPS_API_KEY

Android

2. Read the key from an environment variable to build.gradle

defaultConfig {
    // Other values set here
    resValue "string", "maps_api_key", "$System.env.MAPS_API_KEY"
}

3. Read the key from the build.gradle value to AndroidManifest.xml

<meta-data
    android:name="com.google.android.geo.API_KEY"
    android:value="@string/maps_api_key"
/>

iOS (Swift)

2. Read the key from the environment variable to Info.plist

<key>MAPS_API_KEY</key>
<string>$(MAPS_API_KEY)</string>

3. Read the key from the Info.plist value to AppDelegate.swift

GMSServices.provideAPIKey(Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "MAPS_API_KEY") as? String ?? "")

iOS (Objective-C)

2. Read your key from the environemnt variable to AppDelegate.m as in the example.

[GMSServices provideAPIKey:[[NSProcessInfo processInfo] environment][@"MAPS_API_KEY"]];