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Templating

Every string parameter in a recipe (and every status line) is run through the templating engine before the action sees it. The syntax is {{name}}.

What gets templated

Templating walks each parameter recursively:

  • strings are substituted,
  • list items are each substituted,
  • map values are each substituted,
  • other types (numbers, bools) pass through unchanged.

So headers { Authorization: "Bearer {{TOKEN}}" } and args ["{{a}}", "{{b}}"] both work.

Lookup order

For a token {{key}}:

  1. The task's bindings — declared inputs, plus every prior step's result, plus any iteration variables (for-each's {{item}}/{{item_index}}, loop's {{loop_index}}).
  2. The process environment — this is how resolved secrets reach templating: the secrets loader exports each one as an env var, so {{CONCIO_PASSWORD}} resolves even though it was never an input. → Secrets

If neither resolves, the or: fallback is used, else the token renders to an empty string.

Supported forms

{{user}}                  # plain lookup
{{user|or:guest}}         # fallback when the value is missing/empty
{{item.address.city}}     # dotted path into a nested map

or: fallback

goto "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={{q|or:go}}"

If q is missing or empty, go is used. The fallback applies after the env-var check — a true last resort.

Dotted paths

A token may walk into a nested map value:

# given a prior step bound chat = { peerName: "Ann", meta: { id: 7 } }
emit status "{{chat.peerName}} (#{{chat.meta.id}})"

Each segment must exist and resolve to a map for the next; otherwise the token renders empty.

Single-token raw resolution

There is one important special case:

When a param's entire value is exactly one {{ref}} token, it resolves to the raw bound value — a list, map, number, or bool — not its stringified form.

This is what lets structured data flow between steps:

for-each chat in "{{chats}}"          # receives the actual list
    # …
end

write-files written root "{{out}}" files "{{built.files}}"   # the real slice

export csv path "/tmp/out.csv" data "{{repos}}"              # the list of records

The rule is precise: the value must match ^{{ ref }}$ (optional surrounding whitespace) and the bound value must be non-string and non-nil. A string-valued binding, or a token embedded in surrounding text ("id-{{n}}"), still goes through normal string substitution.

Tips

  • Declare inputs with sensible defaults so demo calls work with no body, but reference them in the recipe as {{name}} regardless.
  • For secrets, never inline the value — declare it in the bundle's secrets config and use {{SECRET_NAME}}; the env fallback does the rest.
  • To pass a whole list/map to a block action, use the bare single-token form ("{{chats}}") so it arrives as real data, not a string.