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Environments help you organize your apps by deployment stage (Dev, Staging, Production) and manage environment-specific configuration through environment variables.

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What are Environments?

An Environment in Autosana serves two purposes:
  1. App Organization: Group apps by deployment stage or purpose
  2. Configuration Management: Store environment-specific variables (API keys, URLs, credentials)

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Creating an Environment

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Step 1: Navigate to Settings

Click your profile icon or navigate to Settings from the sidebar.

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Step 2: Find the Environments Section

Scroll down to the Environments section.

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Step 3: Create Environment

  1. Click Create Environment
  2. Enter a name (e.g., “Development”, “Staging”, “Production”)
  3. Click Create
Your new environment appears in the list.

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Managing Environment Variables

Environment variables are key-value pairs that you can reference in hooks and flow instructions. They make your flows and hooks reusable across different environments.

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Adding a Variable

  1. Find your environment in the Environments section
  2. Click Add Variable or the + icon
  3. Enter the Key (e.g., TEST_EMAIL)
  4. Enter the Value (e.g., [email protected])
  5. Click Save or press Enter
Use UPPERCASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES for variable names (e.g., API_KEY, TEST_PASSWORD) to make them easily identifiable.

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Editing a Variable

  1. Find the variable in the environment
  2. Click the pencil icon (✏️)
  3. Update the key or value
  4. Save changes

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Deleting a Variable

  1. Find the variable in the environment
  2. Click the trash icon (🗑️)
  3. Confirm deletion
Deleting a variable will cause any hooks or flows that reference it to fail if they try to use {{VARIABLE_NAME}}.

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Using Environment Variables

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In Hooks

Reference variables in hook scripts using {{VARIABLE_NAME}} syntax: Hook Script: 
Log in with `{{TEST_EMAIL}}` and password `{{TEST_PASSWORD}}`
Navigate to `{{API_BASE_URL}}`/dashboard
Verify that `{{EXPECTED_USERNAME}}` appears in the header
Environment Variables:
  • TEST_EMAIL = [email protected]
  • TEST_PASSWORD = SecurePass123
  • API_BASE_URL = https://api.staging.example.com
  • EXPECTED_USERNAME = Alice Tester
When the hook runs, variables are replaced: 
Log in with [email protected] and password SecurePass123
Navigate to https://api.staging.example.com/dashboard
Verify that Alice Tester appears in the header
Learn more about using variables in hooks →

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In Flow Instructions

You can also use variables directly in flow instructions: 
Open the app
Navigate to Settings
Enter "`{{API_KEY}}`" in the API Key field
Tap Save

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Variable Scope

Variables are scoped to their environment:
  • Apps assigned to “Staging” environment use Staging variables
  • Apps assigned to “Production” environment use Production variables
  • Apps without an environment don’t have access to variables

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Assigning Apps to Environments

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During App Creation

When creating a new app:
  1. Select an environment from the Environment dropdown
  2. Complete the app creation process

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For Existing Apps

  1. Navigate to the Apps page
  2. Find your app
  3. Click the Environment dropdown on the app card
  4. Select an environment

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Use Cases

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Development vs Production Credentials

Development Environment: 
TEST_EMAIL = [email protected]
TEST_PASSWORD = DevPass123
API_URL = https://api.dev.example.com
Production Environment: 
TEST_EMAIL = [email protected]
TEST_PASSWORD = ProdPass123
API_URL = https://api.example.com
Hook (works in both): 
Log in with `{{TEST_EMAIL}}` and `{{TEST_PASSWORD}}`
Verify API connection to `{{API_URL}}`

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Feature Flags

Staging Environment: 
FEATURE_NEW_CHECKOUT = true
FEATURE_BETA_UI = true
EXPERIMENTAL_MODE = enabled
Production Environment: 
FEATURE_NEW_CHECKOUT = false
FEATURE_BETA_UI = false
EXPERIMENTAL_MODE = disabled
Flow (works in both): 
Open settings
Enable experimental mode if `{{EXPERIMENTAL_MODE}}` is "enabled"
Verify new checkout is `{{FEATURE_NEW_CHECKOUT}}`

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Best Practices

Use Consistent NamingEstablish a naming convention and stick to it:
  • TEST_EMAIL, TEST_PASSWORD for credentials
  • API_URL, BASE_URL for endpoints
  • FEATURE_* for feature flags
  • ENV_* for environment-specific settings
Use Variables for Anything That ChangesNot just credentials! Use variables for:
  • URLs and endpoints
  • Test data (names, addresses, etc.)
  • Configuration values
  • Feature flags

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Troubleshooting

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Variable Not Replacing in Hook

Possible Causes:
  • Variable name doesn’t match exactly (case-sensitive)
  • Typo in variable name
  • Wrong syntax (must be {{VAR_NAME}})
  • App not assigned to the environment
Solutions:
  • Check variable name spelling and case
  • Use {{VARIABLE}} not ${VARIABLE} or $VARIABLE
  • Verify app is assigned to the correct environment

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Flow Works in One Environment but Not Another

Cause: Missing or different variables Solution:
  • Check that all required variables exist in both environments

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Next Steps