Environments & Variables

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Open an Environment

From a Project window, use the Environments section to browse available environments and open one in its own window.

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Variables View

The Variables section is the main workspace for environment data. It supports:

• search by variable key,
• table and grouped layouts,
• hiding disabled variables,
• creating new variables,
• disabling or deleting existing variables,
• importing a local .env file,
• exporting the environment back to a local file.

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Variable Detail Pane

When you select a variable, the detail column opens. Use it to review:

• Info details such as size, version, and who last updated the value,
• validation issues,
• framework-specific insights,
• a shared description / note for documenting intent, constraints, dependencies, or agent instructions,
• version history, including the optional reason for change attached when a value is updated,
• restore options for older values.

If no variable is selected, the detail pane collapses so the window behaves like a two-column view. Desktop uses the top-level detail switcher for Info, Validation, and History. Inside the Info view, the same pane also includes the Description / Note section for the selected variable.

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Comments

Use variable comments when the conversation belongs to one key and should stay attached to that variable instead of getting lost in chat or issue threads. This is a good place for rollout notes, approvals, handoffs, troubleshooting context, and questions about a specific value. Comments stay inside Ghostable’s zero-knowledge model. The comment body is encrypted client-side and only decrypted in trusted clients, while activity and notifications stay metadata-only. The comments thread is flat, shared with authorized members, and visible from desktop, CLI, and other trusted Ghostable clients.

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Pending Key Access

If this Mac has not received the necessary environment key yet, Ghostable shows a Key Access Pending state instead of the variable list. The app can either wait for a teammate to fulfill the request or copy the fallback CLI command for you.

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Variable Promotion Requests

From the Variables table, select one or more keys and use the promote action to create a cross-environment promotion request. When this environment is the target of pending promotions, desktop surfaces a pending review banner above the variables table so reviewers can open the request quickly. For a complete review walkthrough (approve/reject behavior, value overrides, and decrypt-unavailable states), use the dedicated promotions guide.

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