Variables & Templates

Overview

Jinba Flow supports powerful templating capabilities that allow you to:

Reference results from previous steps
Access configured secrets securely
Use Jinja2 templates for complex logic
Create dynamic, reusable workflows

Variable Placeholders

Basic Syntax

Variables are enclosed in double curly braces: {{ variable }}

Available Variables

Variable	Description	Example
`steps.<step_id>.result`	Result from a previous step	`{{steps.fetch_data.result}}`
`steps.<step_id>.result.<property>`	Specific property from result	`{{steps.api_call.result.content}}`
`secrets.<secret_name>`	Configured workspace secret	`{{secrets.API_KEY}}`
`item`	Current item in forEach loop	`{{item}}`
`item.<property>`	Property of current item	`{{item.id}}`

Accessing Step Results

# Access entire result
- name: data
  value: "{{steps.previous_step.result}}"

# Access specific property
- name: content
  value: "{{steps.llm_response.result.content}}"

# Access nested property
- name: user_email
  value: "{{steps.get_user.result.user.email}}"

# Access array element
- name: first_item
  value: "{{steps.get_list.result[0]}}"

Using Secrets

Secrets are configured at the workspace level and accessed securely:

config:
  - name: api_key
    value: "{{secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY}}"
  - name: token
    value: "{{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}"

Security Notes:

Secrets are encrypted at rest
Never hardcode sensitive values in workflows
Use secrets for API keys, tokens, and credentials

Jinja2 Templates

Jinba Flow supports full Jinja2 templating for advanced logic. Templates are processed before step execution.

Control Structures

For Loops

value: |
  items = []
  {%- for user in steps.get_users.result %}
  items.append({
    "id": "{{user.id}}",
    "name": "{{user.name}}"
  })
  {%- endfor %}

Conditional Statements

value: |
  {%- if steps.check.result.status == 'success' %}
  print("Processing successful")
  {%- else %}
  print("Handling error")
  {%- endif %}

Loop with Index

value: |
  {%- for item in items %}
  {{loop.index}}: {{item}}
  {%- endfor %}

Built-in Functions

Jinja2 provides useful built-in functions:

# zip - Combine multiple lists
{%- for a, b in zip(list1, list2) %}
{{a}}: {{b}}
{%- endfor %}

# range - Generate number sequence
{%- for i in range(5) %}
Item {{i}}
{%- endfor %}

# length/count
Total: {{items|length}}

Filters

Apply transformations to values:

# String manipulation
{{ variable | upper }}
{{ variable | lower }}
{{ variable | trim }}
{{ variable | replace('old', 'new') }}

# Default values
{{ variable | default('fallback_value') }}

# JSON handling
{{ data | tojson }}

# List operations
{{ items | first }}
{{ items | last }}
{{ items | join(', ') }}

Whitespace Control

Use {%- and -%} to control whitespace:

value: |
  {%- for item in items -%}
  {{item}}
  {%- endfor -%}

{%- removes whitespace before the tag
-%} removes whitespace after the tag

Common Patterns

Processing Lists

- id: process_items
  tool: PYTHON_SANDBOX_RUN
  input:
    - name: code
      value: |
        results = []
        {%- for item in steps.input_list.result %}
        results.append({
          "id": "{{item.id}}",
          "processed": True
        })
        {%- endfor %}
        result = results

Conditional Data Selection

- id: select_data
  tool: PYTHON_SANDBOX_RUN
  input:
    - name: code
      value: |
        {%- if steps.config.result.mode == 'full' %}
        data = {{steps.full_data.result}}
        {%- else %}
        data = {{steps.summary_data.result}}
        {%- endif %}
        result = data

Combining Multiple Sources

- id: merge_data
  tool: PYTHON_SANDBOX_RUN
  input:
    - name: code
      value: |
        combined = []
        {%- for user, order in zip(steps.users.result, steps.orders.result) %}
        combined.append({
          "user": "{{user.name}}",
          "order": "{{order.id}}"
        })
        {%- endfor %}
        result = combined

Filtering Lists

value: |
  active_items = []
  {%- for item in items if item.status == 'active' %}
  active_items.append("{{item.name}}")
  {%- endfor %}

Building Dynamic Prompts

- id: generate_prompt
  tool: LLM
  input:
    - name: prompt
      value: |
        Analyze the following items:
        {%- for item in steps.items.result %}
        - {{item.name}}: {{item.description}}
        {%- endfor %}
        
        Provide insights based on the above data.

Best Practices

Variable References

Use descriptive step IDs for clarity
Access only the properties you need
Handle potential null/undefined values with defaults

Templates

Keep templates readable with proper indentation
Use whitespace control for clean output
Break complex logic into multiple steps

Secrets

Never log or expose secret values
Use workspace-level secrets for team sharing
Rotate secrets regularly

Performance

Avoid deeply nested templates
Limit loop iterations
Pre-process data when possible

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Variable not found

Check step ID spelling
Ensure the referenced step runs before current step
Verify the property path is correct

Template syntax error

Check for balanced braces {{ }}
Verify Jinja2 tag syntax {% %}
Look for missing quotes in strings

Unexpected output

Use debug steps to inspect intermediate values
Check whitespace handling
Verify data types (string vs object)

Step Module Options - forEach, when, needs
YAML Coding Panel - Complete YAML syntax
Debug - Debugging workflows

​Overview

​Variable Placeholders

​Basic Syntax

​Available Variables

​Accessing Step Results

​Using Secrets

​Jinja2 Templates

​Control Structures

​For Loops

​Conditional Statements

​Loop with Index

​Built-in Functions

​Filters

​Whitespace Control

​Common Patterns

​Processing Lists

​Conditional Data Selection

​Combining Multiple Sources

​Filtering Lists

​Building Dynamic Prompts

​Best Practices

​Variable References

​Templates

​Secrets

​Performance

​Troubleshooting

​Common Issues

​Related