Local Variables

You may define a YAML object in your Kubernetes manifest that is used to define variables that can later be accessed in the same manifest to achieve some level of DRY-ness. This is done by not setting any apiVersion or kind, and instead just define variables prefixed with $. Variables can later be accessed using the ${{ locals.var }}.

Note that expressions in values assigned to variables are not currently supported. This means that you cannot use e.g. ${{ secrets.get("my-secret") }} in the value of a variable, nor can you use ${{ locals.var }}.

Example

# my-app.yaml
$name: my-app

---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: ${{ locals.name }}
# ...

Technically, such an object defining local variables can be defined anywhere in the manifest and more than once. By convention and to improve readability, it is recommended to define it at the top of the manifest. The object is not rendered in the final manifest.