Solution Variables

Variables allow solutions to have environment-specific configuration without modifying the underlying actions or sequences.

What Are Variables?

Variables are placeholders in your solution that can have different values per environment:

Variable	Development	Staging	Production
database_host	dev-db.local	staging-db.company.com	prod-db.company.com
log_level	debug	info	warn
replica_count	1	2	5

Variable Templates

Variables are defined as templates on the solution, then values are set per environment.

Template Properties

Property	Description	Required
Name	Identifier (e.g., database_host)	Yes
Label	Display name	Yes
Help Text	Guidance for operators	No
Control Type	Input type (text, select, etc.)	Yes
Default Value	Fallback if not set	No
Required	Must have a value	Yes

Control Types

Text

Single-line text input:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Database Hostname                                      │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ db.example.com                                    │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  Enter the primary database server address              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use for: Hostnames, URLs, paths, simple values

Multiline

Multi-line text area:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Configuration JSON                                     │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ {                                                 │  │
│  │   "feature_flags": {                              │  │
│  │     "new_checkout": true                          │  │
│  │   }                                               │  │
│  │ }                                                 │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  JSON configuration for the application                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use for: JSON, YAML, configuration files, scripts

Select

Dropdown selection:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Log Level                                              │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ info                                          ▼   │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  • debug                                                │
│  • info                                                 │
│  • warn                                                 │
│  • error                                                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use for: Predefined options, log levels, regions

Checkbox

Boolean toggle:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Enable Debug Mode                                      │
│  ┌───┐                                                  │
│  │ ✓ │ Enable                                           │
│  └───┘                                                  │
│  Turn on detailed logging for troubleshooting           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use for: Feature flags, on/off settings

Sensitive

Masked input for secrets:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  API Key                                                │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••                        │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│  API key for external service integration               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Use for: Passwords, API keys, tokens, secrets

Note

Sensitive variables are encrypted at rest and never displayed in logs or the UI after being set.

Creating Variable Templates

In the Solution Editor

1. Open solution detail page
2. Navigate to Variables tab
3. Click Add Variable Template
4. Configure template properties
5. Save

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Add Variable Template                                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│  Name:         [database_host                   ]       │
│  Label:        [Database Hostname               ]       │
│  Help Text:    [Primary PostgreSQL server       ]       │
│                                                         │
│  Control Type: [Text                          ▼]        │
│                                                         │
│  Default:      [localhost                       ]       │
│  Required:     [✓]                                      │
│                                                         │
│                           [Cancel]  [Add]               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Setting Environment Values

Per-Environment Configuration

1. Navigate to the environment detail page
2. Find the solution in the list
3. Click Configure Variables
4. Enter values for each variable
5. Save

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Configure Variables: customer-portal                   │
│  Environment: Production                                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│  Database Hostname                                      │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ prod-db.company.com                               │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
│  Log Level                                              │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ warn                                          ▼   │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
│  Replica Count                                          │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ 5                                                 │  │
│  └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                         │
│                           [Cancel]  [Save]              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Using Variables in Actions

Resolved variables reach an action in two ways during deployment:

1. {{...}} substitution in command arguments, the script file name, and the working directory. The supported placeholder syntaxes are {{variable}} (mustache) and ${variable} (shell-style).
2. MANTIS_* environment variables injected into the executed process. Each resolved variable is exposed as an uppercased, MANTIS_-prefixed environment variable (for example, database_host becomes MANTIS_DATABASE_HOST).

In Command Payloads

Command payloads are structured (a binary plus ordered arguments), so reference variables inside individual arguments with {{...}}:

• Binary: docker
• Argument 1: run
• Argument 2: --env
• Argument 3: DB_HOST={{database_host}}
• Argument 4: --env
• Argument 5: LOG_LEVEL={{log_level}}
• Argument 6: myapp

When using the DefaultShell executor (the default), arguments are passed directly to the binary without any shell interpretation, so shell metacharacters are treated as literal values. When using the Sh, Bash, Pwsh, or Zsh executors, Mantis rejects shell metacharacters (;, |, $, `, etc.) in arguments before execution, preventing chaining, piping, or $VAR expansion; the arguments are then safely quoted and passed to the shell as a single composed command.

In Script Payloads

A script’s content is not substituted. Read resolved variables from their MANTIS_* environment variables instead:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Connecting to $MANTIS_DATABASE_HOST"
docker compose up -d --scale web="$MANTIS_REPLICA_COUNT"

Variable Resolution

During deployment, Mantis resolves variables through five precedence levels. Later levels override earlier ones:

Variable Inheritance

Solution Level

Default values defined on the solution template (precedence level 1).

Tenant Common Level

Tenant-wide variables that apply across all projects. A value set without an environment applies to every environment (level 2); a value scoped to a specific environment overrides that for that environment only (level 3).

Tenant Project Level

Variables tied to this specific project within the tenant. An unscoped value applies to all environments (level 4); an environment-scoped value provides the final, highest-priority override (level 5).

Best Practices

1. Use Descriptive Names

Good: database_primary_host, api_gateway_url
Bad:  db, host1, var1

2. Add Help Text

Help operators understand what values to provide:

Variable: connection_string
Help: PostgreSQL connection string in format:
      postgres://user:pass@host:5432/dbname

3. Set Sensible Defaults

Provide defaults for development/testing:

Variable: log_level
Default: info
(Production can override to "warn")

4. Mark Secrets as Sensitive

Always use the sensitive control type for:

• Passwords
• API keys
• Tokens
• Certificates
• Connection strings with credentials

5. Validate Early

Set variables as required when they must have values:

Variable: database_host
Required: true
(Deployment fails if not set)

Common Variable Patterns

Database Configuration

Variable	Type	Example
database_host	Text	db.example.com
database_port	Text	5432
database_name	Text	myapp_production
database_user	Text	app_user
database_password	Sensitive	•••••••

Feature Flags

Variable	Type	Example
feature_new_ui	Checkbox	true
feature_beta_api	Checkbox	false
feature_analytics	Checkbox	true

Scaling

Variable	Type	Example
web_replicas	Text	3
worker_replicas	Text	2
max_connections	Text	100

Troubleshooting

Variable Not Substituted

Symptom: Seeing {{variable_name}} in output

Solutions:

• Check variable is defined on solution
• Check environment has a value set
• Verify spelling matches exactly
• Remember that script content is never substituted — a script should read the value from its MANTIS_* environment variable instead

Deployment Fails: Missing Required Variable

Symptom: Deployment fails with “required variable not set”

Solution: Set the value on the target environment before deploying

Sensitive Value Exposed in Logs

Symptom: Secret appears in deployment logs

Solution: Ensure variable is marked as sensitive control type

Next Steps

• Creating Solutions - Create new solutions
• Versioning - Version management
• Promotion Lifecycle - Environment progression
• Overview - Return to solutions overview