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Variables solve a common content problem: some values have to differ between environments. A CDN URL, a support email address, a feature flag string — you want to write the content once and have each environment fill in its own value. Silo variables do exactly that: you declare the name once at the project level, set a value in each environment, and every {{NAME}} inside an entry is replaced with that environment’s value before the response leaves the server.

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How substitution works

When Silo reads an entry — whether from a direct GET, a list, or a search — it scans the entry’s string values for {{NAME}} references and replaces each one with the matching value from the current environment. Substitution happens after media resolution, so a field can hold both a media reference and a variable reference without conflict.
A variable with no value set in the current environment leaves {{NAME}} standing in the response as-is. It is never silently blanked to an empty string.

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Declaring a variable

Declare a variable name once at the project level. Optionally seed it with a value in one environment in the same call. 
curl -X POST http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/variables \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "CDN_URL", "description": "Base URL for the CDN"}'

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Setting and unsetting values per environment

After a variable is declared, give it a value in each environment independently.
1

Set a value

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/envs/prod/variables/CDN_URL \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"value": "https://cdn.example.com"}'

curl -X PUT http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/envs/staging/variables/CDN_URL \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"value": "https://cdn-staging.example.com"}'
2

Unset a value

curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/envs/staging/variables/CDN_URL \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY"
After unsetting, {{CDN_URL}} will appear unresolved in any entry read from the staging environment.

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Listing variables in an environment

curl http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/envs/prod/variables \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY"
The response returns the full list of declared variable names alongside each one’s value for the requested environment. Names with no value in this environment appear with "value": null.

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Renaming or re-describing a variable

To rename a declared variable or update its description, PATCH the project-level declaration. This updates the name everywhere it appears. 
curl -X PATCH http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/variables/CDN_URL \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "CDN_BASE_URL", "description": "Primary CDN base URL"}'

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Undeclaring a variable

To remove a variable declaration entirely — across all environments — DELETE the project-level declaration. 
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/variables/CDN_URL \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY"
Any {{CDN_URL}} references in stored entries are left standing. Silo does not rewrite entry content when a variable is undeclared.

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Reading raw (bypassing substitution)

Pass ?variables=raw on any entry read to get the stored templates back unresolved: 
curl "http://localhost:8090/api/projects/acme/envs/prod/collections/posts/01J8XYZ...?variables=raw" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SILO_KEY"
A raw read returns the stored {{NAME}} reference rather than the resolved value: 
{
  "id": "01J8XYZ2ZK60T72CNPCM222E3Z",
  "title": "Watch the trailer",
  "trailer_url": "{{CDN_URL}}/trailers/arrival.mp4",
  ...
}
Always read raw before editing. If you read a resolved value and write it back, you permanently replace {{CDN_URL}}/trailers/arrival.mp4 with https://cdn.example.com/trailers/arrival.mp4. The template is gone and cannot be recovered from the stored data. Raw reads prevent this.
The ?variables=raw option works on GET for a single entry, GET for a list, and GET for a search. Create and replace operations always send raw — the response to a write echoes exactly what you sent.

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Variables in exports and imports

Variables travel with archives. A full export includes every declared variable name and its per-environment values; a full import restores them. This makes variable state portable across instances.
A scope-to-scope copy (copying one environment into another via POST /api/projects/{project}/envs/{env}/copy) does not carry variable values. Only the entry content — which may still contain {{NAME}} references — is copied. Set the values in the destination environment separately.

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API claims

Variables require no new claim types beyond what entries already use:
OperationRequired claim
Read entries (resolved)entries:read
List variables in an environmententries:read
Set or unset a value in an environmententries:update scoped to that environment
Declare a new variableentries:create at project/*/*
Undeclare (delete) a variableentries:delete at project/*/*

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Variables in the admin UI

In the admin UI, go to Settings → Variables to manage declarations and per-environment values. Variable references appear as chips inside entry form fields so you can see at a glance which fields contain template expressions. Typing {{ in any text field opens a completion list of declared variable names.

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