Environments

An environment is a named set of variables. Pick one in the top-right selector and every {{placeholder}} in your request resolves against it.

What you can put in a variable

• Plain strings — base_url, team_id, version.
• Secrets — api_token, client_secret. Marking an environment variable “secret” masks it in the UI and in collection exports, but the value is still stored as plaintext — environment variables don’t use the SecretRef handle pattern. For values that need OS-keychain protection, store them on the request’s Auth tab instead (see Authentication), where supported credential fields can be saved as a SecretRef handle.
• Environment-scoped overrides — a variable in the active environment beats the same name in the collection-scope variable table.

Variable resolution order

When {{base_url}} is encountered, Restura looks in this order, picking the first match:

1. Request-scope variables — set inline on the request itself or by a pre-request script (pm.variables.set('base_url', ...)).
2. Active environment — the selected environment’s variable table.
3. Collection-scope variables — defined on the parent collection.
4. Globals — workspace-wide values.

If none match, the placeholder is left as-is so you can spot the typo.

Switching environments

• Top-right environment selector switches in one click.
• OWS workflows use their bound saved request’s normal environment resolution; they cannot override environments or write environment variables.
• The CLI accepts --env <file> to load an environment file (JSON or YAML) for a CI run.

Built-in helpers

Postman-compatible helpers work in any {{...}} placeholder:

• {{$randomUUID}} — fresh UUID per request.
• {{$timestamp}} — current epoch seconds.
• {{$isoTimestamp}} — ISO 8601 timestamp.
• {{$guid}} — alias for $randomUUID.

Tips

• Keep secrets out of collection-scope variables — anyone you share an exported collection with sees those values (unless you redact on export, which is wise).
• Use the environment diff view (when staging vs production are open side by side) to spot drift.

Related

• Authentication — tokens stored as SecretRef.
• Workflows — bounded OWS orchestration over saved HTTP requests; it does not extract or persist environment variables.
• Scripts — pm.environment.set(...), pm.environment.get(...).