Reading Environment Variables

After defining variables, including as part of Workflow Configuration, you will want to read them back in your Workflow.

In Alfred objects, variable contents are expanded with the format {var:myvariable}, where myvariable is the name you gave your variable when creating it. In code blocks, such as in a Run Script or Script Filter, they are set as environment variables and you access them according to the rules of the language.

The following examples assign the contents of a myvariable environment variable to a new thevalue variable.

Zsh and Bash

thevalue="${myvariable}"

JavaScript (JXA)

ObjC.import("stdlib")
var thevalue = $.getenv("myvariable")

var thevalue = $.NSProcessInfo.processInfo.environment.objectForKey("myvariable").js

The top version will throw an error if the environment variable does not exist, while the bottom one will not.

AppleScript

set thevalue to (system attribute "myvariable")

use framework "Foundation"
set thevalue to (current application's NSProcessInfo's processInfo's environment's objectForKey:"myvariable") as text

The top version is shorter and easier to read, while the bottom one is necessary if you imported Foundation for other parts of the script.

Swift

import Foundation
var thevalue: String? = ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["myvariable"]

Python

import os
thevalue = os.environ["myvariable"]

import os
thevalue = os.getenv("myvariable")