context

`${{ vars.* }} / ${{ inputs.* }}`

`vars` exposes non-secret configuration variables defined at the repository, environment, or organization level. `inputs` exposes typed parameters passed to `workflow_dispatch`, `workflow_call`, or composite actions.

Syntax

${{ vars.<NAME> }}   ${{ inputs.<name> }}

Common values / subkeys

Value / Subkey	Purpose
vars.<NAME>	Non-secret config variable (visible in logs)
inputs.<name>	Typed input from workflow_dispatch / workflow_call / composite
type: string\|boolean\|number\|choice\|environment	Input types allowed on workflow_dispatch
required / default	Per-input required flag and default value

Examples

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      env:
        type: choice
        options: [dev, prod]
        required: true

Typed manual input

run: deploy --env ${{ inputs.env }} --region ${{ vars.AWS_REGION }}

Combine inputs and vars in a run step

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      version: {required: true, type: string}

Declare inputs for a reusable workflow

if: ${{ inputs.dry_run == true }}

Boolean inputs from workflow_dispatch are true booleans

Gotcha

`vars` are NOT masked and are readable by anyone with workflow access — never store credentials there; boolean inputs may arrive as the string `'true'` when a reusable-workflow caller passes a stringified value.

Related keywords

${{ secrets.NAME }}

The `secrets` context exposes repository, environment, and organization secrets to workflow expressions. Values are masked in logs and are not passed to workflows triggered from forked PRs.

uses: <workflow_call>

Reusable workflows are files that declare `on: workflow_call` and can be invoked as a job in another workflow. The caller passes typed `with:` inputs and either inherits or explicitly forwards secrets.

${{ <expression> }}

GitHub Actions expressions are evaluated by the runner and interpolated into YAML values before shells see them. They support literals, operators, contexts, and a fixed set of functions — this is unrelated to Terraform's `${}` interpolation.

${{ github }}

The `github` context exposes information about the workflow run, event payload, repository, and actor. It is available in most expression fields and is the primary source of triggering-event data.

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