Thinkube GitOps
Pass configuration to your app
Values your app reads at run time, and the few the browser may see
- Level
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Risk
- low
- Updated
- 2026-10-04
Overview
Basic idea
An app needs values it cannot know when it is written: the address it runs at, its database, a support email. Cloud platforms pass them as environment variables, set per deployment, so the same code runs anywhere and the values never enter the repository.
Thinkube does the same. The platform sets the variables it knows, such as the app’s name, address and database, and you declare your own in thinkube.yaml with a default.
-
Declared in the repository, valued at deploy. The file says a variable exists; the deployment gives it a value.
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The browser sees only what you list. A frontend runs on the visitor’s computer, so it can read only the variables named in its
publicEnv.
What you’ll accomplish
You add a variable, SUPPORT_EMAIL, to the notes app, let the browser read it, push, and find it in the backend and in the page’s configuration.
What to know before starting
Required
-
An app from the web app template. Build a web app from the template makes
notes.
Optional
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How configuration reaches your app: every channel, secrets included, and why
publicEnvis an allow-list.
Instructions
Step 1. See what the page already reads
The template’s frontend reads the app’s name from the deployment, which is why the sidebar says Notes.
Ask your agent:
› show me notes' config.js
Expected output:
window.__PUBLIC_CONFIG__ = {"APP_TITLE":"Notes"};
Step 2. Declare the variable
Ask your agent:
› add SUPPORT_EMAIL to notes, default help@example.com, readable by the browser, then commit and push
The agent adds the variable under env and names it in the frontend’s publicEnv in apps/notes/thinkube.yaml:
containers:
- name: frontend
publicEnv:
- APP_TITLE
- SUPPORT_EMAIL
env:
- name: SUPPORT_EMAIL
description: "Where the app's users write for help"
default: "help@example.com"The commit updates the app’s deployment files for you.
The push rebuilds and redeploys the app.
Step 3. Find it in the backend and the page
Ask your agent:
› when notes is redeployed, show SUPPORT_EMAIL in the backend and in config.js
Expected output, 171 seconds after the push on the reference run:
backend SUPPORT_EMAIL=help@example.com
window.__PUBLIC_CONFIG__ = {"APP_TITLE":"Notes","SUPPORT_EMAIL":"help@example.com"};
Every container receives SUPPORT_EMAIL. The page receives only the two names in publicEnv; the database password and the other secrets the containers hold stay on the server. The frontend reads a value with publicValue('SUPPORT_EMAIL') from src/lib/publicConfig.ts.
Step 4. Next steps
To undo: Remove the variable from thinkube.yaml, commit and push.
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How configuration reaches your app: deploy-time questions, dependencies on other services, and secrets.
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Publish your app as a template: the declaration travels with the template, the value does not.