An environment is a named set of variables — baseUrl, token, userId — that requests use as {{name}}.
Switch the environment and the same requests talk to local, staging or production. Globals are variables every
request in the workspace can use. Both live in the Variables section of the rail.
Use a variable
Write {{name}} anywhere in a request: the URL, params, headers, body or auth. Typing {{ suggests the names you
have, and clicking a variable shows where its value comes from, with a field to change it on the spot. The details,
plus the built-in {{$timestamp}}, {{$randomUUID}} and friends, are on
Requests and responses.
Where a variable gets its value
When the same name is defined in several places, the most specific one wins:
| Rank | Source |
|---|---|
| 1 (wins) | The current data row of a runner iteration |
| 2 | The request’s environment — the collection’s own, or the active one |
| 3 | The workspace’s globals |
Rows that are switched off are ignored, as if they did not exist. A name nothing defines is sent as written, braces included.
Scripts can change variables as they run; see Variables in scripts.
Which environment a request uses
- The picker in the top right of the Requests section follows the active tab. It lists No environment, every environment by name, and Edit environments….
- In a tab of a saved request, the picker sets the environment of that request’s collection — it says For <collection> — or Workspace default to follow the workspace.
- The default environment (set with Make default) applies to scratch tabs and to every collection that does not pick its own.
- A collection can also pick its environment in its Settings….
The header of an environment lists Used by <collections> — the collections that picked it.
The Variables section
The sidebar
The sidebar is headed Environments:
- Sort — Default (your order) or Name.
- Select — tick several environments to delete them at once.
- + — New environment, New group, Import environment….
- Filter environments narrows the list.
- Globals sits on top, marked local.
- Favourites and groups work as in the Requests sidebar, and you can drag environments into order.
Like the Requests sidebar, this arrangement is yours on this computer only.
Each environment row has a ⋯ menu (or right-click): Open, Make default, Add to favourites, Move to group, Duplicate, Export… and Delete….
The environment header
| Button | Does |
|---|---|
| Make default | Makes this the workspace’s default environment. The default shows a Default badge instead. |
| Share values… | Team workspaces: share a snapshot of the values — see Share values with your team. |
| Duplicate | Makes a copy named “<name> copy” (then “copy 2” and so on). |
| Export… | Writes the environment to a file. |
| Rename | Renames it. |
| Delete | Deletes it; type the name to confirm. |
| Save (mod+S) | Saves your edits. |
Leaving an environment with unsaved changes asks Save your changes? with Save or Discard changes.
The variable grid
Each variable is a row with four columns:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| on/off | A switched-off row is ignored when sending. |
| Variable | The name, used as {{name}}. |
| Value | What it is replaced with. |
| Secret | Masks the value, with a reveal button. |
Select mode works on several rows at once: Turn on, Turn off, Secret, Not secret and Remove.
Delete environments
Deleting one environment asks you to type its name. Deleting several with Select asks you to type the text shown.
Globals
Variables every request in this workspace can use; the active environment wins on the same name. Kept on this computer. Open Globals at the top of the sidebar. They use the same grid as an environment.
Globals stay on this computer: they are not synced to a team and not written to a folder workspace.
Secrets
Secret is a flag on a variable. A secret value is masked in the grid (reveal it with the eye), and is left out of exports unless you ask for it.
Where values are kept:
- Values — secret or not — are stored in DialCatz’s own workspace file on this computer, readable by you only (mode 0600). They are not put in the KeychainWindows’ protected storage.
- They are never written to a folder workspace: the files in a Git repository hold variable names and flags only.
- They are never synced to a DialCatz Den, unless you share them on purpose with Share values….
- Exports leave them out unless you tick Include values (and, for secrets, Include secret values).
That is why the safe home for a token is a secret variable: write {{token}} in the request’s Auth, and only the
name travels.
Environments in team workspaces
In a team workspace, environment names and their variables’ names and flags are shared, but values stay on each computer. Every member fills in their own — their own token, their own local URL.
Share values with your team
When the team does want the same values — a shared staging URL, say — use Share values… in the environment header:
- Tick the variables whose values you want to share. Secrets start unticked, and ticking one shows a warning.
- Share. A snapshot of those values is stored on the Den.
Teammates then see Load shared values from <name>, with a preview of what each variable would do — new, same, fills in (an empty value gets one) or changes (theirs would be replaced) — before they load it.
The person who shared can Update the snapshot later, or Stop sharing. It is a snapshot, not a live link: loading it copies the values into each person’s own environment.
Export and import environments
Export an environment
Export… in the row menu or the header writes one file:
| Format | File |
|---|---|
| DialCatz | <name>.dialcatz_environment.json |
| Postman | <name>.postman_environment.json |
Two options:
- Include values — off: names only, each person fills in their own.
- Include secret values — off by default, because the file is plain text.
The file is written readable by you only (mode 0600). The save dialog starts in Downloads.
To export every environment and collection at once, use Export a whole workspace.
Import an environment
+ → Import environment… accepts DialCatz or Postman environment JSON files, or a Postman export zip. An environment whose name is already taken gets “ 2”, “ 3” and so on. Environments also come in through the main Import list, from a DevCatz site and from a DoCatz project.
Last updated 2026-11-03