Reference

Variables Reference

Applications ask rototo for variables. A variable gives a name to one runtime configuration decision: which value should this request, account, or service state receive from this workspace version?

Variable files live under variables/*.toml. The file stem is the variable id.

Minimal Primitive Variable

schema_version = 1

description = "Maximum active projects for an account"
type = "int"

[values]
standard = 3
expanded = 25

[resolve]
default = "standard"

[[resolve.rule]]
qualifier = "paid-account"
value = "expanded"

Fields

Field	Required	Type	Meaning
`schema_version`	Yes	integer	Variable format version. The only supported value is `1`.
`description`	No	string	Human description shown by inspect and editor tooling.
`type`	Yes	string	Primitive type or `catalog:<catalog-id>`.
`values`	Primitive only	table	Inline values keyed by value name.
`resolve`	Yes	table	Default value and ordered qualifier rules.

The older schema = "...json" field is rejected. Structured values should use a catalog and type = "catalog:<catalog-id>".

Supported Types

Primitive variable types are:

bool
int
number
string
list

Catalog-backed variable types use:

catalog:<catalog-id>

For example:

type = "catalog:account-limit-profile"

Primitive Values

Primitive variables must contain a [values] table. Each table key is a value key. Each value must match the declared primitive type.

type = "string"

[values]
control = "standard"
priority = "priority"

Primitive variables without values are invalid. Catalog-backed variables with [values] are invalid.

Catalog-Backed Variables

Catalog-backed variables select entry keys from the matching catalog entry directory:

schema_version = 1

description = "Account limit profile"
type = "catalog:account-limit-profile"

[resolve]
default = "growth"

[[resolve.rule]]
qualifier = "enterprise-account"
value = "enterprise"

The default and rule value fields reference files under:

catalogs/account-limit-profile-entries/

Every selected entry is validated against the catalog schema before an application can consume it.

Resolve Block

Every variable must contain [resolve]:

[resolve]
default = "standard"

[[resolve.rule]]
qualifier = "paid-account"
value = "expanded"

default is required. It must reference a known primitive value key or a known catalog entry key.

Rules are evaluated in file order. Each rule references one qualifier and one value. The first rule whose qualifier resolves to true selects its value. If no rule matches, the default value is selected.

Invalid Shapes

These shapes are invalid:

# Missing type
schema_version = 1

# Schema-backed variables are no longer supported
schema = "../schemas/value.schema.json"

# Catalog-backed variables must not contain [values]
type = "catalog:account-limit-profile"

[values]
growth = {}

# Rules must use [[resolve.rule]] tables
[resolve]
default = "standard"
rule = ["paid-account"]

See Variable Values for value validation, and Variable Resolution for runtime selection semantics.