# Using KEY/VALUE pairs during build **URL:** \ **Category:** Drone Support\ **Created:** [July 14, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266 "2022-07-14T11:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![reevespaul](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/reevespaul/32/3425_2.png) [@reevespaul](https://drone.discourse.group/u/reevespaul)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/1 "2022-07-14T11:36:17Z")
I was reading this discussion [Parameters When Promoting A build](https://drone.discourse.group/t/parameters-when-promoting-build/10813) and I still cannot get KEY/VALUE pairs to work. I carefully add KEY = ATEST and VALUE = 123 via the web gui when I do a new build This is the pipeline: ```auto kind: pipeline type: docker name: build_linux steps: - name: smoketest image: localregistry/tw-0.0 environment: _ENVTEST: envtest commands: - env | grep -v DRONE | grep -v CI | sort ``` and this is the output: ```auto + env | grep -v DRONE | grep -v CI | sort GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL=noreply@drone GIT_AUTHOR_NAME=drone GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL=noreply@drone GIT_COMMITTER_NAME=drone GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT=0 HOME=/root HOSTNAME=ea33d4bad639 OS_NAME=tw OS_VERSION=0.0 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin PWD=/drone/src SHLVL=0 _=/usr/bin/env _ENVTEST=envtest ``` I’m convinced this is a bug. This is with drone server v2.12.1 ---
**Author:** ![jimsheldon](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/jimsheldon/32/7760_2.png) [@jimsheldon](https://drone.discourse.group/u/jimsheldon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/2 "2022-07-14T19:24:44Z")
hello @reevespaul I was just able to successfully test environment variables in a promoted pipeline with this config ```auto kind: pipeline type: docker name: default steps: - name: env image: busybox commands: - env when: event: - promote target: - example ``` I set two variables, `SOME_VARIABLE` and `ANOTHER_VARIABLE`, both appeared in the log output from the `env` command. ![Screen Shot 2022-07-14 at 3.20.49 PM](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/uploads/testdrone/original/2X/7/7e7c9dd29e467026e85541e7f19b2954d32672e0.png) In the past I have forgotten to hit the “+Add” button when adding variables, any chance that could be the issue? ---
**Author:** ![reevespaul](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/reevespaul/32/3425_2.png) [@reevespaul](https://drone.discourse.group/u/reevespaul)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 10:19am UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/3 "2022-07-22T10:19:22Z")
(Sorry for the delayed reply - had to go down other rabbit holes.) Yeah, I’ve been caught out by missing the ‘+Add’ button in the past - definitely bad UI design. But no, that is not the problem here. I tested with ‘promote’ and yes - it works, just as you say. But I was trying to pass KEY/VALUE pairs in the initial build. That is the bit that doesn’t work. Surely, for this feature to be useful it should support passing these variables at build and promote. ---
**Author:** ![brad](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/brad/32/4172_2.png) [@brad](https://drone.discourse.group/u/brad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/4 "2022-07-22T15:57:03Z")
I was able to confirm this is supported and working in our API / backend code: [https://github.com/harness/drone/blame/3a23b0d0d4476701640683bc1010c4357e5543e7/handler/api/repos/builds/create.go#L94](https://github.com/harness/drone/blame/3a23b0d0d4476701640683bc1010c4357e5543e7/handler/api/repos/builds/create.go#L94) @d1wilko can you please check the frontend code to see if we are passing build parameters as query parameters when invoking the API to create a new build? ---
**Author:** ![d1wilko](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/d1wilko/32/6474_2.png) [@d1wilko](https://drone.discourse.group/u/d1wilko)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/5 "2022-10-18T13:36:51Z")
Apologies for the delay in reply I have rejoined the drone team after a secondment! I did a quick test in [cloud.drone.io](http://cloud.drone.io) (which is an earlier version but it should be fine) @reevespaul as you have noticed the key/value pairs are not being passed in the request for new builds - but they are for promotions - I’ll raise a ticket and fix this for new builds Thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![d1wilko](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/drone.discourse.group/d1wilko/32/6474_2.png) [@d1wilko](https://drone.discourse.group/u/d1wilko)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://drone.discourse.group/t/using-key-value-pairs-during-build/12266/6 "2022-10-24T15:40:39Z")
Ok I have fixed this in this PR - [bug: [DRON-433]: fix new build query logic by d1wilko · Pull Request #424 · drone/drone-ui · GitHub](https://github.com/drone/drone-ui/pull/424) - it will be part of the next drone ui release 🙂