> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://bluebricks.co/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://bluebricks.co/docs/orchestration/runs/using-context-references.md).

# Using Context References

### Overview

You can insert **dynamic references** into property values when configuring **collection properties** or **environment properties**.

These references automatically pull information from the current **Environment** or **Collection**, so you don’t have to hard-code values.

When the environment runs, the reference will be replaced with the actual value.

### Available References

#### Environment References

<table data-full-width="false"><thead><tr><th width="294.9453125">Reference</th><th width="272.078125" valign="middle">Description</th><th>Example Output</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>${{bricks.environment.slug}}</code></td><td valign="middle">The unique slug of the environment.</td><td>payments-prod</td></tr><tr><td><code>${{bricks.environment.package}}</code></td><td valign="middle">The blueprint or package assigned to the environment.</td><td>@bluebricks/payments_blueprint</td></tr><tr><td><code>${{bricks.environment.created_time}}</code></td><td valign="middle">The date/time the environment was created. <em>(Only works for existing</em> environment<em>s)</em></td><td>2025-06-30T09:27:14Z</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="danger" %}
`${{bricks.environment.created_time}}` refers to the creation time of the parent environment and not to a specific run. This means every run of the same environment will have the same creation\_time.
{% endhint %}

#### Collection References

<table><thead><tr><th width="295.03515625">Reference</th><th width="271.515625">Description</th><th>Example Output</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>${{bricks.collection.slug}}</code></td><td>The unique slug of the collection.</td><td>prod</td></tr><tr><td><code>${{bricks.collection.name}}</code></td><td>The display name of the collection.</td><td>Production</td></tr></tbody></table>

### How It Works <a href="#dedcf9e6-cb47-4829-97a2-8a8e67306395" id="dedcf9e6-cb47-4829-97a2-8a8e67306395"></a>

Anywhere you can type a property value, you can use:

```
${{bricks.environment.*}} → Information about the environment

${{bricks.collection.*}} → Information about the collection
```

When the environment starts, these placeholders are replaced with the real values from your Bluebricks setup.

### **Example Usage** <a href="#id-418fc142-6d1f-4d7b-a901-dfd76f6b4f63" id="id-418fc142-6d1f-4d7b-a901-dfd76f6b4f63"></a>

#### Collection **Properties Page** <a href="#id-2bdf778c-0a1a-4038-a1be-19cf46933f90" id="id-2bdf778c-0a1a-4038-a1be-19cf46933f90"></a>

You can set a property to dynamically reference the collection name:

```
app_collection = ${{bricks.collection.name}}
```

<figure><img src="/files/OLHYEtNexjXy0l1tMlCe" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

When deployed to **Production** collection, this becomes:

```
app_collection = Production
```

#### Environment **Page** <a href="#id-2bdf778c-0a1a-4038-a1be-19cf46933f90" id="id-2bdf778c-0a1a-4038-a1be-19cf46933f90"></a>

You can set a property to dynamically reference the environment name:

```
bucket_name = ${{bricks.environment.slug}}
```

<figure><img src="/files/cg1Ia9ToTRyL9hjSluUf" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

When deployed the property will be resolved as:

```
bucket_name = single-tenant-452846-service-bucket
```