Interpolation of Values¶

On top of the core functionality, PlatformIO supports interpolation. It enables values to contain format strings which refer to other values from foreign sections.

Interpolation has the next syntax – ${<section>.<option>}, where <section> is a value from [<section>] group, and <option> is a first item from pair <option> = value.

Syntax	Meaning	Example
`${sysenv.<name>}`	Embed system environment variable by a name	`${sysenv.HOME}` refers to user home directory on Unix machine
`${platformio.<option>}`	Embed value from Section [platformio]	`${platformio.packages_dir}` refers to a path of packages_dir
`${env.<option>}`	Embed default value from Section [env]	`${env.debug_build_flags}` refers to the default debugging flags
`${<section>.<option>}`	Embed value from another section.	`${extra.lib_deps}` embeds library dependencies declared in the section named `extra`
`${this.<option>}`	Embed value from the current section without declaring a section name	`${this.board}` refers to the “board” value of the current section
`${this.__env__}`	Embed environment name of the current section. The section must start with `env:` prefix	`${this.__name__}` will embed “foo” value being declared in the “env:foo” section

Interpolation can span multiple levels
Interpolation can be applied only for the option’s value
Multiple interpolations are allowed
The Section [platformio] and Section [env] sections are reserved and could not be used as a custom section. Some good section names might be extra or custom.

Note

If you need to share common configuration options between build environments, please take a look at “Global scope” in Section [env] or extends option which allows extending of other sections.

Example:

; COMMON options
; Each "[env:***]" extends this "[env]" by default
[env]
framework = arduino
build_flags = -D VERSION=1.2.3

; CUSTOM options
; You need manually inject these options into a section
; using ${extra.<name_of_option>} (see below)
[extra]
lib_deps_builtin =
  SPI
  Wire
lib_deps_external =
  bblanchon/ArduinoJson@>5.6.0

[env:uno]
platform = atmelavr
board = uno
lib_deps =
  ${extra.lib_deps_builtin}
  ${extra.lib_deps_external}
platform_packages =
  platformio/tool-simavr
test_speed = 9600
test_testing_command =
  ${platformio.packages_dir}/tool-simavr/bin/simavr
  -m
  atmega328p
  -f
  16000000L
  ${platformio.build_dir}/${this.__env__}/firmware.elf

[env:esp32dev]
platform = espressif32
board = esp32dev
build_flags = ${env.build_flags} -Wall
lib_deps =
  ${extra.lib_deps_builtin}
  ${extra.lib_deps_external}
  knolleary/PubSubClient @ ~2.6
  paulstoffregen/OneWire @ ^2.3.5

; Keep sensitive data in environment variables
;
; Unix
; export WIFI_SSID='\"my\ ssid\ name\"'
; export WIFI_PASS='\"my\ password\"'
;
; Windows
; set WIFI_SSID='"my ssid name"'
; set WIFI_PASS='"my password"'

Warning

Be careful with special characters in system environment variables on Unix systems, especially when they are used as the value for preprocessor directives. Symbols like $, &, ~, etc must be explicitly escaped, for example:

export WIFI_PASS='\"my\~p\&a\\\$\$\$\$word\"'