Codefresh provides a set of predefined variables automatically in each build, that you can use to parameterize the way your pipeline works. You can also define your own variables. Some common examples of predefined variables include:

*`CF_BRANCH` is thegit branch that was used for this pipeline.

*`CF_REVISION` is thegit hash that was used for this pipeline.

*`CF_BRANCH` is theGit branch that was used for this pipeline.

*`CF_REVISION` is theGit hash that was used for this pipeline.

*`CF_BUILD_URL` is the url of the pipeline build.

All system provided variables will also be automatically injected to any freestyle step as environment variables.

{: .table .table-bordered .table-hover}

| Variable| Description|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_BUILD_INITIATOR}}`{% endraw %}| The person (username) that started the build. If the build was started by a Git webhook (e.g. from a Pull request) it will hold the webhook user. Notice that if a build is restarted manually it will always hold the username of the person that restarted it.|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_ACCOUNT}}`{% endraw %}| Codefresh account for this build|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_COMMIT_URL}}`{% endraw %}| Commit url.|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_COMMIT_MESSAGE}}`{% endraw %}| Commit message of the git repository revision, at the time of execution.<br/> The messages quotes are escaped (i.e. ' is not\', " is now\").|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_REVISION}}`{% endraw %}| Revision of the Git repository of the main pipeline, at the time of execution. <br/> You can also use {% raw %}`${{CF_SHORT_REVISION}}`{% endraw %} to get the abbreviated 7-character revision hash, as used in git. Note: use this variable as string with quotes to tag the image {% raw %}`${{CF_SHORT_REVISION}}`{% endraw %}|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_COMMIT_MESSAGE}}`{% endraw %}| Commit message of the Git repository revision, at the time of execution.<br/> The messages quotes are escaped (i.e. ' is not\', " is now\").|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_COMMIT_MESSAGE_ESCAPED}}`{% endraw %}| Commit message of the Git repository revision, at the time of execution.<br/> Special characters are escaped.|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_REVISION}}`{% endraw %}| Revision of the Git repository of the main pipeline, at the time of execution. <br/> You can also use {% raw %}`${{CF_SHORT_REVISION}}`{% endraw %} to get the abbreviated 7-character revision hash, as used in Git. Note: use this variable as string with quotes to tag the image {% raw %}`${{CF_SHORT_REVISION}}`{% endraw %}|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_VOLUME_NAME}}`{% endraw %}| Refers to the[shared volume]({{site.baseurl}}/docs/configure-ci-cd-pipeline/introduction-to-codefresh-pipelines/#sharing-the-workspace-between-build-steps) between[freestyle steps]({{site.baseurl}}/docs/codefresh-yaml/steps/freestyle/). Normally you only need to define this in[compositions]({{site.baseurl}}/docs/codefresh-yaml/steps/composition/). In freestyle steps, it is automatically present without any extra configuration.|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_VOLUME_PATH}}`{% endraw %}| Refers to the mounted path of the[shared volume]({{site.baseurl}}/docs/configure-ci-cd-pipeline/introduction-to-codefresh-pipelines/#sharing-the-workspace-between-build-steps) inside a Freestyle container. In the current implementation it expands to`/codefresh/volume`.|

| {% raw %}`${{CF_BUILD_TRIGGER}}`{% endraw %}| Will be an indication of the current build was triggered:*build: The build was triggered from the build button* webhook: The build was triggered from a control version webhook|

GitHub allows you to create[releases](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-releases/) for marking specificgit tags for general availability.

GitHub allows you to create[releases](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-releases/) for marking specificGit tags for general availability.

You can set a[trigger]({{site.baseurl}}/docs/configure-ci-cd-pipeline/triggers/git-triggers/) for GitHub releases. When a GitHub release happens, the following variables are also available: