Pattern: Change a Value Across All Environments

Audience: Operator who needs to change a configuration value (RAM, disk size, feature flag, variable) and apply it everywhere consistently.

The layering model

strata merges configuration in this order (later wins):

workspace variables  →  environment variables  →  deployment variables
    (base)                   (override)                  (final)

Where you make a change depends on the scope you want:

Scope	Where to edit	Example
All environments	Workspace (`ws-.yaml`) or resource (`vm-.yaml`)	Bump RAM on all worker VMs
One environment only	Environment (`env-*.yaml`)	Enable debug logging in staging only
One deployment only	Deployment (`deploy-*.yaml`) — `spec.variables` section	Override a value for a specific deploy run

Recipe: Change a resource property everywhere

Scenario: Bump worker VM RAM from 2048 MB to 4096 MB across all environments.

Since RAM is defined in the resource file (shared by all deployments), edit it once:

# stack/vm-worker.yaml
spec:
  configuration:
    cpu_cores: 1
    ram_mb: 4096          # ← changed from 2048

Then validate and plan ALL deployments:

strata validate --file deploy/deploy-prd.yaml
strata validate --file deploy/deploy-stg.yaml

strata build plan --file deploy/deploy-prd.yaml
strata build plan --file deploy/deploy-stg.yaml

The plan shows the RAM change propagating to every environment that uses this resource.

Recipe: Change a variable in all environments

Scenario: Add a new variable LOG_RETENTION_DAYS with value 30 for all environments.

Add it to the workspace (the base layer everyone inherits):

# stack/ws-platform.yaml
spec:
  variables:
    - key: LOG_RETENTION_DAYS
      store: constant
      value: "30"

If one environment needs a different value, override in that environment file:

# envs/env-stg.yaml
spec:
  variables:
    - key: LOG_RETENTION_DAYS
      store: constant
      value: "7"            # staging keeps logs for less time

The variable resolution order ensures staging gets 7 while production gets the workspace default 30.

Recipe: Change a variable in only one environment

Scenario: Enable debug mode in staging but not production.

Only edit the staging environment file:

# envs/env-stg.yaml
spec:
  variables:
    - key: DEBUG_MODE
      store: constant
      value: "true"

Production doesn’t have this variable defined in its environment file, so it inherits the workspace default (or the variable simply doesn’t exist in production — your Terraform can use a default).

Verification workflow

After making cross-environment changes:

# 1. Validate all affected deployments
strata validate --file deploy/deploy-prd.yaml
strata validate --file deploy/deploy-stg.yaml

# 2. Build plan — see what would change in each environment
strata build plan --file deploy/deploy-prd.yaml
strata build plan --file deploy/deploy-stg.yaml

# 3. Commit the change
git add -A && git commit -m "Bump worker RAM to 4096 MB"

# 4. Deploy (staging first, then production)
strata deploy run --file deploy/deploy-stg.yaml
strata deploy run --file deploy/deploy-prd.yaml

Tips

Use strata build plan before deploying — it shows the exact infrastructure changes that would apply.
Commit config changes before deploying — so the git history reflects what was deployed and when.
Deploy staging first — catch issues before they hit production.
One change per commit — makes git log useful for debugging later.