# Environment variables

The `environment` parameter lets you specify the values of any variables that you want to be present within the task container execution environment.
For example:

```python
@union.task(environment={"MY_ENV_VAR": "my_value"})
def my_task() -> str:
    return os.environ["MY_ENV_VAR"]
```

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**Source**: https://github.com/unionai/unionai-docs/blob/main/content/user-guide/core-concepts/tasks/task-software-environment/environment-variables.md
**HTML**: https://www.union.ai/docs/v1/union/user-guide/core-concepts/tasks/task-software-environment/environment-variables/