> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.qawolf.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Reuse state between runs

> Use environment variables to carry state from one run into the next, so flows can skip work they've already done.

## Examples

**Save a value for later runs**

```typescript theme={null}
import { saveEnvironmentVariable } from "@qawolf/testkit";

await saveEnvironmentVariable("SESSION_TOKEN", token);
```

**Read a value saved by a previous run**

```typescript theme={null}
import { reloadEnvironmentVariables } from "@qawolf/testkit";

await reloadEnvironmentVariables();
const sessionToken = process.env["SESSION_TOKEN"];
```

## When to use

* Your app requires a login or setup step that produces a value other flows need in future runs.
* A flow generates a token, ID, or credential that should persist across runs.
* You want to skip repeated setup work by reusing state from a previous run.
* Your test environment requires a value that changes at runtime and needs to be available to later runs.

## Full example

```typescript theme={null}
import { flow } from "@qawolf/flows/web";
import { reloadEnvironmentVariables, saveEnvironmentVariable } from "@qawolf/testkit";

export default flow(
  "Login and save session token",
  { target: "Web - Chrome", launch: true },
  async ({ page, test }) => {
    await reloadEnvironmentVariables();

    if (!process.env["SESSION_TOKEN"]) {
      await test("log in and save session token", async () => {
        await page.goto(process.env["BASE_URL"]!);
        await page.fill('[name="email"]', process.env["EMAIL"]!);
        await page.fill('[name="password"]', process.env["PASSWORD"]!);
        await page.click('[type="submit"]');

        const token = await page.evaluate(() =>
          localStorage.getItem("session_token")
        );
        await saveEnvironmentVariable("SESSION_TOKEN", token!);
      });
    }
  },
);
```