Global Variables

A number of global variables (opens new window) are available to Twig templates. Some come from Twig itself, and some are Craft-specific.

Global variables are accessible in every Twig template, including system messages and object templates used for element URIs.

This page is split into four sections:

Twig defaults: Variables provided by Twig itself.
Craft: Variables injected by Craft.
Constants: Equivalents of PHP constants.
Elements: Auto-loaded elements.

These lists may be supplemented by plugins, so refer to their documentation to see what kind of functionality is exposed to your templates!

# Twig Defaults

Global variables provided directly by Twig (opens new window).

Variable	Description
`_self`	The current template name.
`_context`	The currently-defined variables.
`_charset`	The current charset.

# Craft

Additional variables provided by Craft.

Variable	Description
_globals	Get and set values on a globally-available store.
craft	A craft\web\twig\variables\CraftVariable (opens new window) object.
currentSite	The requested site.
currentUser	The currently logged-in user.
devMode	Whether Dev Mode is enabled.
loginUrl	The URL to the front-end Login page.
logoutUrl	The URL to the front-end Logout page.
now	The current date/time.
setPasswordUrl	The URL to the front-end Reset Password (opens new window) page.
siteName	The name of the current site.
siteUrl	The base URL of the current site.
systemName	The system name.
today	Midnight of the current day.
tomorrow	Midnight, tomorrow.
view	The app’s `view` component.
yesterday	Midnight, yesterday.
Global set variables	Variables for each of the global sets.
Single variables	Variables for each single section entry.

# `_globals`

An empty Collection object. You may set and get values with the corresponding methods:

{% do _globals.set('theme', 'dark') %}
{% do _globals.set({
  red: '#F00',
  green: '#0F0',
  blue: '#00F',
}) %}

{{ _globals.get('theme') }}
{# -> 'dark' #}

{{ _globals.get('red') }}
{# -> '#F00' #}

The _globals variable has all the native collection methods, as well as a few that Craft provides (via macros (opens new window))—including the set() method used in the example above, which adds support for setting multiple Collection keys at once.

Note that we’re using Twig’s do tag to set values. You can get values in any kind of Twig expression—like an output statement or a set tag.

If you need to set or manipulated nested values, consider creating a top-level Collection object:

{% do _globals.set('events', collect()) %}

{# ... #}

{% do _globals.get('events').push("show:element:#{entry.id}") %}

View the current contents of the _globals variable by passing it to the dump tag:

{# .all() turns the Collection into a plain array: #}
{% dump _globals.all() %}

# `craft`

A craft\web\twig\variables\CraftVariable (opens new window) object, which provides access points to various helper functions and objects for templates. Many plugins will attach functionality here.

# `craft.app`

A reference to the main craft\web\Application (opens new window) or craft\console\Application (opens new window) instance (the same object you get when accessing Craft::$app in PHP) is also available to templates via craft.app.

Accessing things via craft.app is considered advanced. There are more security implications than other Twig-specific variables and functions, and your templates will be more susceptible to breaking changes between major Craft versions.

Some of the services commonly used in templates:

craft.app.request – Request (opens new window) object with information about the current HTTP request
craft.app.session – Session (opens new window) object useful for getting and setting flash messages
craft.app.user – User (opens new window) object for getting information about the client’s identity
craft.app.config.general – GeneralConfig (opens new window) object of General Config Settings
craft.app.fields – Fields (opens new window) service for accessing custom field details
craft.app.sites – Sites (opens new window) service for getting site details

Keep in mind that Twig templates can be rendered from web requests, the CLI, and within queue jobs—so there are situations in which certain features may no be available (like the “current user,” or information about the request).

The specific services (or “components”) available via craft.app correspond to the keys defined in Craft’s app.php (opens new window), app.web.php (opens new window), and your project’s equivalent config files.

Here are some examples of these services being used in a template:

{# get the value of an `email` query parameter or post field #}
{% set address = craft.app.request.getParam('email') %}

{# get the value of the `notice` flash message #}
{% set message = craft.app.session.getFlash('notice') %}

{# get the current user’s email address #}
{% set email = craft.app.user.email %}

{# is `devMode` enabled? #}
{% set isDevMode = craft.app.config.general.devMode %}

{# get a custom field by its `body` handle #}
{% set field = craft.app.fields.getFieldByHandle('body') %}

{# get all the sections for the current site #}
{% set sections = craft.app.sections.getAllSections() %}

{# get all the sites for the current Craft installation #}
{% set sites = craft.app.sites.allSites() %}

# `currentSite`

The requested site, represented by a craft\models\Site (opens new window) object.

{{ currentSite.name }}

You can access all of the sites in the same group as the current site via currentSite.group.sites:

<nav>
  <ul>
    {% for site in currentSite.group.sites %}
      <li><a href="{{ alias(site.baseUrl) }}">{{ site.name }}</a></li>
    {% endfor %}
  </ul>
</nav>

# `currentUser`

The currently-logged-in user, represented by a craft\elements\User (opens new window) object, or null if no one is logged in.

{% if currentUser %}
  Welcome, {{ currentUser.friendlyName }}!
{% endif %}

# `devMode`

Whether the devMode config setting is currently enabled.

{% if devMode %}
  Craft is running in dev mode.
{% endif %}

# `loginUrl`

The URL to your site’s login page, based on the loginPath config setting.

{% if not currentUser %}
  <a href="{{ loginUrl }}">Login</a>
{% endif %}

# `logoutUrl`

The URL Craft uses to log users out, based on the logoutPath config setting. Note that Craft will automatically redirect users to your homepage after going here; there’s no such thing as a “logout page”.

{% if currentUser %}
  <a href="{{ logoutUrl }}">Logout</a>
{% endif %}

# `now`

A DateTime (opens new window) object set to the current date and time.

Today is {{ now|date('M j, Y') }}.

# `setPasswordUrl`

The URL to setPasswordRequestPath if it’s set. (This wraps the path in siteUrl.)

{% if setPasswordUrl %}
  <a href="{{ setPasswordUrl }}">Reset password</a>
{% endif %}

# `siteName`

The name of the current site, as defined in Settings → Sites.

<h1>{{ siteName }}</h1>

# `siteUrl`

The base URL of the current site.

<link rel="home" href="{{ siteUrl }}">

To generate a URL relative to the current site, use the siteUrl() function.

# `systemName`

The System Name, as defined in Settings → General.

# `today`

A DateTime (opens new window) object in the system’s timezone, set to midnight (00:00 in 24-hour time, or 12:00AM in 12-hour) of the current day.

# `tomorrow`

A DateTime (opens new window) object in the system’s timezone, set to midnight (00:00 in 24-hour time, or 12:00AM in 12-hour) of the next day.

# `view`

A reference to the craft\web\View (opens new window) instance that is driving the template.

# `yesterday`

A DateTime (opens new window) object in the system’s timezone, set to midnight (00:00 in 24-hour time, or 12:00AM in 12-hour) of the previous day.

# PHP Constants + Equivalents

Twig doesn’t distinguish between variables and constants, nor does it expose PHP’s global constants for use in templates (except via the constant() function, discussed below). However, Craft exposes a few that make it easier to work with built-in features.

Variable	Description
POS_BEGIN	The craft\web\View::POS_BEGIN (opens new window) constant.
POS_END	The craft\web\View::POS_END (opens new window) constant.
POS_HEAD	The craft\web\View::POS_HEAD (opens new window) constant.
POS_LOAD	The craft\web\View::POS_LOAD (opens new window) constant.
POS_READY	The craft\web\View::POS_READY (opens new window) constant.
SORT_ASC	The `SORT_ASC` PHP constant.
SORT_DESC	The `SORT_DESC` PHP constant.
SORT_FLAG_CASE	The `SORT_FLAG_CASE` PHP constant.
SORT_LOCALE_STRING	The `SORT_LOCALE_STRING` PHP constant.
SORT_NATURAL	The `SORT_NATURAL` PHP constant.
SORT_NUMERIC	The `SORT_NUMERIC` PHP constant.
SORT_REGULAR	The `SORT_REGULAR` PHP constant.
SORT_STRING	The `SORT_STRING` PHP constant.

Other constants are accessible with the constant() function (opens new window). Pass a string representing the way you would access it in PHP, including (when applicable) the fully-qualified, properly-escaped class name:

{# You can fetch native PHP constants... #}
{{ constant('PHP_VERSION') }}

{# ...constants defined by Craft... #}
{{ constant('CRAFT_BASE_PATH') }}

{# ...and even class constants: #}
{{ constant('craft\\elements\\Entry::STATUS_LIVE') }}

# `POS_BEGIN`

Twig-facing copy of the craft\web\View::POS_BEGIN (opens new window) constant. Used in conjunction with the registration of JS and HTML fragments to place them at the beginning of the <body> element in the rendered page:

{% set js %}
  console.log('Hello, Craft!');
{% endset %}

{% do view.registerJs(js, POS_BEGIN) %}

# `POS_END`

Twig-facing copy of the craft\web\View::POS_END (opens new window) constant. Used in conjunction with the registration of JS and HTML fragments to place them at the end of the <body> element in the rendered page:

{% set js %}
  console.log('Goodbye, Craft!');
{% endset %}

{% do view.registerJs(js, POS_END) %}

# `POS_HEAD`

Twig-facing copy of the craft\web\View::POS_HEAD (opens new window) constant. Used in conjunction with the registration of JS and HTML fragments to place them at the end of the <head> element in the rendered page:

{% set js %}
  console.log('Where am I?!');
{% endset %}

{% do view.registerJs(js, POS_HEAD) %}

# `POS_LOAD`

Twig-facing copy of the craft\web\View::POS_LOAD (opens new window) constant. Used only for registering JS fragments, wrapping the code in a jQuery “load” handler:

Template
Output

{% set js %}
  console.log('Page has finished loading.');
{% endset %}

{% do view.registerJs(js, POS_LOAD) %}

Using POS_LOAD with view.registerJs() causes Craft to include its own copy of jQuery in the page.

# `POS_READY`

Twig-facing copy of the craft\web\View::POS_READY (opens new window) constant. Used in the same way as POS_LOAD, but passes the script body to jQuery’s ready (opens new window) handler:

jQuery(function ($) {
  console.log('DOM is ready.');
});

# `SORT_ASC`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_ASC PHP constant.

# `SORT_DESC`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_DESC PHP constant.

# `SORT_FLAG_CASE`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_FLAG_CASE PHP constant.

# `SORT_LOCALE_STRING`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_LOCALE_STRING PHP constant.

# `SORT_NATURAL`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_NATURAL PHP constant.

# `SORT_NUMERIC`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_NUMERIC PHP constant.

# `SORT_REGULAR`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_REGULAR PHP constant.

# `SORT_STRING`

Twig-facing copy of the SORT_STRING PHP constant.

# Automatically Loaded Elements

Craft makes some elements available to all templates.

# Global Sets

Each of your site’s global sets will be available to your templates as global variables, named the same as their handle.

They will be represented as craft\elements\GlobalSet (opens new window) objects.

<p>{{ companyInfo.companyName }} was established in {{ companyInfo.yearEstablished }}.</p>

# Singles

Your single section entries can also be loaded automatically by setting preloadSingles to true.

# Other Elements

When an element’s URI is requested, Craft automatically loads that element into the Twig environment before rendering the template defined in the element type’s settings.

For entries, the variable is always named entry; for categories, category. Element types provided by plugins may obey other conventions!

Global Variables

# Twig Defaults

# Craft

# _globals

# craft

# craft.app

# currentSite

# currentUser

# devMode

# loginUrl

# logoutUrl

# now

# setPasswordUrl

# siteName

# siteUrl

# systemName

# today

# tomorrow

# view

# yesterday

# PHP Constants + Equivalents

# POS_BEGIN

# POS_END

# POS_HEAD

# POS_LOAD

# POS_READY

# SORT_ASC

# SORT_DESC

# SORT_FLAG_CASE

# SORT_LOCALE_STRING

# SORT_NATURAL

# SORT_NUMERIC

# SORT_REGULAR

# SORT_STRING

# Automatically Loaded Elements

# Global Sets

# Singles

# Other Elements

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# `_globals`

# `craft`

# `craft.app`

# `currentSite`

# `currentUser`

# `devMode`

# `loginUrl`

# `logoutUrl`

# `now`

# `setPasswordUrl`

# `siteName`

# `siteUrl`

# `systemName`

# `today`

# `tomorrow`

# `view`

# `yesterday`

# `POS_BEGIN`

# `POS_END`

# `POS_HEAD`

# `POS_LOAD`

# `POS_READY`

# `SORT_ASC`

# `SORT_DESC`

# `SORT_FLAG_CASE`

# `SORT_LOCALE_STRING`

# `SORT_NATURAL`

# `SORT_NUMERIC`

# `SORT_REGULAR`

# `SORT_STRING`