Variable passed to an included taskfile task doesn't take precedence

[szpn]

Description

Hey, I came across an issue when using Taskfile,

Given the following file structure:

/
├── test
│   └── Taskfile.yml
└── Taskfile.yml

Taskfile contents:

/test/Taskfile.yml

version: "3"

includes:
  global:
    taskfile: ../Taskfile.yml
    dir: ../
    flatten: true

/Taskfile.yml

version: "3"

vars:
  USER: 'szpn'

tasks:
  test:
    cmd: |
      echo "Hello, USER: {{.USER}}"

Expected Behavior:

Running the task without passing USER works as expected from both / and /test directories - it uses the globally set variable USER: 'szpn':

/ $ task test
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: szpn"

Hello, USER: szpn

/test/ $ task test
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: szpn"

Hello, USER: szpn

When passing a USER parameter, it should take precedence over the global variable, regardless of which directory the command is run from:

/ $ task test USER=my_user
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: my_user"

Hello, USER: my_user

/test/ $ task test USER=my_user
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: my_user"

Hello, USER: my_user

Actual Behavior:

Passing USER=my_user only works correctly when running from the root (/).
When running from /test, the USER parameter is ignored, and the globa variable USER: 'szpn' is used:

/test/ $ task test USER=my_user
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: szpn"

Hello, USER: szpn

Version

3.42.1

Operating system

macOS 15.0.1

Experiments Enabled

None

[vmaerten]

Hello !
What is your use case for having a Taskfile in a parent folder that includes another Taskfile with flatten: true ?
If your goal is simply to be able to run the test task from within a subfolder, it's actually possible without needing an additional Taskfile.
You just need to delete the Taskfile in the test subfolder. Then, if you run task test from inside ./test, it will work automatically.

Regarding your issue: if you want to override a variable, you need to use the default function :

version: "3"

vars:
  USERS: '{{.USERS | default "szpn"}}'

tasks:
  test:
    cmd: |
      echo "Hello, USERS: {{.USERS}}"

[szpn]

Hey,

We have monorepository setup and we have some tasks defined inside a Taskfile in a subfolder, and we want those tasks to only be visible when working inside that subfolder. At the same time, we also want to have access to the tasks defined in the root directory's Taskfile.

We can't use the default function to set variables like USER, because it ends up pulling the value from system environment variables, which causes unexpected behavior.

For example, with the following setup:

Taskfile:

version: "3"

vars:
  USER: '{{.USER | default "szpn"}}'

tasks:
  test:
    cmd: |
      echo "Hello, USER: {{.USER}}"

And a system environment variable set like this:

USER=xyzxyz

Running the task behaves incorrectly:

/test/ $ task test
task: [test] echo "Hello, USER: xyzxyz"

Hello, USER: xyzxyz

Instead of falling back to szpn, it ends up using the system's USER env variable, which is not what we want.

Hope that clarifies our use case a bit better!

[vmaerten]

Yes ! but in this case, you can't override this variable. This only way is to choose another name.
We will work on breaking changes for variables follow #2034

[szpn]

Our team already uses USER, and it’s the most natural and intuitive name for us - we’d really prefer not to change it.

I still think this is a bug: passed parameters should always take precedence. That’s how it works when running tasks from the root directory, but importing a Taskfile from another directory seems to break that, which feels inconsistent.

Would it be possible to reopen this issue or link it under #2034?