# Global/Context Variables
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705
**Category:** General
**Created:** [16 November 2022 11:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705 "2022-11-16T11:26:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Xanathon](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Xanathon)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/1 "2022-11-16T11:26:36Z")
Hello,
I'm somewhat new to NodeRED, but enjoying it very much and already was able to solve a lot of questions from the docs and this forum.
However:
For my production flows in a business context I need global variables, those will change very seldom, maybe once every few months or once a year. They will need to be present at Node-RED startup. I already found information in forum discussions and the documentation. I know that I can add global context variables to the settings.js file.
I think that is somewhat cumbersome and prone to errors. And I think it may be not the best way to tinker with a settings file just to set a few global variables.
Is there a better way to do this?
Can it be considered by the devs to add a settings dialog to the Node-RED UI to set those variables?
Thanks for your help and insights in advance.
---
### Author:  [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/2 "2022-11-16T11:30:16Z")
So why not have a flow to store the values into global context?
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### Author:  [@Xanathon](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Xanathon)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/3 "2022-11-16T11:32:31Z")
Thanks for your answer.
Are all flows informations available when (other) flows run? Is something like this initialized at start? Can I make sure the flow setting the variables is run first (is there a "run at startup"-Trigger)?
**Edit** : Just found the answer myself: [Trigger a flow whenever Node-RED starts : Node-RED](https://cookbook.nodered.org/basic/trigger-on-start)
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### Author:  [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:39 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/4 "2022-11-16T11:39:34Z")
You will want to change settings.js to store the context data on disk so it will be there over stop/starts of NR.
```auto
contextStorage: {
default : { module: "localfilesystem" },
memory : { module: "memory" }
},
```
---
### Author:  [@Xanathon](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Xanathon)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:41 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/5 "2022-11-16T11:41:54Z")
Yes, I know that. See my opening post. I mentioned that option in it and akeded if a better solution could be possible or implemented instead of manually editing a settings file.
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### Author:  [@zenofmud](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/zenofmud)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:48 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/6 "2022-11-16T11:48:23Z")
You only edit the settings file `once`, after that - with my example - the default for context data will be in storage so stopping NR and restarting it, the data will still remain.
Here is a post I wrote quite a while ago about presistant context you might find helpful:
[https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-guide-to-understanding-persistent-context/4115/96](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-guide-to-understanding-persistent-context/4115/96)
---
### Author:  [@Xanathon](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Xanathon)
#### Post date: [16 November 2022 11:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/7 "2022-11-16T11:59:14Z")
Thanks again! Very helpful.
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [15 January 2023 11:59 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/global-context-variables/70705/8 "2023-01-15T11:59:14Z")
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