diff --git a/.github/actions/setvars/actions.yml b/.github/actions/setvars/actions.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f13e862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/setvars/actions.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+name: 'Set environment variables'
+description: 'Configures environment variables for a workflow'
+inputs:
+  varFilePath:
+    description: 'File path to variable file or directory. Defaults to ./.github/variables/* if none specified and runs against each file in that directory.'
+    required: false
+    default: ./.github/variables/*
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - run: |
+        Get-Content ${{ inputs.varFilePath }} >> $Env:GITHUB_ENV   
+      shell: pwsh
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e_tests.yml
index aeeb4f8a..cf4f7a45 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e_tests.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,12 @@ jobs:
 
         - name: Expose GitHub Runtime
           uses: crazy-max/ghaction-github-runtime@v2
- 
+
+        - name: Set Environment Variables
+          uses: ./.github/actions/setvars
+          with:
+            varFilePath: ./.github/variables/variables.env
+            
         - name: Build images
           run: |
             env > .env 
@@ -90,8 +95,8 @@ jobs:
             export POSTGRES_RECIPE_CONN_STRING="postgresql://${POSTGRES_RECIPE_USER}:${POSTGRES_RECIPE_PASSWORD}@${POSTGRES_RECIPE_HOST}:${POSTGRES_RECIPE_PORT}/${POSTGRES_RECIPE_DB}"
 
             docker buildx create --use --driver=docker-container
-            docker buildx bake -f ./docker-compose-dev.yml --set *.cache-to="type=gha,mode=max" --set *.cache-from="type=gha" --load --platform linux/amd64
- 
+            docker buildx bake -f ./docker-compose-dev.yml --set *.cache-to="type=gha,mode=max" --set *.cache-from="type=gha" --load --set *.platform=linux/amd64
+            
         - name: Spin up services
           run: |
             docker-compose -f ./docker-compose-dev.yml up -d  datadb