I can start a process instance with variables such that these variables

• are not written to runtime tables (i.e. are discarded when the starting command finishes)
• are not written to history tables

Use cases

• Performance with large BLOB variables
• Avoiding redundant persistence of data that is immutable in the process instance context

Side notes

• If possible, come up with a solution that works for all variable APIs and that does not require extending API method signatures.

Ideas

1. Variables can be declared transient in BPMN XML
2. Typed values can be defined as transient

Forum posts

• https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/camunda-bpm-dev/NV5lCYIBFc0
• https://forum.camunda.org/t/transient-variables-supported/4214
• https://forum.camunda.org/t/freemarker-template-process-variable-output-type/383
• https://forum.camunda.org/t/does-camunda-support-transient-variables/4856