diff --git a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
index cb3c9589..5629258f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/playwright.yml
@@ -13,16 +13,13 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Set environment variables for app (todo - make into a script)
-        run: echo "NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE=$NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE" > .env
+      - name: Set environment variables for app
+        run: scripts/ci/copy-env-vars-to-dot-env-file
         env:
           NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE: ${{ vars.NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE }}
-      - name: print env vars
-        run: printenv | sort
+          # Note - non-secret variables are stored under the 'vars' context, while secrets will be stored under the 'secrets' context
       - name: print dot env file
         run: cat .env
-      - name: Setup upterm session (for ssh-ing)
-        uses: lhotari/action-upterm@v1
       - name: Set up Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
diff --git a/scripts/ci/copy-env-vars-to-dot-env-file b/scripts/ci/copy-env-vars-to-dot-env-file
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..f6b52ef8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/ci/copy-env-vars-to-dot-env-file
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euxo pipefail
+
+echo "NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE=$NUXT_PUBLIC_R_API_BASE" > .env