diff --git a/lib/impl/modules/job.nix b/lib/impl/modules/job.nix
index 295093d..1f99d5b 100644
--- a/lib/impl/modules/job.nix
+++ b/lib/impl/modules/job.nix
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ in rec {
       };
       depsDrv = cilib.mkJobDeps {
         key = name;
-        job = config.finalConfig;
+        inherit job;
         nixConfig = config.nix;
       };
       runnerDrv = cilib.mkJobRun {
diff --git a/nix/repo/ci.nix b/nix/repo/ci.nix
index 157ede7..9ef9aac 100644
--- a/nix/repo/ci.nix
+++ b/nix/repo/ci.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {inputs, ...}: let
-  inherit (inputs) cilib;
+  inherit (inputs) cilib pkgs;
 in
   cilib.mkCI {
     config.soonix = {
@@ -58,9 +58,25 @@ in
       };
     };
     pipelines."default" = {
-      stages = ["test" "build" "deploy"];
+      stages = ["check" "test" "build" "deploy"];
+      variables = {
+        EXAMPLE = "empty";
+        CURL = toString pkgs.curl;
+      };
       jobs = {
+        "check" = {
+          stage = "check";
+          script = [
+            "set -euo pipefail"
+            "echo EXAMPLE=$EXAMPLE CURL=$CURL SAMPLE=$SAMPLE HELLO=$HELLO"
+          ];
+          variables = {
+            SAMPLE = "working";
+            HELLO = toString pkgs.hello;
+          };
+        };
         "test" = {
+          nix.deps = with pkgs; [coreutils nix];
           stage = "test";
           script = [
             "nix run .#tests -- --junit=junit.xml"
@@ -73,6 +89,7 @@ in
         };
         "docs" = {
           stage = "build";
+          nix.deps = with pkgs; [coreutils nix];
           script = [
             # sh
             ''
diff --git a/tests/modules_test.nix b/tests/modules_test.nix
index e134293..0bd19c6 100644
--- a/tests/modules_test.nix
+++ b/tests/modules_test.nix
@@ -10,9 +10,17 @@
       simplePipeline = cilib.mkCI {
         pipelines."test" = {
           stages = ["test"];
+          variables = {
+            EXAMPLE = "empty";
+            CURL = toString pkgs.curl;
+          };
           jobs."test" = {
             stage = "test";
             script = ["echo hello world"];
+            variables = {
+              SAMPLE = "working";
+              HELLO = toString pkgs.hello;
+            };
           };
         };
       };
@@ -30,21 +38,29 @@
           (cilib.mkCI {}).packages;
       }
       {
-        name = "simple pipeline";
+        name = "simple pipeline final config";
         expected = {
           stages = [".pre" "test" ".post"];
+          variables = {
+            EXAMPLE = "empty";
+            CURL = toString pkgs.curl;
+          };
           "test" = {
             image = "$NIX_CI_IMAGE";
             stage = "test";
             before_script = ["source setup_nix_ci \"gitlab-ci:pipeline:test:job-deps:test\""];
             script = ["echo hello world"];
             after_script = ["finalize_nix_ci"];
+            variables = {
+              SAMPLE = "working";
+              #HELLO = toString pkgs.hello;
+            };
           };
         };
         actual = simplePipeline.pipelines."test".finalConfig;
       }
       {
-        name = "simple pipeline yaml";
+        name = "simple pipeline json";
         type = "script";
         script = let
           package = simplePipeline.packages."gitlab-ci:pipeline:test";
@@ -56,25 +72,23 @@
             assert_file_contains ${package} 'gitlab-ci:pipeline:test:job-deps:test'
             assert_file_contains ${package} 'finalize_nix_ci'
             assert_file_contains ${package} 'echo hello world'
+            assert_file_contains ${package} '"EXAMPLE":"empty"'
+            assert_file_contains ${package} '"SAMPLE":"working"'
+            assert_file_contains ${package} '"CURL":"/nix/store/.*-curl-.*"'
           '';
       }
       {
-        name = "dont fail on store paths";
+        name = "simple pipeline deps drv";
         type = "script";
         script = let
-          package =
-            (cilib.mkCI {
-              pipelines."test" = {
-                variables.EXAMPLE = "${pkgs.hello}";
-              };
-            }).packages."gitlab-ci:pipeline:test";
+          package = simplePipeline.packages."gitlab-ci:pipeline:test:job-deps:test";
         in
           # sh
           ''
             ${ntlib.helpers.path [pkgs.gnugrep]}
             ${ntlib.helpers.scriptHelpers}
-            assert_file_contains ${package} '[".pre",".post"]'
-            assert_file_contains ${package} '"EXAMPLE":"/nix/store/.*-hello-.*"'
+            assert_file_contains ${package} ':$PATH'
+            assert_file_contains ${package} 'HELLO="/nix/store/.*-hello-.*"'
           '';
       }
     ];