diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index d0559f6aedc0..7e2e8217d1a5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
   "private": false,
   "version": "4.2.0-snapshot",
   "build": {
-    "num": 8095
+    "number": 8173,
+    "sha": "0102888deb393e4141369fbd1644a5d77f8732da"
   },
   "main": "src/server/KbnServer.js",
   "homepage": "https://www.elastic.co/products/kibana",
@@ -131,7 +132,6 @@
     "grunt-contrib-copy": "^0.8.0",
     "grunt-esvm": "^1.1.3",
     "grunt-karma": "^0.12.0",
-    "grunt-replace": "^0.7.9",
     "grunt-run": "spalger/grunt-run#master",
     "grunt-s3": "^0.2.0-alpha.3",
     "grunt-simple-mocha": "^0.4.0",
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/index.js b/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
index 34f9a8246152..eab524a31695 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/index.js
@@ -34,9 +34,12 @@ module.exports = function (kibana) {
           'leaflet'
         ),
 
-        constants: function (server, options) {
+        injectVars: function (server, options) {
+          let config = server.config();
+
           return {
-            defaultAppId: options.defaultAppId
+            kbnIndex: config.get('kibana.index'),
+            esShardTimeout: config.get('elasticsearch.shardTimeout')
           };
         }
       }
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js b/src/plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
index 687edb367895..92a78b052749 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/public/kibana.js
@@ -4,14 +4,18 @@ require('plugins/kibana/dashboard/index');
 require('plugins/kibana/settings/index');
 require('plugins/kibana/doc/index');
 
+var chrome = require('ui/chrome');
+var routes = require('ui/routes');
+var modules = require('ui/modules');
+
 var kibanaLogoUrl = require('ui/images/kibana.png');
 
-require('ui/routes')
+routes
 .otherwise({
   redirectTo: '/discover'
 });
 
-require('ui/chrome')
+chrome
 .setBrand({
   'logo': 'url(' + kibanaLogoUrl + ') left no-repeat',
   'smallLogo': 'url(' + kibanaLogoUrl + ') left no-repeat'
@@ -49,3 +53,4 @@ require('ui/chrome')
     courier.start();
   });
 });
+
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.html b/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.html
index d90e9ee6f204..06adc3de469f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.html
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.html
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
             <tr>
               <td>Commit SHA</td>
-              <td>{{commitSha | limitTo:7}}</td>
+              <td>{{buildSha | limitTo:7}}</td>
             </tr>
 
           </table>
diff --git a/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.js b/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.js
index fb5048967a85..fec9ad2da316 100644
--- a/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.js
+++ b/src/plugins/kibana/public/settings/sections/about/index.js
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ define(function (require) {
   });
 
   require('ui/modules').get('apps/settings')
-  .controller('settingsAbout', function ($scope, kbnVersion, buildNum, commitSha) {
+  .controller('settingsAbout', function ($scope, kbnVersion, buildNum, buildSha) {
     $scope.kbnVersion = kbnVersion;
     $scope.buildNum = buildNum;
-    $scope.commitSha = commitSha;
+    $scope.buildSha = buildSha;
   });
 
   return {
diff --git a/src/plugins/testsBundle/testsEntryTemplate.js b/src/plugins/testsBundle/testsEntryTemplate.js
index b1b695cd2447..7bdedff98a65 100644
--- a/src/plugins/testsBundle/testsEntryTemplate.js
+++ b/src/plugins/testsBundle/testsEntryTemplate.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 module.exports = require('lodash').template(
 `
 /**
- * Optimized application entry file
+ * Test entry file
  *
  * This is programatically created and updated, do not modify
  *
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ env.pluginInfo.sort().forEach(function (plugin, i) {
  *
  */
 
+window.__KBN__ = {
+  vars: {
+    kbnIndex: '.kibana',
+    esShardTimeout: 1500
+  }
+};
+
 require('ui/testHarness');
 <%
 
diff --git a/src/server/config/Config.js b/src/server/config/Config.js
index a7deb444348f..3e7a98a0eea6 100644
--- a/src/server/config/Config.js
+++ b/src/server/config/Config.js
@@ -58,18 +58,22 @@ module.exports = class Config {
     if (_.isObject(env)) env = env.name;
     if (!env) env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'production';
 
+    let dev = env === 'development';
+    let prod = env === 'production';
+
     // pass the environment as context so that it can be refed in config
     let context = {
       env: env,
-      prod: env === 'production',
-      dev: env === 'development',
-      notProd: env !== 'production',
-      notDev: env !== 'development',
+      prod: prod,
+      dev: dev,
+      notProd: !prod,
+      notDev: !dev,
       version: _.get(pkg, 'version'),
-      buildNum: env === 'development' ? Math.pow(2, 53) - 1 : _.get(pkg, 'build.num', NaN)
+      buildNum: dev ? Math.pow(2, 53) - 1 : _.get(pkg, 'build.number', NaN),
+      buildSha: dev ? 'XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX' : _.get(pkg, 'build.sha', '')
     };
 
-    if (!context.dev && !context.prod && !context.test) {
+    if (!context.dev && !context.prod) {
       throw new TypeError(
         `Unexpected environment "${env}", expected one of "development" or "production"`
       );
diff --git a/src/server/config/schema.js b/src/server/config/schema.js
index 0b373398185e..a019c7df915f 100644
--- a/src/server/config/schema.js
+++ b/src/server/config/schema.js
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ let fromRoot = utils('fromRoot');
 module.exports = Joi.object({
   pkg: Joi.object({
     version: Joi.string().default(Joi.ref('$version')),
-    buildNum: Joi.number().default(Joi.ref('$buildNum'))
+    buildNum: Joi.number().default(Joi.ref('$buildNum')),
+    buildSha: Joi.string().default(Joi.ref('$buildSha')),
   }).default(),
 
   env: Joi.object({
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/Plugin.js b/src/server/plugins/Plugin.js
index 702e4275a1ca..9f8eced5271e 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/Plugin.js
+++ b/src/server/plugins/Plugin.js
@@ -47,6 +47,12 @@ module.exports = class Plugin {
     let register = (server, options, next) => {
       this.server = server;
 
+      // bind the server and options to all
+      // apps created by this plugin
+      for (let app of this.apps) {
+        app.getInjectedVars = _.partial(app.getInjectedVars, server, options);
+      }
+
       server.log(['plugins', 'debug'], {
         tmpl: 'Initializing plugin <%= plugin.id %>',
         plugin: this
diff --git a/src/ui/UiApp.js b/src/ui/UiApp.js
index 686c8cb314b4..dd5e45bbb1f2 100644
--- a/src/ui/UiApp.js
+++ b/src/ui/UiApp.js
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@ class UiApp {
     this.hidden = this.spec.hidden;
     this.autoloadOverrides = this.spec.autoload;
     this.templateName = this.spec.templateName || 'uiApp';
+
+    // once this resolves, no reason to run it again
     this.getModules = _.once(this.getModules);
+
+    // variables that are injected into the browser, must serialize to JSON
+    this.getInjectedVars = this.spec.injectVars || _.noop;
   }
 
   getModules() {
diff --git a/src/ui/UiExports.js b/src/ui/UiExports.js
index 4c1ea9812961..c314a67378f2 100644
--- a/src/ui/UiExports.js
+++ b/src/ui/UiExports.js
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ class UiExports {
   }
 
   consumePlugin(plugin) {
+    plugin.apps = new UiAppCollection(this);
+
     var types = _.keys(plugin.uiExportsSpecs);
     if (!types) return false;
 
@@ -46,7 +48,8 @@ class UiExports {
       case 'apps':
         return (plugin, specs) => {
           for (let spec of [].concat(specs || [])) {
-            this.apps.new(_.defaults({}, spec, { id: plugin.id }));
+            let app = this.apps.new(_.defaults({}, spec, { id: plugin.id }));
+            plugin.apps.add(app);
           }
         };
 
diff --git a/src/ui/index.js b/src/ui/index.js
index 5d03cd13091b..c906be2b572b 100644
--- a/src/ui/index.js
+++ b/src/ui/index.js
@@ -81,18 +81,15 @@ module.exports = async (kbnServer, server, config) => {
       app: app,
       appCount: uiExports.apps.size,
       version: kbnServer.version,
-      buildSha: _.get(kbnServer, 'build.sha', '@@buildSha'),
-      buildNumber: _.get(kbnServer, 'build.number', '@@buildNum'),
-      cacheBust: _.get(kbnServer, 'build.number', ''),
-      kbnIndex: config.get('kibana.index'),
-      esShardTimeout: config.get('elasticsearch.shardTimeout'),
+      buildNum: config.get('pkg.buildNum'),
+      buildSha: config.get('pkg.buildSha'),
+      vars: app.getInjectedVars()
     };
 
     return this.view(app.templateName, {
       app: app,
-      cacheBust: payload.cacheBust,
-      kibanaPayload: payload,
       loadingGif: loadingGif,
+      kibanaPayload: payload
     });
   });
 };
diff --git a/src/ui/public/chrome/api/angular.js b/src/ui/public/chrome/api/angular.js
index ac30527a3b1d..6dfcefe902a8 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/chrome/api/angular.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/chrome/api/angular.js
@@ -6,22 +6,20 @@ module.exports = function (chrome, internals) {
   chrome.setupAngular = function () {
     var kibana = modules.get('kibana');
 
-    var esUrl = (function () {
+    _.forOwn(chrome.getInjected(), function (val, name) {
+      kibana.value(name, val);
+    });
+
+    kibana
+    .value('kbnVersion', internals.version)
+    .value('buildNum', internals.buildNum)
+    .value('buildSha', internals.buildSha)
+    .value('sessionId', Date.now())
+    .value('esUrl', (function () {
       var a = document.createElement('a');
       a.href = '/elasticsearch';
       return a.href;
-    }());
-
-    kibana
-    .constant('kbnVersion', internals.version)
-    .constant('buildNum', internals.buildNumber)
-    .constant('kbnIndex', internals.kbnIndex)
-    .constant('esShardTimeout', internals.esShardTimeout)
-    .constant('esUrl', esUrl)
-    .constant('commitSha', internals.buildSha)
-    .constant('cacheBust', internals.cacheBust)
-    .constant('minimumElasticsearchVersion', '2.0.0')
-    .constant('sessionId', Date.now())
+    }()))
     .directive('kbnChrome', function ($rootScope) {
       return {
         compile: function ($el) {
diff --git a/src/ui/public/chrome/api/apps.js b/src/ui/public/chrome/api/apps.js
index 44280701b87d..b5432408f4cf 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/chrome/api/apps.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/chrome/api/apps.js
@@ -31,4 +31,9 @@ module.exports = function (chrome, internals) {
     return internals.app.id;
   };
 
+  chrome.getInjected = function (name, def) {
+    if (name == null) return _.clone(internals.vars) || {};
+    return _.get(internals.vars, name, def);
+  };
+
 };
diff --git a/tasks/config/replace.js b/tasks/config/replace.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cb83a3ab34af..000000000000
--- a/tasks/config/replace.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,36 +0,0 @@
-module.exports = function (grunt) {
-  var { join } = require('path');
-
-  var build = grunt.config.get('build');
-  var src = grunt.config.get('src');
-  var app = grunt.config.get('app');
-
-  var config = {
-    options: {
-      patterns: [
-        { match: 'version', replacement: '<%= pkg.version %>' },
-        { match: 'buildNum', replacement: '<%= buildNum %>' },
-        { match: 'commitSha', replacement: '<%= commitSha %>' }
-      ]
-    },
-    dist: {
-      files: [
-        {
-          src: [join(src, 'server', 'bin', 'kibana.sh')],
-          dest: join(build, 'dist', 'kibana', 'bin', 'kibana'),
-          mode: parseInt('0755', 8)
-        },
-        {
-          src: [join(src, 'server', 'bin', 'kibana.bat')],
-          dest: join(build, 'dist', 'kibana', 'bin', 'kibana.bat')
-        },
-        {
-          src: [join(src, 'server', 'config', 'index.js')],
-          dest: join(build, 'dist', 'kibana', 'src', 'config', 'index.js')
-        }
-      ]
-    }
-  };
-
-  return config;
-};
diff --git a/tasks/dist_package_json.js b/tasks/dist_package_json.js
index e44f783399fb..fca775f089e6 100644
--- a/tasks/dist_package_json.js
+++ b/tasks/dist_package_json.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ module.exports = function (grunt) {
       version: pkg.version,
       build: {
         number: grunt.config.get('buildNum'),
-        sha: grunt.config.get('commitSha')
+        sha: grunt.config.get('buildSha')
       },
       repository: pkg.repository,
       dependencies: pkg.dependencies
diff --git a/tasks/get_build_props.js b/tasks/get_build_props.js
index f6e4f4078f6c..9c2dc1547619 100644
--- a/tasks/get_build_props.js
+++ b/tasks/get_build_props.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 module.exports = function (grunt) {
   var exec = require('child_process').execSync;
   grunt.registerTask('get_build_props', function () {
-    grunt.config.set('commitSha', String(exec('git rev-parse HEAD')).trim());
+    grunt.config.set('buildSha', String(exec('git rev-parse HEAD')).trim());
     grunt.config.set('buildNum', parseFloat(exec('git log --format="%h" | wc -l')).trim());
   });
 };