Argo Workflow not passing input parameters to WorkflowTemplate - kubernetes

Question

I have broken down my workflow scenario into 2 separate WorkflowTemplates. outer-template would just define the steps and inner-template would hold that job definition that will spin up desired container, with all other fancy stuff. Now when I submit a request request.yaml, it does pass the parameter message down to outer and inner template and fails with this error:
hello-59jg8-394098346:
Boundary ID: hello-59jg8-1953291600
Children:
hello-59jg8-534805352
Display Name: [0]
Finished At: 2021-06-15T00:41:45Z
Id: hello-59jg8-394098346
Message: child 'hello-59jg8[0].init-step[0].step-1' errored
Name: hello-59jg8[0].init-step[0]
Phase: Error
Started At: 2021-06-15T00:41:45Z
Template Name: HelloWorld
Template Scope: namespaced/outer-template
Type: StepGroup
hello-59jg8-534805352:
Boundary ID: hello-59jg8-1953291600
Display Name: step-1
Finished At: 2021-06-15T00:41:45Z
Id: hello-59jg8-534805352
Message: inputs.parameters.message was not supplied
Name: hello-59jg8[0].init-step[0].step-1
Phase: Error
Started At: 2021-06-15T00:41:45Z
Template Ref:
Name: inner-template
Template: InnerJob
Template Scope: namespaced/outer-template
Type: Skipped
Phase: Failed
Started At: 2021-06-15T00:41:45Z
Stored Templates:
Below 2 are WorkflowTemplates and third one is the request.
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: WorkflowTemplate
metadata:
name: inner-template
namespace: cali
labels:
workflows.argoproj.io/controller-instanceid: cali
spec:
templates:
- name: InnerJob
metadata:
annotations:
sidecar.istio.io/inject: "false"
inputs:
parameters:
- name: message
- name: stepName
value: ""
resource:
action: create
successCondition: status.succeeded > 0
failureCondition: status.failed > 0
manifest: |
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
generateName: hello-pod-
annotations:
sidecar.istio.io/inject: "false"
spec:
template:
metadata:
annotations:
sidecar.istio.io/inject: "false"
spec:
containers:
- name: hellopods
image: centos:7
command: [sh, -c]
args: ["echo ${message}; sleep 5; echo done; exit 0"]
env:
- name: message
value: "{{inputs.parameters.message}}"
- name: stepName
value: "{{inputs.parameters.stepName}}"
restartPolicy: Never
outputs:
parameters:
- name: job-name
valueFrom:
jsonPath: '{.metadata.name}'
- name: job-obj
valueFrom:
jqFilter: '.'
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: WorkflowTemplate
metadata:
name: outer-template
namespace: cali
labels:
workflows.argoproj.io/controller-instanceid: cali
spec:
entrypoint: HelloWorld
templates:
- name: HelloWorld
inputs:
parameters:
- name: message
steps:
- - name: step-1
templateRef:
name: inner-template
template: InnerJob
arguments:
parameters:
- name: message
- name: stepName
value: "this is step 1"
- - name: step-2
templateRef:
name: inner-template
template: InnerJob
arguments:
parameters:
- name: message
- name: stepName
value: "this is step 2"
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Workflow
metadata:
generateName: hello-
namespace: cali
labels:
workflows.argoproj.io/controller-instanceid: cali
spec:
entrypoint: HelloWorld
serviceAccountName: argo
templates:
- name: HelloWorld
steps:
- - arguments:
parameters:
- name: message
value: "Hello World....."
name: init-step
templateRef:
name: outer-template
template: HelloWorld

Answer 1

When passing an argument to a template in a step, you have to explicitly set the argument value.
In the outer-template WorkflowTemplate, you invoke inner-template twice. In each case you have half-specified the message argument. You have to also set the value for each parameter.
You should set value: "{{inputs.parameters.message}}" in step-1 and step-2. That will pull the message input parameter from outer-template.HelloWorld.
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: WorkflowTemplate
metadata:
name: outer-template
namespace: cali
labels:
workflows.argoproj.io/controller-instanceid: cali
spec:
entrypoint: HelloWorld
templates:
- name: HelloWorld
inputs:
parameters:
- name: message
steps:
- - name: step-1
templateRef:
name: inner-template
template: InnerJob
arguments:
parameters:
- name: message
value: "{{inputs.parameters.message}}"
- name: stepName
value: "this is step 1"
- - name: step-2
templateRef:
name: inner-template
template: InnerJob
arguments:
parameters:
- name: message
value: "{{inputs.parameters.message}}"
- name: stepName
value: "this is step 2"