code: def _build_vars_dict(vars_file='', variables=None):
      
      repex_vars = {}
      if vars_file:
          with open(vars_file) as varsfile:
              repex_vars = yaml.safe_load(varsfile.read())
      for var in variables:
          key, value = var.split('=')
          repex_vars.update({str(key): str(value)})
      return repex_vars
docs: Merge variables into a single dictionary
  
      Applies to CLI provided variables only