diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 76c6e92103..1cf5c7975f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           sudo rm /bin/sh
           sudo ln -s /bin/bash /bin/sh
-          sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release qemu-user-static git zstd
+          sudo apt-get update
+          sudo apt-get install -y ca-certificates curl git gnupg lsb-release python3 qemu-user-static zstd
           sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
           curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
           echo \
@@ -63,11 +64,18 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get update
           sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin
 
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - name: Checkout scripts
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
           path: scripts
           fetch-depth: 0
 
+      - name: Checkout build scripts
+        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          repository: flatcar/flatcar-build-scripts
+          path: flatcar-build-scripts
+
       # Hack alert: actions/checkout will check out the (disjunct) merge commit of a PR
       #  instead of its head commit. That commit is not connected to any branch.
       # This causes breakage downstream e.g. when the devcontainer test wants to check out
@@ -186,6 +194,53 @@ jobs:
                                 --output_root="${CI_CONTAINER_ARTIFACT_ROOT}" \
                                 --torcx_root="${CI_CONTAINER_TORCX_ROOT}" prodtar container
 
+      - name: Generate reports
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          set -x
+
+          source ci-automation/image_changes.sh
+
+          channel=alpha
+          vernum=$(source sdk_container/.repo/manifests/version.txt; echo "${FLATCAR_VERSION}")
+          board="${arch}-usr"
+
+          package_diff_env=(
+              "FROM_B=file://${PWD}/artifacts/${arch}-usr/latest"
+              # BOARD_B and CHANNEL_B are unused.
+          )
+          package_diff_params_b=(
+              # The package-diff script appends version to the file
+              # URL, but the directory with the image has no version
+              # component at its end, so we use . as a version.
+              '.'
+          )
+          size_changes_env=(
+              # Nothing to add.
+          )
+          size_changes_params_b=(
+              "local:${PWD}/artifacts/${arch}-usr/latest"
+          )
+          show_changes_env=(
+              # Nothing to add.
+          )
+          show_changes_params_overrides=(
+              # We may not have a tag handy, so we tell show-changes
+              # to use git HEAD as a reference to new changelog
+              # entries.
+              'NEW_VERSION=HEAD'
+          )
+
+          # Parent directory of the scripts repo, required by some other
+          # script.
+          work_directory='..'
+          generate_image_changes_report \
+              "${arch}" "${channel}" "${vernum}" 'image-changes-reports.txt' "../flatcar-build-scripts" "${work_directory}" \
+              "${package_diff_env[@]}" --- "${package_diff_params_b[@]}" -- \
+              "${size_changes_env[@]}" --- "${size_changes_params_b[@]}" -- \
+              "${show_changes_env[@]}" --- "${show_changes_params_overrides[@]}"
+
       - name: Build VM image(s)
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -285,6 +340,14 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             scripts/torcx.tar
 
+      - name: Upload reports
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          retention-days: 7
+          name: ${{ matrix.arch }}-image-changes-reports
+          path: |
+            scripts/image-changes-reports.txt
+
       # Clean up what we uploaded already so the "vendor images" wildcard
       #  works when uploading artifacts in the next step.
       - name: Remove update, generic and devcontainer images
diff --git a/ci-automation/image_changes.sh b/ci-automation/image_changes.sh
index 85a1eb3a00..8f1426a169 100644
--- a/ci-automation/image_changes.sh
+++ b/ci-automation/image_changes.sh
@@ -28,114 +28,387 @@
 #
 #   1. Currently the script prints the image differences compared to the last release and the changelog for the release notes but doesn't store it yet in the buildcache.
 
-function image_changes() {
-    # Run a subshell, so the traps, environment changes and global
-    # variables are not spilled into the caller.
-    (
-        set -euo pipefail
+# Run a subshell, so the traps, environment changes and global
+# variables are not spilled into the caller.
+function image_changes() (
+    set -euo pipefail
 
-        _image_changes_impl "${@}"
+    local arch=${1}
+    local channel vernum
+
+    channel=$(source sdk_lib/sdk_container_common.sh; get_git_channel)
+    if [ "${channel}" = "developer" ]; then
+            channel="alpha"
+    fi
+    vernum=$(source sdk_container/.repo/manifests/version.txt; echo "${FLATCAR_VERSION}")
+
+    local -a package_diff_env package_diff_params_b
+    local -a size_changes_env size_changes_params_b
+    local -a show_changes_env show_changes_params_overrides
+
+    package_diff_env=(
+        "FROM_B=bincache"
+        "BOARD_B=${arch}-usr"
+        # CHANNEL_B is unused
     )
+    package_diff_params_b=(
+        "${vernum}"
+    )
+    size_changes_env=(
+        # Nothing to add.
+    )
+    size_changes_params_b=(
+        "bincache:${arch}:${vernum}"
+    )
+    show_changes_env=(
+        # Provide a python3 command for the CVE DB parsing
+        "PATH=${PATH}:${PWD}/ci-automation/python-bin"
+    )
+    show_changes_params_overrides=(
+        # Nothing to override.
+    )
+
+    local fbs_repo='../flatcar-build-scripts'
+    rm -rf "${fbs_repo}"
+    git clone \
+        --depth 1 \
+        "https://github.com/flatcar/flatcar-build-scripts" \
+        "${fbs_repo}"
+    # Parent directory of the scripts repo, required by some other
+    # script.
+    local work_directory='..'
+    if [[ -z "${BUILDCACHE_SERVER:-}" ]]; then
+        local BUILDCACHE_SERVER=$(source ci-automation/ci-config.env; echo "${BUILDCACHE_SERVER}")
+    fi
+    echo "Image URL: http://${BUILDCACHE_SERVER}/images/${arch}/${vernum}/flatcar_production_image.bin.bz2"
+    echo
+    generate_image_changes_report \
+        "${arch}" "${channel}" "${vernum}" /dev/stdout "${fbs_repo}" "${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" --- "${package_diff_params_b[@]}" -- \
+        "${size_changes_env[@]}" --- "${size_changes_params_b[@]}" -- \
+        "${show_changes_env[@]}" --- "${show_changes_params_overrides[@]}"
+)
+# --
+
+# 1 - arch
+# 2 - channel (alpha, beta, stable or lts)
+# 3 - version (FLATCAR_VERSION)
+# 4 - report file (can be relative)
+# 5 - flatcar-build-scripts directory (can be relative, will be realpathed)
+# 6 - work directory for the report scripts (must be a parent directory of the scripts repo, can be relative)
+# @ - package-diff env vars --- package-diff version B param -- size-change-report.sh env vars --- size-change-report.sh spec B param -- show-changes env vars --- show-changes param overrides
+#
+# Example:
+#
+# generate_image_changes_report \\
+#     amd64 alpha 3456.0.0+my-changes reports/images.txt ../flatcar-build-scripts .. \\
+#     FROM_B=bincache BOARD_B=amd64-usr --- 3456.0.0+my-changes -- \\
+#     --- bincache:amd64:3456.0.0+my-changes -- \\
+#     "PATH=${PATH}:${PWD}/ci-automation/python-bin"
+function generate_image_changes_report() (
+    set -euo pipefail
+
+    local arch=${1}; shift
+    local channel=${1}; shift
+    local vernum=${1}; shift
+    local report_output=${1}; shift
+    local flatcar_build_scripts_repo=${1}; shift
+    local work_directory=${1}; shift
+
+    local -a package_diff_env package_diff_params
+    local -a size_changes_env size_changes_params
+    local -a show_changes_env show_changes_params
+    local params_shift=0
+
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        package_diff_env package_diff_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+    shift "${params_shift}"
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        size_changes_env size_changes_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+    shift "${params_shift}"
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        show_changes_env show_changes_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+
+    local new_channel new_channel_prev_version channel_a version_a
+    local board="${arch}-usr"
+
+    new_channel="${channel}"
+    new_channel_prev_version=$(channel_version "${new_channel}" "${board}")
+    channel_a=''
+    version_a=''
+    get_channel_a_and_version_a "${new_channel}" "${new_channel_prev_version}" "${vernum}" "${board}" channel_a version_a
+    package_diff_env=(
+        # For A.
+        "FROM_A=release"
+        "BOARD_A=${board}"
+        "CHANNEL_A=${channel_a}"
+        # For B.
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}"
+    )
+    package_diff_params=(
+        # For A.
+        "${version_a}"
+        # For B.
+        "${package_diff_params[@]}"
+    )
+
+    # Nothing to prepend to size_changes_env.
+    #
+    # First parts of the size-changes-report specs, the kind is
+    # appended at call sites.
+    size_changes_params=(
+        # For A.
+        "release:${channel_a}:${board}:${version_a}"
+        # For B.
+        "${size_changes_params[@]}"
+    )
+
+    # Nothing to prepend to show_changes_env.
+    show_changes_params=(
+        # The show-changes script expects a tag name, so using git tag
+        # here instead of the vernum variable.
+        "NEW_VERSION=$(git tag --points-at HEAD)"
+        "NEW_CHANNEL=${new_channel}"
+        "NEW_CHANNEL_PREV_VERSION=${new_channel_prev_version}"
+        # Potential overrides.
+        "${show_changes_params[@]}"
+    )
+
+    {
+        # Using "|| :" to avoid failing the job.
+        print_image_reports \
+            "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}" "${channel_a}" "${version_a}" "${work_directory}" \
+            "${package_diff_env[@]}" --- "${package_diff_params[@]}" -- \
+            "${size_changes_env[@]}" --- "${size_changes_params[@]}" -- \
+            "${show_changes_env[@]}" --- "${show_changes_params[@]}" || :
+    } >"${report_output}"
+)
+# --
+
+function get_channel_a_and_version_a() {
+    local new_channel=${1}; shift
+    local new_channel_prev_version=${1}; shift
+    local new_channel_new_version=${1}; shift
+    local board=${1}; shift
+    local gcaava_channel_a_varname=${1}; shift
+    local gcaava_version_a_varname=${1}; shift
+    local -n gcaava_channel_a_ref="${gcaava_channel_a_varname}"
+    local -n gcaava_version_a_ref="${gcaava_version_a_varname}"
+    local major_a major_b channel version
+
+    major_a=$(echo "${new_channel_prev_version}" | cut -d . -f 1)
+    major_b=$(echo "${new_channel_new_version}" | cut -d . -f 1)
+    # When the major version for the new channel is different, a transition has happened and we can find the previous release in the old channel
+    if [ "${major_a}" != "${major_b}" ]; then
+        case "${new_channel}" in
+          lts)
+            channel=stable
+            ;;
+          stable)
+            channel=beta
+            ;;
+          *)
+            channel=alpha
+            ;;
+        esac
+        version=$(channel_version "${channel}" "${board}")
+    else
+        channel="${new_channel}"
+        version="${new_channel_prev_version}"
+    fi
+    gcaava_channel_a_ref=${channel}
+    gcaava_version_a_ref=${version}
 }
 # --
 
-function _image_changes_impl() {
-    local arch="$1"
+# Gets the latest release for given channel and board. For lts channel
+# gets a version of the latest LTS.
+function channel_version() {
+    local channel=${1}; shift
+    local board=${1}; shift
 
-    source sdk_lib/sdk_container_common.sh
-    local channel=""
-    channel="$(get_git_channel)"
-    source ci-automation/ci_automation_common.sh
-    source ci-automation/gpg_setup.sh
+    curl \
+        -fsSL \
+        --retry-delay 1 \
+        --retry 60 \
+        --retry-connrefused \
+        --retry-max-time 60 \
+        --connect-timeout 20 \
+        "https://${channel}.release.flatcar-linux.net/${board}/current/version.txt" | \
+        grep -m 1 'FLATCAR_VERSION=' | cut -d = -f 2-
+}
+# --
 
-    source sdk_container/.repo/manifests/version.txt
-    local vernum="${FLATCAR_VERSION}"
+# Prints some reports using scripts from the passed path to
+# flatcar-build-scripts repo. The environment and parameters for the
+# scripts are passed as follows:
+#
+# print_image_reports <flatcar-build-scripts-directory> <channel a> <version a> <work dir> \\
+#       <env vars for package-diff> --- <parameters for package-diff> -- \\
+#       <env vars for size-change-report.sh> --- <parameters for size-change-report.sh> -- \\
+#       <env vars for show-changes> --- <parameters for show-changes>
+#
+# Env vars are passed to the called scripts verbatim. Parameters are
+# described below.
+#
+# Parameters for package-diff:
+#
+# Passed directly to the script, so there should only be two
+# parameters - for version A and version B.
+#
+# Parameters for size-change-report.sh:
+#
+# Passed directly to the script after appending a ':<kind>' to them,
+# so there should be only two parameters being specs without the final
+# "kind" part.
+#
+# Parameters for show-changes:
+#
+# Should come in format of key=value, just like env vars. It's
+# expected that the following key-value pairs will be specified - for
+# NEW_CHANNEL, NEW_CHANNEL_PREV_VERSION NEW_VERSION.
+function print_image_reports() {
+    local flatcar_build_scripts_repo=${1}; shift
+    local channel_a=${1}; shift
+    local version_a=${1}; shift
+    local work_directory=${1}; shift
+    local -a package_diff_env=() package_diff_params=()
+    local -a size_change_report_env=() size_change_report_params=()
+    local -a show_changes_env=() show_changes_params=()
+    local params_shift=0
+
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        package_diff_env package_diff_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+    shift "${params_shift}"
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        size_change_report_env size_change_report_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+    shift "${params_shift}"
+    split_to_env_and_params \
+        show_changes_env show_changes_params params_shift \
+        "${@}"
+
+    flatcar_build_scripts_repo=$(realpath "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}")
 
     echo "==================================================================="
-    export BOARD_A="${arch}-usr"
-    export FROM_A="release"
-    if [ "${channel}" = "developer" ]; then
-            NEW_CHANNEL="alpha"
-    else
-            NEW_CHANNEL="${channel}"
-    fi
-    NEW_CHANNEL_VERSION_A=$(curl -fsSL --retry-delay 1 --retry 60 --retry-connrefused --retry-max-time 60 --connect-timeout 20 "https://${NEW_CHANNEL}.release.flatcar-linux.net/${BOARD_A}/current/version.txt" | grep -m 1 FLATCAR_VERSION= | cut -d = -f 2)
-    MAJOR_A=$(echo "${NEW_CHANNEL_VERSION_A}" | cut -d . -f 1)
-    MAJOR_B=$(echo "${FLATCAR_VERSION}" | cut -d . -f 1)
-    # When the major version for the new channel is different, a transition has happened and we can find the previous release in the old channel
-    if [ "${MAJOR_A}" != "${MAJOR_B}" ]; then
-        case "${NEW_CHANNEL}" in
-          lts)
-            CHANNEL_A=stable
-            ;;
-          stable)
-            CHANNEL_A=beta
-            ;;
-          *)
-            CHANNEL_A=alpha
-            ;;
-        esac
-        VERSION_A=$(curl -fsSL --retry-delay 1 --retry 60 --retry-connrefused --retry-max-time 60 --connect-timeout 20 "https://${CHANNEL_A}.release.flatcar-linux.net/${BOARD_A}/current/version.txt" | grep -m 1 FLATCAR_VERSION= | cut -d = -f 2)
-    else
-        CHANNEL_A="${NEW_CHANNEL}"
-        VERSION_A="${NEW_CHANNEL_VERSION_A}"
-    fi
-    export VERSION_A
-    export CHANNEL_A
-    export FROM_B="bincache"
-    export VERSION_B="${vernum}"
-    export BOARD_B="${arch}-usr"
-    # First parts of the size-changes-report specs, the kind is
-    # appended at call sites.
-    SPEC_A_PART="${FROM_A}:${CHANNEL_A}:${arch}-usr:${VERSION_A}"
-    SPEC_B_PART="${FROM_B}:${arch}:${VERSION_B}"
-    # CHANNEL_B is unused
-    echo "== Image differences compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A} =="
-    NEW_VERSION=$(git tag --points-at HEAD)
-    cd ..
-    rm -rf flatcar-build-scripts
-    git clone "https://github.com/flatcar/flatcar-build-scripts"
-    # Don't fail the job
-    set +e
-    echo "Package updates, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    FILE=flatcar_production_image_packages.txt flatcar-build-scripts/package-diff "${VERSION_A}" "${VERSION_B}"
+
+    echo "== Image differences compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a} =="
+    echo "Package updates, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    env \
+        --chdir="${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" FILE=flatcar_production_image_packages.txt \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/package-diff" "${package_diff_params[@]}"
     echo
-    echo "Image file changes, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    FILE=flatcar_production_image_contents.txt FILESONLY=1 CUTKERNEL=1 flatcar-build-scripts/package-diff "${VERSION_A}" "${VERSION_B}"
+    echo "Image file changes, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    env \
+        --chdir="${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" FILE=flatcar_production_image_contents.txt FILESONLY=1 CUTKERNEL=1 \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/package-diff" "${package_diff_params[@]}"
     echo
-    echo "Image kernel config changes, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    FILE=flatcar_production_image_kernel_config.txt flatcar-build-scripts/package-diff "${VERSION_A}" "${VERSION_B}"
+    echo "Image kernel config changes, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    env \
+        --chdir="${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" FILE=flatcar_production_image_kernel_config.txt \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/package-diff" "${package_diff_params[@]}"
     echo
-    echo "Image init ramdisk file changes, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    FILE=flatcar_production_image_initrd_contents.txt FILESONLY=1 flatcar-build-scripts/package-diff "${VERSION_A}" "${VERSION_B}"
+    echo "Image init ramdisk file changes, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    env \
+        --chdir="${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" FILE=flatcar_production_image_initrd_contents.txt FILESONLY=1 \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/package-diff" "${package_diff_params[@]}"
     echo
-    echo "Image file size changes, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    if ! flatcar-build-scripts/size-change-report.sh "${SPEC_A_PART}:wtd" "${SPEC_B_PART}:wtd"; then
-        flatcar-build-scripts/size-change-report.sh "${SPEC_A_PART}:old" "${SPEC_B_PART}:old"
+
+    local size_changes_invocation=(
+        env
+        --chdir="${work_directory}"
+        "${size_change_report_env[@]}"
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/size-change-report.sh"
+    )
+    echo "Image file size changes, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    if ! "${size_changes_invocation[@]}" "${size_change_report_params[@]/%/:wtd}"; then
+        "${size_changes_invocation[@]}" "${size_change_report_params[@]/%/:old}"
     fi
     echo
-    echo "Image init ramdisk file size changes, compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    if ! flatcar-build-scripts/size-change-report.sh "${SPEC_A_PART}:initrd-wtd" "${SPEC_B_PART}:initrd-wtd"; then
-        flatcar-build-scripts/size-change-report.sh "${SPEC_A_PART}:initrd-old" "${SPEC_B_PART}:initrd-old"
+    echo "Image init ramdisk file size changes, compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    if ! "${size_changes_invocation[@]}" "${size_change_report_params[@]/%/:initrd-wtd}"; then
+        "${size_changes_invocation[@]}" "${size_change_report_params[@]/%/:initrd-old}"
     fi
     echo "Take the total size difference with a grain of salt as normally initrd is compressed, so the actual difference will be smaller."
     echo "To see the actual difference in size, see if there was a report for /boot/flatcar/vmlinuz-a."
     echo "Note that vmlinuz-a also contains the kernel code, which might have changed too, so the reported difference does not accurately describe the change in initrd."
     echo
-    echo "Image file size change (includes /boot, /usr and the default rootfs partitions), compared to ${CHANNEL_A} ${VERSION_A}:"
-    FILE=flatcar_production_image_contents.txt CALCSIZE=1 flatcar-build-scripts/package-diff "${VERSION_A}" "${VERSION_B}"
+
+    echo "Image file size change (includes /boot, /usr and the default rootfs partitions), compared to ${channel_a} ${version_a}:"
+    env \
+        --chdir="${work_directory}" \
+        "${package_diff_env[@]}" FILE=flatcar_production_image_contents.txt CALCSIZE=1 \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/package-diff" "${package_diff_params[@]}"
     echo
-    BASE_URL="http://${BUILDCACHE_SERVER}/images/${arch}/${vernum}"
-    echo "Image URL: ${BASE_URL}/flatcar_production_image.bin.bz2"
-    echo
-    # Provide a python3 command for the CVE DB parsing
-    export PATH="$PATH:$PWD/scripts/ci-automation/python-bin"
-    # The first changelog we print is always against the previous version of the new channel (is only same as CHANNEL_A VERSION_A without a transition)
-    flatcar-build-scripts/show-changes "${NEW_CHANNEL}-${NEW_CHANNEL_VERSION_A}" "${NEW_VERSION}"
-    # See if a channel transition happened and print the changelog against CHANNEL_A VERSION_A which is the previous release
-    if [ "${CHANNEL_A}" != "${NEW_CHANNEL}" ]; then
-      flatcar-build-scripts/show-changes "${CHANNEL_A}-${VERSION_A}" "${NEW_VERSION}"
+
+    local param
+    for param in "${show_changes_params[@]}"; do
+        local "SHOW_CHANGES_${param}"
+    done
+    # The first changelog we print is always against the previous version of the new channel (is only same as ${channel_a} ${version_a} without a transition)
+    env \
+        --chdir "${work_directory}" \
+        "${show_changes_env[@]}" \
+        "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/show-changes" \
+        "${SHOW_CHANGES_NEW_CHANNEL}-${SHOW_CHANGES_NEW_CHANNEL_PREV_VERSION}" \
+        "${SHOW_CHANGES_NEW_VERSION}"
+    # See if a channel transition happened and print the changelog against ${channel_a} ${version_a} which is the previous release
+    if [ "${channel_a}" != "${SHOW_CHANGES_NEW_CHANNEL}" ]; then
+        env \
+            --chdir "${work_directory}" \
+            "${show_changes_env[@]}" \
+            "${flatcar_build_scripts_repo}/show-changes" \
+            "${channel_a}-${version_a}" \
+            "${SHOW_CHANGES_NEW_VERSION}"
     fi
-    set -e
+}
+# --
+
+# 1 - name of an array variable for environment variables
+# 2 - name of an array variable for parameters
+# 3 - name of a scalar variable for shift number
+# @ - [ env var key=value pair… [ --- [ parameter… [ -- [ garbage… ] ] ] ] ]
+function split_to_env_and_params() {
+    local steap_env_var_name=${1}; shift
+    local steap_params_var_name=${1}; shift
+    local steap_to_shift_var_name=${1}; shift
+    local -n steap_env_var_ref="${steap_env_var_name}"
+    local -n steap_params_var_ref="${steap_params_var_name}"
+    local -n steap_to_shift_var_ref="${steap_to_shift_var_name}"
+    local kv param to_shift=0
+    local -a env params
+    env=()
+    params=()
+    # rest of parameters are key-value pairs followed by triple dash
+    # followed by parameters followed by double dash or nothing
+    for kv; do
+        if [[ "${kv}" == '--' ]]; then
+            break
+        fi
+        to_shift=$((to_shift + 1))
+        if [[ "${kv}" == '---' ]]; then
+            break
+        fi
+        env+=( "${kv}" )
+    done
+    shift "${to_shift}"
+    for param; do
+        to_shift=$((to_shift + 1))
+        if [[ "${param}" == '--' ]]; then
+            break
+        fi
+        params+=( "${param}" )
+    done
+    steap_env_var_ref=( "${env[@]}" )
+    steap_params_var_ref=( "${params[@]}" )
+    steap_to_shift_var_ref=${to_shift}
 }
 # --