Specify salt function arguments, comma seperated. Paramaterized Build variables should be specified in the format {{VARNAME}}. Python lists should be quoted: pkgs="[package1, package2]".
Pillar values should be passed in as an argument, with the pillar string surrounded in double or single quotes, and the values optionally single or double quoted: "pillar={artifact: 'somevalue3', repo: 'othervalue:4'}"