dotenv

Dotenv is a zero-dependency module that loads environment variables from a .env file into process.env. Storing configuration in the environment separate from code is based on The Twelve-Factor App methodology.


Install

``bash


with npm

npm install dotenv

or with Yarn

yarn add dotenv
`

Usage

As early as possible in your application, require and configure dotenv.

`javascript
require('dotenv').config()
`

Create a .env file in the root directory of your project. Add
environment-specific variables on new lines in the form of NAME=VALUE.
For example:

`dosini
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASS=s1mpl3
`

process.env now has the keys and values you defined in your .env file.

`javascript
const db = require('db')
db.connect({
host: process.env.DB_HOST,
username: process.env.DB_USER,
password: process.env.DB_PASS
})
`

$3

You can use the --require (-r) command line option to preload dotenv. By doing this, you do not need to require and load dotenv in your application code. This is the preferred approach when using import instead of require.

`bash
$ node -r dotenv/config your_script.js
`

The configuration options below are supported as command line arguments in the format dotenv_config_=value

`bash
$ node -r dotenv/config your_script.js dotenv_config_path=/custom/path/to/.env
`

Additionally, you can use environment variables to set configuration options. Command line arguments will precede these.

`bash
$ DOTENV_CONFIG_=value node -r dotenv/config your_script.js
`

`bash
$ DOTENV_CONFIG_ENCODING=latin1 node -r dotenv/config your_script.js dotenv_config_path=/custom/path/to/.env
`

Config

config will read your .env file, parse the contents, assign it to
process.env,
and return an Object with a parsed key containing the loaded content or an error key if it failed.

`js
const result = dotenv.config()

if (result.error) {
throw result.error
}

console.log(result.parsed)
`

You can additionally, pass options to config.

$3

#### Path

Default: path.resolve(process.cwd(), '.env')

You may specify a custom path if your file containing environment variables is located elsewhere.

`js
require('dotenv').config({ path: '/custom/path/to/.env' })
`

#### Encoding

Default: utf8

You may specify the encoding of your file containing environment variables.

`js
require('dotenv').config({ encoding: 'latin1' })
`

#### Debug

Default: false

You may turn on logging to help debug why certain keys or values are not being set as you expect.

`js
require('dotenv').config({ debug: process.env.DEBUG })
`

#### Multiline

Default: default

You may specify the value line-breaks to switch the parser into a mode in which line breaks
inside quoted values are allowed.

`js
require('dotenv').config({ multiline: 'line-breaks' })
`

This allows specifying multiline values in this format:

`
PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MIGT...
7ure...
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----"
`

Ensure that the value begins with a single or double quote character, and it ends with the same character.




Parse

The engine which parses the contents of your file containing environment
variables is available to use. It accepts a String or Buffer and will return
an Object with the parsed keys and values.

`js
const dotenv = require('dotenv')
const buf = Buffer.from('BASIC=basic')
const config = dotenv.parse(buf) // will return an object
console.log(typeof config, config) // object { BASIC : 'basic' }
`

$3

#### Debug

Default: false

You may turn on logging to help debug why certain keys or values are not being set as you expect.

`js
const dotenv = require('dotenv')
const buf = Buffer.from('hello world')
const opt = { debug: true }
const config = dotenv.parse(buf, opt)
// expect a debug message because the buffer is not in KEY=VAL form
`

$3

The parsing engine currently supports the following rules:

- BASIC=basic becomes {BASIC: 'basic'}
- empty lines are skipped
- lines beginning with # are treated as comments
- empty values become empty strings (EMPTY= becomes {EMPTY: ''})
- inner quotes are maintained (think JSON) (JSON={"foo": "bar"} becomes {JSON:"{\"foo\": \"bar\"}")
- whitespace is removed from both ends of unquoted values (see more on trim) (FOO= some value becomes {FOO: 'some value'})
- single and double quoted values are escaped (SINGLE_QUOTE='quoted' becomes {SINGLE_QUOTE: "quoted"})
- single and double quoted values maintain whitespace from both ends (FOO=" some value " becomes {FOO: ' some value '})
- double quoted values expand new lines. Example: MULTILINE="new\nline" becomes

`
{MULTILINE: 'new
line'}
`
- multi-line values with line breaks are supported for quoted values if using the { multiline: "line-break" } option.
In this mode you do not need to use \n to separate lines. Example:

`
PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
MIGT...
7ure...
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----"
`

Note that when using this option, all values that start with quotes must end in quotes.

FAQ

$3

No. We strongly recommend against committing your .env file to version
control. It should only include environment-specific values such as database
passwords or API keys. Your production database should have a different
password than your development database.

$3

No. We strongly recommend against having a "main" .env file and an "environment" .env file like .env.test. Your config should vary between deploys, and you should not be sharing values between environments.

> In a twelve-factor app, env vars are granular controls, each fully orthogonal to other env vars. They are never grouped together as “environments”, but instead are independently managed for each deploy. This is a model that scales up smoothly as the app naturally expands into more deploys over its lifetime.
>
> – The Twelve-Factor App

$3

We will never modify any environment variables that have already been set. In particular, if there is a variable in your .env file which collides with one that already exists in your environment, then that variable will be skipped. This behavior allows you to override all .env configurations with a machine-specific environment, although it is not recommended.

If you want to override process.env you can do something like this:

`javascript
const fs = require('fs')
const dotenv = require('dotenv')
const envConfig = dotenv.parse(fs.readFileSync('.env.override'))
for (const k in envConfig) {
process.env[k] = envConfig[k]
}
`

$3

For dotenv@2.x.x: Yes. dotenv.config() now returns an object representing
the parsed .env file. This gives you everything you need to continue
setting values on process.env. For example:

`js
const dotenv = require('dotenv')
const variableExpansion = require('dotenv-expand')
const myEnv = dotenv.config()
variableExpansion(myEnv)
`

$3

Try dotenv-expand

$3

ES2015 and beyond offers modules that allow you to export any top-level function, class, var, let, or const.

> When you run a module containing an import declaration, the modules it imports are loaded first, then each module body is executed in a depth-first traversal of the dependency graph, avoiding cycles by skipping anything already executed.
>
> – ES6 In Depth: Modules

You must run dotenv.config() before referencing any environment variables. Here's an example of problematic code:

errorReporter.js:

`js
import { Client } from 'best-error-reporting-service'

export const client = new Client(process.env.BEST_API_KEY)
`

index.js:

`js
import dotenv from 'dotenv'
import errorReporter from './errorReporter'

dotenv.config()
errorReporter.client.report(new Error('faq example'))
`

client will not be configured correctly because it was constructed before dotenv.config() was executed. There are (at least) 3 ways to make this work.

1. Preload dotenv: node --require dotenv/config index.js (_Note: you do not need to import dotenv with this approach_)
2. Import dotenv/config instead of dotenv (_Note: you do not need to call dotenv.config() and must pass options via the command line or environment variables with this approach_)
3. Create a separate file that will execute config` first as outlined in this comment on #133

Contributing Guide

See CONTRIBUTING.md

Change Log

See CHANGELOG.md

Who's using dotenv?

These npm modules depend on it.

Projects that expand it often use the keyword "dotenv" on npm.