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Use dotenvx with Nx

Use dotenvx with Nx

Find code examples for this guide on GitHub.

Initial setup

Create a new monorepo.

npx create-nx-workspace --preset=express

If prompted for a workspace, type app. This will create a handful of files and a couple workspaces (apps).

$ ls -1
README.md
apps/
jest.config.ts
jest.preset.js
node_modules/
nx.json
package-lock.json
package.json
tsconfig.base.json

Edit apps/app/src/main.ts to include process.env.HELLO – to say 'Hello World'.

apps/app/src/main.ts

import express from 'express';
import * as path from 'path';

const app = express();

app.use('/assets', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'assets')));

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  res.send(`Hello ${process.env.HELLO}`);
});

const port = process.env.PORT || 3333;
const server = app.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Listening at http://localhost:${port}/`);
});
server.on('error', console.error);

Run dotenvx

Install dotenvx via brew, npm, or other options. Here I'm using brew.

brew install dotenvx/brew/dotenvx

Create a .env file under apps/app.

apps/app/.env

# apps/app/.env
HELLO="World"

Run nx serve prefaced by dotenvx.

$ dotenvx run -f apps/app/.env -- npx nx serve app

[[email protected]] injecting env (1) from apps/app/.env

> nx run app:serve:development
...

Visit localhost:3333.

localhost:3333

Your app will say Hello World. The values from your .env file were successfully injected into your env.

Add production environment

Create a .env.production file under apps/app.

apps/app/.env.production

# apps/app/.env.production
HELLO="production"

Encrypt production

dotenvx encrypt -f apps/app/.env.production

Your .env.production file is now encrypted, and you have a .env.keys file.

apps/app/.env.production

#/-------------------[DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY]--------------------/
#/            public-key encryption for .env files          /
#/       [how it works](https://dotenvx.com/encryption)     /
#/----------------------------------------------------------/
DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY_PRODUCTION="025a54defaeff32caa2bbe60537b88b5b89716eade6df08418d7a68f5c4f742be6"

# .env.production
HELLO="encrypted:BD+uttK9iBuXnfx6HukDK06IGk0pQARwivtxM+ZiePvhRxHyQL3UD0sf0ayLw/P5Y/BED//zRiTlUf6nENuu7QhNJ24g3uADfrDfhvYi/MOHjmfKyRiu+yOxSw6e+c0yRNukS+n8SxONnec="

apps/app/.env.keys

#/------------------!DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEYS!-------------------/
#/ private decryption keys. DO NOT commit to source control /
#/     [how it works](https://dotenvx.com/encryption)       /
#/----------------------------------------------------------/

# .env.production
DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY_PRODUCTION="424d0ea072eb17c6bee9b4b42ff6333513cf128ea3d5d60ccf79246ca7c3f786"

You SHOULD commit .env.production to code. It is now encrypted, safe, and recommended to do so. But DO NOT commit .env.keys to code. Keep them somewhere safe like 1password or dotenvx ops.

We're ready to inject the encrypted .env.production secrets into the app on boot.

Set decryption key

Set DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY_PRODUCTION using the production key in your apps/app/.env.keys file.

DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY_PRODUCTION="424d0ea072eb17c6bee9b4b42ff6333513cf128ea3d5d60ccf79246ca7c3f786" dotenvx run -f apps/app/.env.production -- npx nx serve app

Your script starts and env is successfully injected using the encrypted contents of .env.production.

[[email protected]] injecting env (2) from apps/app/.env.production
Listening at http://localhost:3333/

Visit your url and it says Hello production.

localhost:3333

You succesfully add encryption to your .env files. This is safer than scattering your secrets across third-party platforms and tools. When you need to update a secret, run dotenvx set KEY value and redeploy.

Great job! That's pretty much it. See the bonus section(s) below to go a little deeper.

Bonus

Try changing the value of .env.production to your name.

npm run dotenvx -- set HELLO Mot -f .env.production

Commit .env.production safely to code and redeploy.