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Use dotenvx with Turborepo

Use dotenvx with Turborepo

Find code examples for this guide on GitHub.

Initial setup

Create a new monorepo.

npx create-turbo@latest

This will create a handful of files and a couple workspaces (apps).

$ ls -1
README.md
apps/
node_modules/
package-lock.json
package.json
packages/
turbo.json

Edit apps/web/app/page.tsx to include process.env.HELLO – to say 'Hello World'.

apps/web/app/page.tsx

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <>
      Hello {process.env.HELLO}
    </>
  );
}

Declare the apps/web environment variable in turbo.json by adding a web#build configuration under the pipeline configuration key.

turbo.json

  ...
  "pipeline": {
    ...
    "web#build": {
      "dependsOn": [
        "^build"
      ],
      "env": [
        "HELLO"
      ]
    },
    ...

Run dotenvx

Install dotenvx under apps/web

cd apps/web
npm install @dotenvx/dotenvx --save
cd ../..

Create a .env file under apps/web.

apps/web/.env

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

Adjust your apps/web/package.json scripts to inject your env using dotenvx.

apps/web/package.json

...
"scripts": {
  "dotenvx": "dotenvx",
  "build": "dotenvx run -- turbo build",
  "dev": "dotenvx run -- turbo dev",
  "lint": "dotenvx run -- turbo lint",
  "format": "prettier --write \"**/*.{ts,tsx,md}\""
},

See more about using environment variables with turborepo.

Try running it locally.

$ npm run dev
web:dev: [[email protected]] injecting env (1) from .env
docs:dev: - ready started server on 0.0.0.0:3001, url: http://localhost:3001
web:dev: - ready started server on 0.0.0.0:3000, url: http://localhost:3000

Visit localhost:3000.

localhost:3000

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/web.

apps/web/.env.production

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

Encrypt production

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

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

apps/web/.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/web/.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/web/.env.keys file.

DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY_PRODUCTION="424d0ea072eb17c6bee9b4b42ff6333513cf128ea3d5d60ccf79246ca7c3f786" npm run dev

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

web:dev: [[email protected]] injecting env (1) from .env
docs:dev: - ready started server on 0.0.0.0:3001, url: http://localhost:3001
web:dev: - ready started server on 0.0.0.0:3000, url: http://localhost:3000

Visit your url and it says Hello production.

localhost:3000

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.