dotenvx
Quickstart ⚡️
Learn how dotenvx runs anywhere, support multiple environments, and adds encryption to your .env files.
Install
Install dotenvx.
npm install @dotenvx/dotenvx --save
npx dotenvx help
Install the necessary web server libraries in the language of your choice.
npm install express --save
Create a simple Hello World program.
// index.js
const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send(`Hello ${process.env.HELLO || ''}`)
})
app.listen(PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server running on port:${PORT}`)
})
Run it.
$ node index.js
Server running on port:3000
# http://localhost:3000
# Hello undefined
Run Anywhere
Run it with dotenvx run --.
$ dotenvx run -- node index.js
[[email protected]] missing .env file (.env)
[[email protected]] injecting env (0)
Server running on port:3000
# http://localhost:3000
# Hello undefined
dotenvx is more helpful than dotenv. It warns you of a missing .env file.
Create the .env file.
# .env
JELLO="World"
Run it again.
$ dotenvx run -- node index.js
[[email protected]] injecting env (1) from .env
Server running on port:3000
# http://localhost:3000
# Hello undefined
Hrm, still not saying Hello World. Pass the --debug flag to to see what's going wrong.
$ dotenvx run --debug -- node index.js
loading env from .env (.env)
{"JELLO":"World"}
JELLO set
JELLO set to World
# Oops, HELLO not JELLO ^^
It's easier to debug with dotenvx than dotenv.
Fix your .env file.
# .env
HELLO="World"
Run it one last time.
$ dotenvx run -- node index.js
[[email protected]] injecting env (1) from .env
Server running on port:3000
# http://localhost:3000
# Hello World
🎉 It worked!
Add Encryption
Add encryption to your .env files with a single command.
dotenvx encrypt
$ dotenvx encrypt
encrypted (.env)
Look at your .env file.
.env
#/-------------------[DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY]--------------------/
#/ public-key encryption for .env files /
#/ [how it works](https://dotenvx.com/encryption) /
#/----------------------------------------------------------/
DOTENV_PUBLIC_KEY="03c13bb105c307db64cc4b433987f12694bf79231487f44459f63fe70905494913"
# .env
HELLO="encrypted:BGmkvtg+DtseC3xyeJ4ITAqxWWFsFEBxTABZNJjPoMrVVJjkeevmUK719kxqKdlNrsClsvHK2Qs1yfHXNJM6Q6d8QJ/MIRoC0GLlJQkvHVJbf/931FoAVYNit6ahNyCgOt3Y3y6s"
It's encrypted! Run your code again with dotenvx run --.
$ dotenvx run -- node index.js
[[email protected]] injecting env (2) from .env
Server running on port:3000
# http://localhost:3000
# Hello World
🎉 It worked, again! But how?
Look at your .env.keys file. It contains the private decryption key.
.env.keys
#/------------------!DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEYS!-------------------/
#/ private decryption keys. DO NOT commit to source control /
#/ [how it works](https://dotenvx.com/encryption) /
#/----------------------------------------------------------/
# .env
DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY="ece16b6649d3f3e3a60eb97384484902d65afc85083f3bb5162b0a35b78171fa"
The run command uses it to decrypt any encrypted values and inject them at runtime. Under the hood it uses the same public-key cryptography as Bitcoin.
This is a huge security improvement for .env files.