🎉 announcing dotenvx. run anywhere, multi-environment, encrypted envs.

^{Dotenv is supported by the community.}

^{Special thanks to:}

Warp is a blazingly fast, Rust-based terminal reimagined to work like a modern app.

^{Get more done in the CLI with real text editing, block-based output, and AI command search.}

Your App, Enterprise Ready.

^{Add Single Sign-On, Multi-Factor Auth, and more, in minutes instead of months.}

Launch user-facing integrations faster

^{Easily spin up hundreds of integrations. Sign up free or read our docs first}

# dotenv [![NPM version](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/dotenv.svg?style=flat-square)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/dotenv) dotenv

Dotenv is a zero-dependency module that loads environment variables from a `.env` file into [`process.env`](https://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/process.html#process_process_env). Storing configuration in the environment separate from code is based on [The Twelve-Factor App](https://12factor.net/config) methodology. [![js-standard-style](https://img.shields.io/badge/code%20style-standard-brightgreen.svg?style=flat-square)](https://github.com/feross/standard) [![LICENSE](https://img.shields.io/github/license/motdotla/dotenv.svg)](LICENSE) [![codecov](https://codecov.io/gh/motdotla/dotenv-expand/graph/badge.svg?token=pawWEyaMfg)](https://codecov.io/gh/motdotla/dotenv-expand) * [🌱 Install](#-install) * [🏗️ Usage (.env)](#%EF%B8%8F-usage) * [🌴 Multiple Environments 🆕](#-manage-multiple-environments) * [🚀 Deploying (.env.vault) 🆕](#-deploying) * [📚 Examples](#-examples) * [📖 Docs](#-documentation) * [❓ FAQ](#-faq) * [⏱️ Changelog](./CHANGELOG.md) ## 🌱 Install ```bash # install locally (recommended) npm install dotenv --save ``` Or installing with yarn? `yarn add dotenv` ## 🏗️ Usage

Create a `.env` file in the root of your project: ```dosini S3_BUCKET="YOURS3BUCKET" SECRET_KEY="YOURSECRETKEYGOESHERE" ``` As early as possible in your application, import and configure dotenv: ```javascript require('dotenv').config() console.log(process.env) // remove this after you've confirmed it is working ``` .. [or using ES6?](#how-do-i-use-dotenv-with-import) ```javascript import 'dotenv/config' ``` That's it. `process.env` now has the keys and values you defined in your `.env` file: ```javascript require('dotenv').config() ... s3.getBucketCors({Bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET}, function(err, data) {}) ``` ### Multiline values If you need multiline variables, for example private keys, those are now supported (`>= v15.0.0`) with line breaks: ```dosini PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY----- ... Kh9NV... ... -----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----" ``` Alternatively, you can double quote strings and use the `\n` character: ```dosini PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\nKh9NV...\n-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\n" ``` ### Comments Comments may be added to your file on their own line or inline: ```dosini # This is a comment SECRET_KEY=YOURSECRETKEYGOESHERE # comment SECRET_HASH="something-with-a-#-hash" ``` Comments begin where a `#` exists, so if your value contains a `#` please wrap it in quotes. This is a breaking change from `>= v15.0.0` and on. ### Parsing 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. ```javascript 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' } ``` ### Preload > Note: Consider using [`dotenvx`](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenvx) instead of preloading. I am now doing (and recommending) so. > > It serves the same purpose (you do not need to require and load dotenv), adds better debugging, and works with ANY language, framework, or platform. – [motdotla](https://github.com/motdotla) You can use the `--require` (`-r`) [command line option](https://nodejs.org/api/cli.html#-r---require-module) to preload dotenv. By doing this, you do not need to require and load dotenv in your application code. ```bash $ node -r dotenv/config your_script.js ``` The configuration options below are supported as command line arguments in the format `dotenv_config_

	Stars	Issues	Version	Updated	Created
convict			6.2.4	2 years ago	13 years ago
dotenv	19,057	12	16.4.5	7 months ago	11 years ago
dotenv-webpack	1,295	17	8.1.0	6 months ago	8 years ago
nconf	3,867	111	0.12.1	a year ago	13 years ago

convict vs dotenv vs dotenv-webpack vs nconf

Downloads in past1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year2 Years5 YearsAll time

Stats

Sick of boring JavaScript newsletters?

Downloads in past