Environment Variables

Environment variables provide a secure way to configure your applications with sensitive data, API keys, and environment-specific settings.

What are Environment Variables?

Environment variables are key-value pairs that configure your application’s runtime behavior without hardcoding values in your source code.

Benefits

• Security: Keep sensitive data out of your codebase
• Flexibility: Different values for different environments
• Configuration: Easy application configuration management
• Portability: Same code works across environments

Managing Variables

Via Dashboard

1. Navigate to your application dashboard
2. Go to Settings → Environment Variables
3. Click “Add Variable”
4. Enter:
   • Key: Variable name (e.g., DATABASE_URL)
   • Value: Variable value (e.g., postgresql://...)
   • Environment: Which environment(s) to apply to

Via API

curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "key": "DATABASE_URL",
    "value": "postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db",
    "environment": "production"
  }' \
  https://api.easydeploy.com/v1/applications/APP_ID/env

Bulk Import

Import multiple variables from a .env file:

# Upload .env file
curl -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "environment=production" \
  https://api.easydeploy.com/v1/applications/APP_ID/env/import

Common Use Cases

Database Configuration

# PostgreSQL
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database
DB_HOST=db.example.com
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=myapp
DB_USER=myuser
DB_PASSWORD=secretpassword

# MongoDB
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://user:password@host:27017/database

# Redis
REDIS_URL=redis://user:password@host:6379

API Keys and Secrets

# Third-party APIs
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG....
GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_ID=UA-...
FACEBOOK_APP_ID=123456789

# JWT and encryption
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key
ENCRYPTION_KEY=32-character-encryption-key
SESSION_SECRET=session-secret-key

Application Configuration

# Environment settings
NODE_ENV=production
DEBUG=false
LOG_LEVEL=info
PORT=3000

# Feature flags
FEATURE_NEW_UI=true
FEATURE_BETA_API=false
MAINTENANCE_MODE=false

# External services
CDN_URL=https://cdn.example.com
API_BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.example.com

Environment-Specific Variables

Development Environment

NODE_ENV=development
DEBUG=true
LOG_LEVEL=debug
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev
API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...

Staging Environment

NODE_ENV=staging
DEBUG=false
LOG_LEVEL=info
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://staging-db:5432/myapp_staging
API_BASE_URL=https://api-staging.example.com
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...

Production Environment

NODE_ENV=production
DEBUG=false
LOG_LEVEL=error
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://prod-db:5432/myapp_prod
API_BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...

Security Best Practices

Sensitive Data

• Never commit environment variables to version control
• Use strong passwords and random secrets
• Rotate keys regularly for security
• Limit access to production variables

Variable Naming

• Use UPPERCASE with underscores: DATABASE_URL
• Be descriptive: STRIPE_SECRET_KEY vs KEY1
• Group related variables: DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_NAME
• Use consistent prefixes: AWS_ACCESS_KEY, AWS_SECRET_KEY

Access Control

• Separate environments: Different variables for dev/staging/prod
• Team permissions: Limit who can view/edit variables
• Audit logging: Track all variable changes
• Read-only access: Some team members can view, not edit

Using Variables in Code

Node.js

// Access environment variables
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY;
const port = process.env.PORT || 3000;

// Database connection
const db = require('pg').Client({
  connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL
});

// API configuration
const stripe = require('stripe')(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY);

Python

import os

# Access environment variables
db_url = os.environ.get('DATABASE_URL')
api_key = os.environ.get('STRIPE_SECRET_KEY')
port = int(os.environ.get('PORT', 5000))

# Database connection
import psycopg2
conn = psycopg2.connect(os.environ['DATABASE_URL'])

# API configuration
import stripe
stripe.api_key = os.environ['STRIPE_SECRET_KEY']

PHP

<?php
// Access environment variables
$dbUrl = $_ENV['DATABASE_URL'];
$apiKey = $_ENV['STRIPE_SECRET_KEY'];
$port = $_ENV['PORT'] ?? 8000;

// Database connection
$pdo = new PDO($_ENV['DATABASE_URL']);

// API configuration
\Stripe\Stripe::setApiKey($_ENV['STRIPE_SECRET_KEY']);
?>

Go

package main

import (
    "os"
    "strconv"
)

func main() {
    // Access environment variables
    dbURL := os.Getenv("DATABASE_URL")
    apiKey := os.Getenv("STRIPE_SECRET_KEY")

    port, err := strconv.Atoi(os.Getenv("PORT"))
    if err != nil {
        port = 8080
    }
}

Variable Management

Updating Variables

Update variables without redeploying:

curl -X PUT \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "value": "new-secret-value"
  }' \
  https://api.easydeploy.com/v1/applications/APP_ID/env/VARIABLE_KEY

Variable History

• Change tracking: View all variable changes
• Rollback capability: Restore previous values
• Audit logs: Who changed what and when

Secrets Management

• Encrypted storage: All variables encrypted at rest
• Secure transmission: HTTPS for all API calls
• Access logging: Track who accessed variables
• Automatic rotation: Schedule key rotation

Configuration Files

.env File Support

Create a .env file for local development:

# .env (do not commit to git!)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
JWT_SECRET=your-local-secret
DEBUG=true

Environment-specific Files

.env.development

NODE_ENV=development
API_URL=http://localhost:3000

# .env.staging
NODE_ENV=staging
API_URL=https://api-staging.example.com

# .env.production
NODE_ENV=production
API_URL=https://api.example.com

.gitignore

Always exclude environment files from git:

# Environment variables
.env
.env.local
.env.development
.env.staging
.env.production
.env.*.local

# Environment configuration
config/secrets.yml
config/database.yml

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Variable not available in application

• Check variable name spelling and case
• Verify environment selection
• Restart application after adding variables

Database connection fails

• Verify DATABASE_URL format
• Check database host accessibility
• Confirm credentials are correct

API keys not working

• Ensure using correct key for environment
• Check API key permissions and quotas
• Verify key format and encoding

Debugging

List all environment variables:

# Node.js
console.log(process.env);

# Python
import os
print(os.environ)

# PHP
print_r($_ENV);

# Go
import "os"
for _, env := range os.Environ() {
    fmt.Println(env)
}

Need help? Check our troubleshooting guide or contact support.