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.env

High risk

Environment Variables File

A file of environment variables loaded at app startup. The `.env` convention is universal in modern development for API keys and DB URLs.

MIME types

  • text/plain

Category

data

Aliases

.dotenv

What opens this file

  • VS Code
  • direnv
  • dotenv libraries

How to open by OS

Windows

  • VS Code, dotenv-cli.

Mac

  • direnv, VS Code.

Linux

  • direnv, VS Code.

Ios

  • Working Copy.

Android

  • Acode.

Safety notes

  • Committing .env to Git leaks credentials. Always add it to .gitignore and rotate keys immediately on exposure.
  • In production, move secrets to dedicated stores (Vercel, AWS Secrets Manager, Doppler).

Common mistakes

  • Forgetting to quote values with spaces — dotenv parsers truncate at the first whitespace otherwise.
  • Putting secrets in public-prefixed variables like NEXT_PUBLIC_*, which get bundled into the client.

Related extensions

References