dotenv-multi-x

Contains the functions of the following libraries

• dotenv
• dotenv-cli

Features

Support multiple .env files and keep the inheritance

Priority:

• local > not unassigned local
• mode > not unassigned mode

e.g. .env.{{mode}}.local > .env.{{mode}} > .env.local > .env

# in .env file
HOST=127.0.0.1
PORT=3000
# in .env.local file
PORT=3001

# out
{"HOST": "127.0.0.1", "PORT": "3001"}

If you have used vite, it works the same way.

Support injects .env in commond Line

dotenv --mode=dev node ./example/cli.test.js

How to use

npm i dotenv-multi-x
# or
yarn add dotenv-multi-x

import dotenv from 'dotenv-multi-x'
dotenv.init()

console.log(process.env)

Commond Line

dotenv --mode=dev node ./example/cli.test.js

Methods

• init
• parse
• getConfig

init

init will get mode from process.env or process.argv, read the .env* files, parse the content, handle the inheritance, and reture an object.

dotenv.init()

parse

Parse the content and return an Object with the parsed keys and values.

dotenv.parse(Buffer.from('PROT=3001'))

getConfig

Accept a mode and read .env* files, and handle the inheritance. return finally result.

Example

# Windows Powershell
$env:mode="dev"
node .\example\index.mjs
# Mac
mode=dev node ./example/index.mjs

# or
node .\example\index.mjs --mode=dev

Suggest

Add .env.local* in your .gitignore file.

Why not dotenv

When you run your code in multiple environments, you may need some different environments variable. But dotenv didn't support multiple .env files.

If you don't use docker or other CI/CD environment variable to instead of .env file, or don't use shell script to replace .env file, the multiple files is the easiest way to make it work.

For example, your server launched on port 3000, but you want to run on 3001 in local device, the .env file will be shared on repos which used git, so you need a .env.local file, this file has higher-priority then .env and it can doesn't share with git.

You can create mutiple .env* files, and use them in different environments as easier as possible.