TheDotEnv is an NPM package which allows you to load local NodeJS Environment Variables in your project. It is based onThe Twelve-Factor App Methodology - Storing configuration in environment separate from code.

Installation

The installation is as easy as any other NPM Package

npm install dotenv# YARNyarn add dotenv

Setup

Create a.env file in your root directory. Add any env vars you want in that file. For eg.

DB_HOST=localhostDB_PORT=3306DB_USER=rootDB_PASSWORD=password

Load the variables

Now in your starting JS file (which you run usingnode <filename>.js) add the following line of code

require('dotenv').config()

What this does is, it imports thedotenv module using the CommonJS syntax and then calls theconfig function on it. This loads up the dotenv variables in the.env file created earlier. You can also pass an object as an argument into it which you can findhere

Use the variables

You can use the variables inside that file now like any other env variable using the Global Objectprocess and the objectenv inside it in the following way:

console.log(process.env.DB_HOST)

Note that you can use the env variables inside the .env file only after calling the config function in the dotenv module. So the above line of code needs to come after therequire('dotenv').config() function.