Environment Variables

Environment variables securely manage configuration across different environments (development, production) without committing sensitive data to version control.

Overview

Each application and package uses .env files for environment-specific configuration:

• .env.local - Local development variables (gitignored)
• .env.example - Template showing required variables
• .env.production - Production environment variables

These files are not committed to version control and should be created from the provided .env.example files.

Setup

1. Copy the relevant .env.example file to .env, .env.local, or .env.production in each app/package.

find . -name ".env.example" -execdir sh -c 'cp .env.example .env' \;

2. Fill in the required values in each .env file as described below.

Quick Start

To run locally with basic functionality, configure these required variables:

1. Database

DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/app

2. Authentication Secret

Add to both apps/api/.env.local and apps/web/.env.local (must be identical):

• BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your-generated-secret

Generate a secure secret for Better Auth:

# Option 1: Using Node.js
node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

# Option 2: Using OpenSSL
openssl rand -hex 32

# Option 3: Online generator
# Visit: https://generate-secret.vercel.app/32

3. OAuth Credentials

Add to apps/web/.env.local and apps/api/.env:

• GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id
• GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret
• NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000

4. Email Service (Resend)

Add to apps/web/.env.local, apps/api/.env.local and packages/email/.env.local:

• RESEND_TOKEN=your-resend-token
• RESEND_EMAIL_FROM=your@email.com

5. Rate Limiting

Add to apps/api/.env.local and packages/rate-limit/.env.local:

• UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=your-upstash-url
• UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=your-upstash-token

Environment Variable Files

build-elevate uses the following .env files:

Adding New Variables

To add new environment variables:

1. Define the variable in the appropriate .env file.
2. Add validation to the server or client object in the package's keys.ts file.

Example packages/package-name/keys.ts:

import { createEnv } from "@t3-oss/env-nextjs";
import { z } from "zod";
export const keys = createEnv({
  server: {
    NEW_SECRET: z.string().min(1),
  },
  client: {
    NEXT_PUBLIC_NEW_VALUE: z.string().optional(),
  },
  runtimeEnv: {
    NEW_SECRET: process.env.NEW_SECRET,
    NEXT_PUBLIC_NEW_VALUE: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_NEW_VALUE,
  },
});

Deployment

When deploying to production:

1. Ensure all required environment variables are set in your hosting platform (e.g., Vercel, Heroku, etc.). Refer to their documentation for setting environment variables.

2. Update URL variables (NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL, etc.) to production values as needed.