Node.js: Reading environment variables

This documentation is part of the Managing secrets guide. You can view the complete guide here: How to manage secrets with Node.js.

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In your app.js file, you can access your environment variable via process.env, like this:

console.log(process.env.MY_PASSWORD);

This will display myDevelopmentPassword.

Now, your password is defined outside your code. This helps prevent it from accidentally ending up in your Git repository.

If you are using Stackhero in a production environment, you can define a new environment variable named MY_PASSWORD with the value myProductionPassword directly from your Node.js service dashboard. This makes it easy to manage different environments smoothly.

Example of Node.js configuration on the Stackhero dashboard

With this approach, your password is no longer stored in your code, and you can easily use different credentials for development and production environments.