Node.js: Reading environment variables

This documentation is part of the Handle secrets guide. View the full guide here: How to handle secrets with Node.js.

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Inside your app.js file, you can access your environment variable using process.env, like so:

console.log(process.env.MY_PASSWORD);

This will display myDevelopmentPassword.

Now, your password is defined outside of your code. This helps ensure it will not accidentally end 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 right from your Node.js service dashboard. This makes it easy to keep things running smoothly between environments.

Example of Node.js configuration on the Stackhero dashboard

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