View Markdown

Environment variables

Environment variables are how your app reads configuration at runtime without hardcoding it in the source. A good rule of thumb: anything that differs between development and production, or that’s secret, belongs here.

Common examples:

  • DATABASE_URL — where your app reads and writes data.
  • STRIPE_SECRET_KEY — an API key you can’t commit to git.
  • LOG_LEVEL — debug locally, info in production.
  • PORT — which port your app listens on.

Set one or more variables

dina apps env set --app my-app DATABASE_URL=postgres://localhost/mydb

You can set multiple variables in a single command by listing them space-separated:

dina apps env set --app my-app \
  DATABASE_URL=postgres://db.internal/prod \
  LOG_LEVEL=info \
  FEATURE_FLAGS=checkout-v2,search-refresh

The CLI prints each variable that was set. Values can contain any characters that your shell can quote — if your value has spaces, quote the whole pair:

dina apps env set --app my-app GREETING="Hello, world"

When do changes take effect?

New variables and changed values take effect on the next deployment. An app that’s already running keeps its current variables until you deploy again.

If you’ve just changed a variable and want it to apply now, trigger a fresh deployment:

dina deploy --app my-app --wait

What about the values themselves?

Setting a variable replaces any previous value for that key. Other variables on the app are untouched — env set only writes the keys you name.

Handling secrets safely

A few habits that save you from awkward accidents:

  • Don’t paste secrets into chat tools or agent prompts. Set them from a local terminal you trust.
  • Don’t commit them to your repo. That’s why they’re environment variables.
  • Rotate anything that’s been exposed. If you suspect a key has leaked, generate a new one with whichever service owns it, set the new value, and redeploy.

Appendix: what env set doesn’t do yet

The current CLI only exposes env set. We’re adding env list and env unset soon. Until then, dina apps info --app my-app shows you which variables are configured on the active deployment, and you can “unset” a variable by setting it to an empty value and redeploying.