API

dotenv.load(options?)

Loads .env and optionally .env.{env}. Populates process.env.

1 await dotenv.load();
2 await dotenv.load({ env: 'stage' });

Option	Type	Description
`env`	`string`	Environment name for `.env.{env}` – fallback: `process.env.NODE_ENV`
`override`	`boolean`	Overrides existing `process.env` values (default: `false`)

Returns the value of a variable.

1 dotenv.get('PORT')           // '3000' | null
2 dotenv.get('PORT', '8080')   // '3000' or '8080' as fallback
3 dotenv.get('MISSING', '42')  // '42'

Checks whether a variable is set.

1 dotenv.has('PORT')     // → true
2 dotenv.has('MISSING')  // → false

Returns a snapshot of process.env (copy, not a reference).

1 dotenv.getAll();
2 // → { PORT: '3000', NODE_ENV: 'stage', ... }

Returns the value or throws an error if the variable is missing.

1 dotenv.require('TURN_SECRET')   // → 'abc123' or Error

Useful for critical variables that must be present at startup.

Sets a fallback value if the variable is not set.

1 dotenv.optional('LOG_LEVEL', 'info');

true after the first successful load() call.

1 dotenv.loaded  // → true | false

Array of the most recently loaded file paths.

1 dotenv.files  // → ['.env', '.env.stage']

Emitted after load().

1 // Payload:
2 {
3     env:      'stage',
4     files:    ['.env', '.env.stage'],
5     override: false
6 }

1	dotenv.get('PORT') // '3000' \| null
2	dotenv.get('PORT', '8080') // '3000' or '8080' as fallback
3	dotenv.get('MISSING', '42') // '42'

1	dotenv.has('PORT') // → true
2	dotenv.has('MISSING') // → false

1	dotenv.getAll();
2	// → { PORT: '3000', NODE_ENV: 'stage', ... }