.env Format

Syntax

1 # Comments are ignored
2 PORT=3000
3 CHAT_URL=https://chat.xpulse.one
4  
5 # Quotes are stripped
6 APP_NAME="xPulse Web"
7 APP_NAME='xPulse Web'
8  
9 # Empty lines are ignored
10  
11 # Values with spaces need quotes
12 GREETING="Hello World"
13  
14 # Equals signs in values are allowed
15 SECRET=abc=123=xyz

Rules

Existing process.env values are not overridden – system env takes precedence
Comments (#) and empty lines are ignored
Quotes (" and ') are stripped from values
No interpolation – ${VAR} in .env is not resolved (that is handled by @xpulse/config)
Equals signs in values are allowed (only the first = separates key and value)

Multiple Files

1 .env            ← base, always loaded
2 .env.stage      ← overrides .env values for stage
3 .env.production ← overrides .env values for production

Values in .env.{env} take precedence over .env. Missing files are silently ignored.

Example

1 # .env
2 PORT=3000
3 LOG_LEVEL=info
4 APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

1 # .env.stage
2 APP_URL=https://rc-2-0-0.stage.xpulse.one
3 LOG_LEVEL=debug

Result after dotenv.load({ env: 'stage' }):

1 PORT=3000                                    ← from .env
2 LOG_LEVEL=debug                              ← from .env.stage (overridden)
3 APP_URL=https://rc-2-0-0.stage.xpulse.one   ← from .env.stage (overridden)

1	# Comments are ignored
2	PORT=3000
3	CHAT_URL=https://chat.xpulse.one
4
5	# Quotes are stripped
6	APP_NAME="xPulse Web"
7	APP_NAME='xPulse Web'
8
9	# Empty lines are ignored
10
11	# Values with spaces need quotes
12	GREETING="Hello World"
13
14	# Equals signs in values are allowed
15	SECRET=abc=123=xyz

1	.env ← base, always loaded
2	.env.stage ← overrides .env values for stage
3	.env.production ← overrides .env values for production

1	# .env
2	PORT=3000
3	LOG_LEVEL=info
4	APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

1	# .env.stage
2	APP_URL=https://rc-2-0-0.stage.xpulse.one
3	LOG_LEVEL=debug

1	PORT=3000 ← from .env
2	LOG_LEVEL=debug ← from .env.stage (overridden)
3	APP_URL=https://rc-2-0-0.stage.xpulse.one ← from .env.stage (overridden)