.env.development -

While this article focuses on .env.development , a complete setup includes .env.test .

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| File Name | Purpose | Should You Commit It? | |-----------|---------|------------------------| | .env | Default/base configuration for all environments | ❌ No (or optionally with safe defaults) | | .env.development | Development-specific settings (API URLs, debug modes, mock services) | ✅ Yes (safe defaults) | | .env.production | Production-specific settings (live API endpoints, performance configs) | ✅ Yes (safe defaults) | | .env.test | Testing-specific settings (isolated databases, mock services) | ✅ Yes (safe defaults) | | .env.local | Local overrides for personal machine preferences | ❌ No (gitignored) | | .env.development.local | Local overrides specific to development mode | ❌ No (gitignored) | | .env.example | Template listing all required variables (no real values) | ✅ Yes (always) | .env.development

The you are using (Next.js, Vite, Laravel, etc.) A template .gitignore for your project How to inject these variables into a Docker container Share public link

: It tells your application to use "local" settings when you run it on your machine. While this article focuses on

ENVIRONMENT=development DEV_DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///db.sqlite3 SECRET_KEY=dev-key-not-for-production

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Machine-specific development overrides. This file is kept local to your computer and never committed to git.