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Getting started with environment variables and .env

This starter should help build routines that keep secrets and configurations out of your code.

What not to do

  • Hardcoding secrets into code
  • Committing .env or secrets to GitHub (see .gitignore and ensure .env is in there)
  • Hardcoding configuration into code

Environment Variables overview

Access environment variables through terminal

  • This will only remain for the life of your terminal session (runtime)
# Set an environment variable for this shell session
export API_KEY="123456"

# Read it back (note the $ is required)
echo $API_KEY

✅ Tip: export makes the variable available to child processes (like Python started from this shell). Without export, it remains a shell variable and won’t be inherited.

Open Python

python #or python3

Then ...

import os
api_key = os.getenv("API_KEY")

# now set via python
os.environ["API_KEY"]="abcde"
print (os.getenv("API_KEY"))

# exit python ctrl-Z or
exit()

Now check in the shell

echo $API_KEY
# -> still 123456 (unchanged)

✅ Key concept: Changes to os.environ are local to the Python process and do not propagate back to the parent shell.

Working with .env files

  • local development with .env
  • file structure -- include .env.example so configuration is transparent

Example .env

OBJ_STORE_URL=""
API_KEY=""
DB_USER=""
DB_PASSWORD=""

Hello dotenv

from dotenv import load

Some additional topics to learn about

  1. .env.local -- local developement
  2. .env.test -- automated test with isolated values
  3. .env -- legacy or general configuration

Where secrets should reside

  • GitHub
  • OpenShift