Environment variables let you configure your application differently across environments without changing code. TurtleApps provides secure storage and management for all your env vars.

Understanding Environments

TurtleApps supports three environments:

Development — Used during AI development
Preview — Used in preview deployments
Production — Used in production deployments

Adding Variables

Navigate to Project Settings → Environment Variables.

Environment variables interface

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Variable Types

Plain Text — Visible to project admins
Secret — Encrypted, only shown once when created
Reference — References another variable

⚠️Secret Variables

Secret variables cannot be viewed after creation. If you need to update a secret, you must delete and recreate it.

Common Variables

.env.example

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db

# Authentication
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://your-domain.com

# External APIs
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# Feature Flags
ENABLE_ANALYTICS=true
DEBUG_MODE=false

Per-Environment Values

Variables can have different values per environment:

Variable	Development	Preview	Production
DATABASE_URL	dev-db	preview-db	prod-db
API_URL	localhost:3000	preview.app.com	api.app.com
DEBUG_MODE	true	true	false

Accessing Variables

Variables are available at build and runtime:

Example usage

// Server-side (Node.js)
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;

// Client-side (Next.js)
// Prefix with NEXT_PUBLIC_ for client exposure
const apiUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;

✨Client-Side Variables

Only variables prefixed with NEXT_PUBLIC_ (or your framework's equivalent) are exposed to the browser. Never put secrets in client-accessible variables.

Importing Variables

Bulk import from a .env file:

Click "Import" in the Environment Variables section
Paste your .env file contents or upload a file
Review and confirm the variables
Choose which environments to apply them to

Best Practices

Never commit .env files to Git
Use secrets for sensitive values
Document required variables in .env.example
Rotate secrets regularly
Use different values for each environment

Omgevingsvariabelen