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ENV

Environment Variable Loader​

Lightweight Module for loading environment variables from a .env file. This module supports parsing key-value pairs, handles quoted values, and transforms escaped characters. Designed to be imported and used at the very beginning of your application before any other code accesses environment variables.

This module provides a simple loader function to populate process.env from a local .env file. It's a standalone implementation with no external dependencies, using only built-in Node.js modules.

Environment Loader​

Loads environment variables from a .env file into process.env.

Parameters:​

  • customPath (String, Optional) - Custom path to the .env file. Default: .env in the current working directory.

Returns:​

void - Doesn't return any value, but populates process.env with variables from the .env file.

Key Features:​

  • Supports comments (lines starting with #)
  • Handles quoted values (both single and double quotes)
  • Processes common escape sequences (\n, \r, \t, etc.)
  • Silently skips invalid lines

Usage Example:​

// Import the module
const { env } = require("@nexoracle/utils"); // CJS
import { env } from "@nexoracle/utils"; // ESM

// Load environment variables at the top of your entry file
env.load();

// Now you can access environment variables
console.log(process.env.API_KEY);
console.log(process.env.DATABASE_URL);

// You can also specify a custom path
env.load('./config/.env.production');

Sample .env File:​

# API Configuration
API_KEY=your-secret-key
API_URL=https://api.example.com

# Database Configuration
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_USER=admin
DB_PASS="complex@password"

# Multi-line value example
PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
MIIEpAIBAAKCAQEA1c4CyR...
...
-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----"

# Escaped characters
MESSAGE="Hello\nWorld"

Important Notes:​

  • Always load environment variables before importing any modules that might use them
  • The .env file should not be committed to version control
  • For security-sensitive applications, consider using a more robust solution with encryption support