Environment Variables Workflow

On "env" or "credentials"

Step 1: Determine Action

question: "What do you need?"
options:
  - { label: "Check current", description: "See what's configured" }
  - { label: "Add new", description: "Add a new environment variable" }
  - { label: "Debug missing", description: "Something isn't working" }
  - { label: "Setup .env.local", description: "Create project env file" }

Step 2: Actions

Check current (Windows):

# List relevant env vars
[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("SUPABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN", "User")
[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID", "User")
# etc.

Check current (Mac/Linux):

echo $SUPABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN
echo $GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
# etc.

Add new:

1. Ask for variable name
2. Ask for value
3. Store in system env vars:
   - Windows: setx NAME "value"
   - Mac/Linux: Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
4. Report success

Debug missing:

1. Run npm run build to surface errors
2. Check which env vars are referenced
3. Compare against what's set
4. Report missing vars

Setup .env.local:

1. Check project for env var usage
2. Generate .env.local with required vars
3. Pull values from system env vars where available
4. Mark missing vars for user to fill

Security Rules

Avoid:

• Hardcode API keys in code
• Commit .env files to git
• Log secret values
• Store secrets in .env.example

Do:

• Use process.env.VAR_NAME
• Store secrets in system env vars
• Use .env.local for project-specific values
• Add .env* to .gitignore

Common Variables

.env.local Template

# Project-specific (fill these in)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://[ref].supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJ...

# These are read from system env vars automatically:
# - GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
# - GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET
# - SUPABASE_ACCESS_TOKEN

# Project-specific overrides (optional)
YOUTUBE_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:3000/api/auth/youtube/callback

Troubleshooting

"Environment variable not found":

1. Check if set: echo $VAR_NAME or $env:VAR_NAME
2. Restart terminal after setting
3. For Next.js, restart dev server

"Invalid API key":

1. Verify the key is correct (no extra spaces)
2. Check key hasn't expired
3. Verify key has required permissions

".env.local not loading":

1. File must be in project root
2. Restart dev server after changes
3. Check file encoding (should be UTF-8)