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How to use .env files in Node.js with import syntax

Published Jan 11 2023

I assume you have a Node.js project set up to use ES modules, and you want to use a .env file to store a secret, like this:

PASSWORD=secret

And you want to have it available in your Node.js script.

Here’s how to do it.

Install the dotenv package:

npm i dotenv

Then use this code:

import * as dotenv from 'dotenv'
dotenv.config()
console.log(process.env.PASSWORD)

This assumes you use ES modules (if not, it’s as easy as adding "type": "module", in your package.json)