.env.development

, your variables must often follow a specific prefix to be accessible in the browser: Create React App : Prefix with REACT_APP_ REACT_APP_API_URL : Prefix with VITE_API_URL Stack Overflow 3. Load the Variables Most modern frameworks automatically detect .env.development when you run commands like . For a standard Node.js project, you can use the dotenv package to load specific files manually: javascript // Load environment-specific file ).config({ path: process.env.NODE_ENV Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard 4. Implement the Feature in Code Access these variables via process.env to toggle features or change behavior dynamically. Stack Overflow Example Implementation: javascript apiUrl = process.env.REACT_APP_API_URL; // Feature toggle based on env variable (process.env.REACT_APP_ENABLE_BETA_UI === ) showBetaFeatures(); Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard 5. Best Practices

Before diving into the specific file, let's establish the foundation. An .env file (short for "environment") is a simple text file containing key-value pairs that define environment variables for your application. .env.development

# .env.development API_URL=http://localhost:4000/api DEBUG_MODE=true LOG_LEVEL=debug SECRET_KEY=dev-secret-do-not-use-in-prod , your variables must often follow a specific