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Node.js Config from the Environment: --env-file, process.env Is Always a String, Precedence and Missing Values

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Self-Hosting & Infra beginner 4 min read $0.01 Updated 2026-10-20

Executed on Node 22: --env-file parsing of quotes, comments and export, an error for a missing file, a real shell variable overriding the file, undefined for unset variables, Number fallback to 3000 and numbers coerced to strings on assignment.

Load .env files with the built-in --env-file flag, understand that process.env values are strings (even after assigning a number), see that shell variables win over file values, and fail fast on missing settings.

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#nodejs#environment-variables#configuration#dotenv#12-factor

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