Why commit a .env.example instead of .env?

The real .env holds secrets and must stay out of version control. The .env.example lists every required key with safe placeholder values so a new developer knows what to fill in without ever exposing live credentials.

How are descriptions rendered?

Each description becomes a comment line starting with a hash above its variable. dotenv and most loaders ignore comment lines, so they document the file without affecting parsing.

Should example values contain real secrets?

No. Use obvious placeholders like your-api-key-here or a fake example. The point of the file is documentation, so never paste a working token into a committed example file.

Does dotenv need quotes around values?

Quotes are only required when a value contains spaces or special characters. The builder leaves simple values unquoted and wraps values that contain a space in double quotes so the file parses correctly.

Can I group variables into sections?

Yes. Enabling section headers inserts a commented banner you can rename, which is handy for separating database, auth, and third-party API keys in a large project.

.env.example Template Builder

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A .env.example file is the contract between your codebase and anyone setting it up. This builder turns a list of variables, descriptions, and sample values into a tidy, commented template that documents exactly what each key is for.

How it works

Each environment variable becomes a KEY=value line. When you supply a description it is emitted as a comment immediately above the key, prefixed with #, which dotenv and every compatible loader ignore at parse time:

# Postgres connection string used by Prisma
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/app

# Secret used to sign session JWTs (32+ chars)
JWT_SECRET=replace-with-a-long-random-string

Values containing a space are wrapped in double quotes so they parse as a single value; simple values stay unquoted for readability. Variable names are optionally upper-cased and stripped of invalid characters, matching the conventional SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE style.

Tips and notes

Never put a working secret in the example file — use clear placeholders such as your-api-key-here. Commit .env.example and add .env to your .gitignore. On a new machine, developers run cp .env.example .env and fill in the blanks. Grouping keys under section banners (Database, Auth, Third-party APIs) keeps a large file scannable.