🌍 Environment Variables

Odac supports environment variables through .env files, making it easy to manage sensitive data and environment-specific settings.

Creating a .env File

Create a .env file in your website's root directory (same location as odac.json):

# .env

# Application
NODE_ENV=production
DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://myapp.com

# Database
MYSQL_HOST=localhost
MYSQL_USER=root
MYSQL_PASSWORD=super_secret_123
MYSQL_DATABASE=myapp

# API Keys
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_xxxxx
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_xxxxx
API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Mail
MAIL_FROM=noreply@myapp.com
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=user@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSWORD=app_password

# Features
FEATURE_BETA=true
MAINTENANCE_MODE=false

Using in odac.json

Reference environment variables using ${VARIABLE_NAME} syntax:

{
  "mysql": {
    "host": "${MYSQL_HOST}",
    "user": "${MYSQL_USER}",
    "password": "${MYSQL_PASSWORD}",
    "database": "${MYSQL_DATABASE}"
  },
  "api": {
    "stripe": {
      "key": "${STRIPE_SECRET_KEY}",
      "webhook": "${STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET}"
    }
  },
  "mail": {
    "from": "${MAIL_FROM}"
  }
}

Accessing in Controllers

You can access environment variables in your controllers in three ways:

1. Using Odac.env() (Recommended)

module.exports = function() {
  const apiKey = Odac.env('API_KEY')
  const debug = Odac.env('DEBUG', 'false')
  const port = Odac.env('PORT', '3000')
  
  if (debug === 'true') {
    console.log('Debug mode enabled')
  }
}

The second parameter is the default value if the variable is not set.

2. Using process.env

module.exports = function() {
  const nodeEnv = process.env.NODE_ENV
  const debug = process.env.DEBUG === 'true'
  const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY
}

3. From Odac.Config (if defined in odac.json)

module.exports = function() {
  const dbHost = Odac.Config.mysql.host
  const apiKey = Odac.Config.api.stripe.key
}

Practical Examples

Feature Flags

// controller/home.js
module.exports = function() {
  const betaEnabled = Odac.env('FEATURE_BETA', 'false') === 'true'
  const maintenance = Odac.env('MAINTENANCE_MODE', 'false') === 'true'
  
  if (maintenance) {
    return Odac.abort(503)
  }
  
  Odac.set('betaEnabled', betaEnabled)
  return Odac.View.render('home')
}

API Integration

// controller/payment.js
module.exports = async function() {
  const stripeKey = Odac.env('STRIPE_SECRET_KEY')
  const webhookSecret = Odac.env('STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET')
  
  const stripe = require('stripe')(stripeKey)
  
  // Process payment...
}

Mail Configuration

// controller/contact.js
module.exports = async function() {
  const mail = Odac.Mail()
  
  mail.from(Odac.env('MAIL_FROM', 'noreply@example.com'))
  mail.to(Odac.request('email'))
  mail.subject('Thank you for contacting us')
  mail.html('<h1>We received your message!</h1>')
  
  await mail.send()
  
  return Odac.return({ success: true })
}

Security Best Practices

1. Add .env to .gitignore

The .env file should never be committed to version control:

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

2. Create .env.example

Provide a template for other developers:

# .env.example

# Database
MYSQL_HOST=localhost
MYSQL_USER=root
MYSQL_PASSWORD=your_password_here
MYSQL_DATABASE=myapp

# API Keys
API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Commit .env.example to git, but not .env.

3. Different Environments

Use different .env files for different environments:

Development (.env):

NODE_ENV=development
DEBUG=true
MYSQL_HOST=localhost
MYSQL_PASSWORD=dev123

Production (.env):

NODE_ENV=production
DEBUG=false
MYSQL_HOST=production.db.com
MYSQL_PASSWORD=super_secure_production_password

Comments and Formatting

The .env file supports:

• Comments: Lines starting with #
• Quotes: Values can be wrapped in single or double quotes
• Spaces: Spaces around = are trimmed

# This is a comment
API_KEY=simple_value
DB_PASSWORD="password with spaces"
MAIL_FROM='noreply@example.com'

Important Notes

• Environment variables are loaded when the application starts
• Changes to .env require restarting the application
• The .env file is optional - you can use direct values in odac.json if preferred
• Variables defined in .env are available throughout your entire application
• If a variable is not found, Odac.env() returns the default value or undefined