Manage Environment Variables

In this guide, you'll learn how to manage environment variables of long-lived and preview environments in Cloud.

Environment variables are key-value pairs of sensitive information, such as API keys and credentials. Instead of hardcoding these variables in your codebase, you should store them as environment variables.

You can manage an environment's variables in its "Settings" tab. You can manage environment variables for the environment's Medusa backend and storefront (if applicable).

Restricted Environment Variable Names#

The following environment variable names are reserved by Cloud and you can't use them in your environment:

• NODE_ENV
• EXECUTION_CONTEXT
• DATABASE_URL
• REDIS_URL
• MEDUSA_WORKER_MODE
• PORT
• K_SERVICE
• K_CONFIGURATION
• K_REVISION
• K_CONTAINER_NAME
• K_INTERNAL_POD_NAME
• K_INTERNAL_POD_NAMESPACE
• K_LOCAL_ADDR
• K_PROTOCOL
• SESSION_STORE
• DYNAMO_DB_SESSIONS_TABLE
• DYNAMO_DB_SESSIONS_HASH_KEY
• DYNAMO_DB_SESSIONS_PREFIX
• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
• AWS_REGION
• MEDUSA_CLOUD_API_KEY
• MEDUSA_CLOUD_ENVIRONMENT_HANDLE
• MEDUSA_CLOUD_EMAILS_ENDPOINT

Add Environment Variables on Cloud#

To add environment variables to an environment:

1. In the environment's dashboard, click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Choose the "Environment Variables" tab from the sidebar.
3. If you deployed both the Medusa backend and storefront in the environment, use the toggle at the top to switch between managing the backend and storefront environment variables.
4. In the "Add new environment variables" section, you can add environment variables either for the backend or storefront. There are different ways you can add environment variables:
   • Manually:
     • Enter the key and value of the environment variable in the respective fields.
     • Click the "Add another" button to add another variable.
   • Paste .env format:
     • If you copied environment variables in a .env file format, you can paste them directly into the "Key" field. The environment variables will be pre-filled for you.
   • Import .env file:
     • If you have a .env file that defines your environment variables, click the "Import .env" button to upload the file. The environment variables will be automatically extracted and added to the list.
5. Once you're done, click the "Save" button to save the environment variables.

Edit Environment Variables on Cloud#

To edit an environment variable:

1. In the environment's dashboard, click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Choose the "Environment Variables" tab from the sidebar.
3. If you deployed both the Medusa backend and storefront in the environment, use the toggle at the top to switch between managing the backend and storefront environment variables.
4. In the "Environment variables" section, find the variable you want to edit.
5. Click the icon at the variable's right side.
6. Choose "Edit" from the dropdown menu.

7. In the side window that opens, you can edit the variable's key, value, and whether it's sensitive.
8. Once you're done, click the "Save" button.

Delete Environment Variables on Cloud#

To delete an environment variable:

1. In the environment's dashboard, click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Choose the "Environment Variables" tab from the sidebar.
3. If you deployed both the Medusa backend and storefront in the environment, use the toggle at the top to switch between managing the backend and storefront environment variables.
4. In the "Environment variables" section, find the variable you want to delete.
5. Click the icon at the variable's right side.
6. Choose "Delete" from the dropdown menu.

Export Environment Variables on Cloud#

You can export an environment's variables as a .env file. This is useful for debugging issues that require you to have the same environment variables.

To export an environment's variables:

1. In the environment's dashboard, click on the "Settings" tab.
2. Choose the "Environment Variables" tab from the sidebar.
3. If you deployed both the Medusa backend and storefront in the environment, use the toggle at the top to switch between managing the backend and storefront environment variables.
4. In the "Environment variables" section, click on the "Export .env" button at the top right of the section.

A file download will start with the name env.txt, which contains the environment variables in .env format.

You can rename the file to .env and use it in your local development.