Environment Management

Real-world API testing requires running the same tests against different environments, such as development, staging, and production. Restflow makes this easy with its support for .env files.

What is an .env file?

An .env file is a simple text file that contains key-value pairs for your environment-specific variables.

Here is an example .env file:

# .env.staging
BASE_URL=https://staging.api.example.com
API_KEY=staging-secret-key
TEST_USER=staging_user

Using Environment Variables

You can use the variables from your .env file in your flows using the {{variable_name}} syntax.

### Get data from a protected endpoint
GET {{BASE_URL}}/data
Api-Key: {{API_KEY}}

> assert status == 200

Running with an Environment

To run your flows with a specific environment file, use the --env flag on the command line:

restflow run my-flow.flow --env .env.staging

When you run this command, Restflow will load the variables from .env.staging and make them available in your flow.

This allows you to keep your .flow files clean and free of environment-specific details. You can have multiple .env files for your different environments:

• .env.dev
• .env.staging
• .env.prod

And switch between them easily using the --env flag. This is a powerful feature for creating portable and maintainable API tests.