Environment Files

Environment files (or .env files) are the standard way to manage environment-specific configuration in Restflow. They allow you to keep your .flow files clean and portable across different environments like development, staging, and production.

File Format

An .env file is a simple text file with KEY=VALUE pairs.

# This is a comment
BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
API_KEY=your-secret-api-key
TEST_USER_EMAIL=test@example.com

• Comments start with #.
• Keys are typically uppercase, but this is not required.
• Values are everything after the =. Do not use quotes unless they are part of the value.

Naming Conventions

While you can name your environment files anything, a common convention is to use .env.<environment_name>.

• .env.development
• .env.staging
• .env.production
• .env.local (for local overrides)

Loading an Environment File

Use the --env or -e flag when running Restflow to specify which environment file to load.

# Run tests against the staging environment
restflow run tests/ --env .env.staging

# Run tests against the production environment
restflow run tests/ --env .env.production

If you don't specify an --env flag, Restflow will automatically look for a file named .env in the current directory.

Best Practices

1. Never commit secrets: Add your .env files with sensitive information (like API keys and passwords) to your .gitignore file.
2. Create a template file: Create an example file like .env.example with all the required keys but with placeholder values. Commit this file to your repository so other developers know what variables are needed.
3. Use BASE_URL: Define a BASE_URL in your environment files and use relative paths in your flows. This makes your tests highly portable.
4. Keep it flat for now: While Restflow supports advanced features like variable chaining in .env files, it's best to start with a simple, flat list of key-value pairs.