Environment variables

Reference for environment variable behavior and availability in Ona environments.

Environment variable secrets are injected as standard environment variables when your environment starts. The secret name becomes the variable name.

Behavior

Aspect	Detail
Injection timing	At environment start
Naming	Secret name becomes the variable name
Update propagation	New environments get updated values immediately. Running environments require a restart.

Access

# Shell
echo $APP_ENV

# Node.js
process.env.APP_ENV

# Python
os.environ['APP_ENV']

Security considerations

For sensitive credentials like passwords and private keys, file secrets are more secure. Environment variables are suitable for API keys and non-sensitive configuration values.

Related

• Create environment variable secrets — step-by-step setup
• File secrets — more secure alternative
• User secrets — personal scope
• Project secrets — project scope
• Organization secrets — org-wide scope