Environment Variables

Environment variables are the standard way to pass configuration and secrets (database credentials, API keys, feature flags) to your app without hardcoding them.

Running a 1-Click App? Use instapods env set - it writes to the app’s own config file and restarts the app automatically. The .env-in-app-directory approach below is for custom-code pods (Static, PHP, Node.js, Python).

Setting Environment Variables

Option 1: The `instapods env` command (Recommended)

Set one or more variables straight from the CLI:

instapods env set my-app DATABASE_URL=postgres://instapod:secret@localhost:5432/instapod API_KEY=sk-your-api-key-here

List or remove them later (values are masked unless you pass --show-values):

instapods env list my-app
instapods env list my-app --show-values
instapods env unset my-app API_KEY

For custom-code pods this writes to your app’s .env file - run instapods pods reload afterward to restart. For 1-Click Apps it targets the app’s own config file and restarts the app for you.

Option 2: Create a `.env` File

The manual approach — create a .env file in your app directory via the CLI:

instapods exec my-app -- "cat > /home/instapod/app/.env << 'EOF'
DATABASE_URL=postgres://instapod:secret@localhost:5432/instapod
API_KEY=sk-your-api-key-here
NODE_ENV=production
EOF"

Then reload to pick up changes:

instapods pods reload my-app

Option 3: Set at Pod Creation (API)

Pass environment variables when creating a pod via the API:

curl -X POST https://app.instapods.com/api/pods \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-app",
    "preset": "nodejs",
    "customizations": {
      "env_vars": {
        "NODE_ENV": "production",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }'

Variables set this way are written to /etc/environment and automatically available to all processes.

How Each Preset Reads Environment Variables

Node.js

The systemd service sets NODE_ENV=production by default. Variables from /etc/environment are inherited automatically. For .env files, use the dotenv package:

// At the top of your entry point (index.js)
require('dotenv').config();

// Access variables
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

npm install dotenv

Python

Variables from /etc/environment are inherited by the systemd service automatically. For .env files, use python-dotenv:

# app.py
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()  # loads .env from current directory

db_url = os.environ.get('DATABASE_URL')
api_key = os.environ.get('API_KEY')

# requirements.txt
python-dotenv>=1.0
flask>=3.0

PHP

PHP-FPM provides access to system environment variables via getenv(). For .env files, parse them manually or use a library:

<?php
// Simple .env loading (no library needed)
$envFile = __DIR__ . '/../.env';
if (file_exists($envFile)) {
    foreach (file($envFile, FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES) as $line) {
        if ($line[0] === '#') continue;
        if (strpos($line, '=') !== false) putenv(trim($line));
    }
}

$dbPass = getenv('DB_PASS') ?: '';
$apiKey = getenv('API_KEY') ?: '';

For Laravel, the framework handles .env files automatically — just create the file and it works.

Static

Static sites don’t run server-side code. For JavaScript apps that need configuration, use a config.js file:

// config.js (served as a static file)
window.APP_CONFIG = {
  API_URL: 'https://api.example.com',
  ENV: 'production'
};

Common Pattern: Database Credentials

After installing a database service, get the credentials and set them as env vars:

# Install MySQL
instapods services add my-app -s mysql -w

# Get the auto-generated password
instapods services creds my-app -s mysql

# Create .env with the credentials
instapods exec my-app -- "cat > /home/instapod/app/.env << 'EOF'
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_NAME=instapod
DB_USER=instapod
DB_PASS=<password from creds command>
EOF"

# Reload to apply
instapods pods reload my-app

Updating Variables

To update environment variables after pod creation:

# Overwrite the .env file with new values
instapods exec my-app -- "cat > /home/instapod/app/.env << 'EOF'
DATABASE_URL=postgres://new-credentials@localhost/db
API_KEY=new-key
DEBUG=false
EOF"

# Restart the app to pick up changes
instapods pods reload my-app

The .env file is stored inside your pod. If you delete the pod, the file is lost. Keep a copy of your environment variables in a secure location.

Best Practices

Never commit secrets to git — always use .env files or environment variables
Use defaults in code — Always provide fallback values (process.env.PORT || 3000)
Reload after changes — Run instapods pods reload after updating .env to restart the app
Separate configs — Use different .env files for development vs production

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Environment Variables

Setting Environment Variables

Option 1: The `instapods env` command (Recommended)

Option 2: Create a `.env` File

Option 3: Set at Pod Creation (API)

How Each Preset Reads Environment Variables

Node.js

Python

PHP

Static

Common Pattern: Database Credentials

Updating Variables

Best Practices

​Setting Environment Variables

​Option 1: The instapods env command (Recommended)

​Option 2: Create a .env File

​Option 3: Set at Pod Creation (API)

​How Each Preset Reads Environment Variables

​Node.js

​Python

​PHP

​Static

​Common Pattern: Database Credentials

​Updating Variables

​Best Practices

Setting Environment Variables

Option 1: The `instapods env` command (Recommended)

Option 2: Create a `.env` File

Option 3: Set at Pod Creation (API)

How Each Preset Reads Environment Variables

Node.js

Python

PHP

Static

Common Pattern: Database Credentials

Updating Variables

Best Practices