Dotenv is a configuration management library designed to load environment variables from local files into the process environment. By separating application settings from source code, it enables developers to maintain consistent configurations across different deployment stages and team environments.
The utility provides mechanisms to transform plain text configuration files into encrypted formats, allowing sensitive secrets to be stored securely within version control systems. It handles the parsing and normalization of key-value pairs, ensuring that configuration data is consistently processed and injected into the runtime process memory.
The library supports the synchronization of environment variables across multiple machines, facilitating parity between local development and production settings. It respects existing system-level environment variables by preventing the overwriting of values already defined in the host environment.
