Load variables from .env file into current environment

2022-12-18 #bash

Load an .env file into the environment prior to running something which requires the environment variables:

Contents of the .env file
MY_SUPER_SECRET_TOKEN="foo"
set -a
source .env
set +a

You can now use the variables from the .env file in scripts:

$ echo $MY_SUPER_SECRET_TOKEN
foo

Load .env file from .bashrc, .zshrc, etc.

If you keep your configuration, like I do, in a public dotfiles repository, you might want to keep your .env file secret, and make sure it is added to your .gitignore file. Then you can have it loaded from your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

.bashrc
if [ -f $HOME/.env ];
then
    set -a
    source $HOME/.env
    set +a
else
    echo "Warning: $HOME/.env does not exist"
fi