How to use .env variables in Nuxt 2 or 3?

Question

I have .env file in the project root, and in my nuxt config I am using variables to configure ReCaptcha like this:

import dotenv from 'dotenv'
dotenv.config()

export default {
    modules: [
        ['@nuxtjs/recaptcha', {
          siteKey: process.env.RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY,
          version: 3,
          size: 'compact'
        }],
    ]
}

and in .env like this:

RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY=6L....

but the application always failed with console log error:

ReCaptcha error: No key provided

When I hard-code ReCaptcha key directly like that: siteKey: 6L.... app start working, so I guess the problem is with reading .env props in nuxt.config

do you have any idea how to fix it?

EDIT: I tried update my nuxt.config by @kissu recommendation and by example which I found here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@nuxtjs/recaptcha

so there is new nuxt.config which also not working:

export default {
    modules: [
       '@nuxtjs/recaptcha',
    ],
    publicRuntimeConfig: {
       recaptcha: {
         siteKey: process.env.RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY,
         version: 3,
         size: 'compact'
       }
  }
}

Solution 1

If your Nuxt version is 2.13 or above, you don't need to use @nuxtjs/dotenv or anything alike because it is already backed into the framework.

To use some variables, you need to have an .env file at the root of your project. This one should be ignored by git. You can then input some keys there like

PUBLIC_VARIABLE="https://my-cool-website.com"
PRIVATE_TOKEN="1234qwer"

In your nuxt.config.js, you have to input those into 2 objects, depending of your use case, either publicRuntimeConfig or privateRuntimeConfig:

export default {
  publicRuntimeConfig: {
    myPublicVariable: process.env.PUBLIC_VARIABLE,
  },
  privateRuntimeConfig: {
    myPrivateToken: process.env.PRIVATE_TOKEN
  }
}

Differences: publicRuntimeConfig can basically be used anywhere, while privateRuntimeConfig can only be used during SSR (a key can only stay private if not shipped to the browser).

A popular use case for the privateRuntimeConfig is to use it for nuxtServerInit or during the build process (either yarn build or yarn generate) to populate the app with headless CMS' API calls.

More info can be found on this blog post: https://nuxtjs.org/blog/moving-from-nuxtjs-dotenv-to-runtime-config/

---

• Then, you will be able to access it into any .vue file directly with

this.$config.myPublicVariable

• You access it into Nuxt's /plugins too, with this syntax

export default ({ $axios, $config: { myPublicVariable } }) => {
  $axios.defaults.baseURL = myPublicVariable
}

• If you need this variable for a Nuxt module or in any key in your nuxt.config.js file, write it directly with

process.env.PRIVATE_TOKEN

Sometimes, the syntax may differ a bit, in this case refer to your Nuxt module documentation.

// for @nuxtjs/gtm
publicRuntimeConfig: {
  gtm: {
    id: process.env.GOOGLE_TAG_MANAGER_ID
  }
},

---

PS: if you do use target: server (default value), you can yarn build and yarn start to deploy your app to production. Then, change any environment variables that you'd like and yarn start again. There will be no need for a rebuild. Hence the name RuntimeConfig!

Nuxt3 update

As mentioned here, you can use the following for Nuxt3

nuxt.config.js

import { defineNuxtConfig } from 'nuxt3'

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  publicRuntimeConfig: {
    secret: process.env.SECRET,
  }
}

In any component

<script setup lang="ts">
  const config = useRuntimeConfig()
  config.secret
</script>

Solution 2

It's very easy. Providing you an example with axios/nuxt

1. Define your variable in the .env file:

   baseUrl=http://localhost:1337

2. Add the variable in the nuxt.config.js in an env-object (and use it in the axios config):

   export default {env: {baseUrl: process.env.baseUrl},axios: {baseURL: process.env.baseUrl},}

3. Use the env variable in any file like so:

   console.log(process.env.baseUrl)

Note that console.log(process.env) will output {} but console.log(process.env.baseUrl) will still output your value!

Comments

[Boussadjra Brahim]

what's the nuxt version?

[Denis Stephanov]

@BoussadjraBrahim 2.14

[Boussadjra Brahim]

in this version you don't need dotenv module

[Denis Stephanov]

@BoussadjraBrahim I tried remove it but stilll didn't work

[Kunukn]

Have you tried using this instead? process.env.NUXT_ENV_RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY nuxtjs.org/docs/2.x/configuration-glossary/…

[kissu]

So, did you solved your issue?

[Denis Stephanov]

@kissu unfortunately no :/

[Denis Stephanov]

Thank you for answer, I tried edit by your recommendation and I still have same error. I also update my question.

[kissu]

Do you have a populated .env in your project?

[kissu]

Do you have a Github repo? Do you have a valid key in .env, no typo? How do you try this?

[Denis Stephanov]

Yes I checked site key and secret many times, there are correct, because when I write it in nuxt.config directly instead of using env variable everything works fine, so problem must be with reading env in nuxt config

[kissu]

Show us some screenshots I guess.

[Denis Stephanov]

what screenshot you mean?

[kissu]

Your setup is fine from what you tell. So, I don't know how but try to show us that this is 100% accurate because I'm sure that it works with the setup that I gave.

[Denis Stephanov]

I tried this solution, but stull I got same error :/

[kissu]

Please provide more debugging info or a minimal reproducible example.

[kissu]

You should not use process.env.baseUrl but myPublicVariable as explained in my answer.

[PirateApp]

what if your env file is not at the root, in my case i have 4 env files .env.dev env.test .env.prod etc and want to load the right one depending on my build

[kissu]

@PirateApp this is how you could achieve this: stackoverflow.com/a/68338032/8816585

[Bagaskara]

the problem is, when you change env at the runtime, then the config which loaded in nuxt.config.js by using process.env.xxx will not be changed. because it has been packed at the build time.