how to read environment variables in javascript when extended with pocketbase

[nikhil-varma-mudunuri]

same as title

[ganigeorgiev]

The process module is loaded so you should be able to access env variables similar as in Node.js, aka. process.env.MY_VAR.

Alternatively, you can also use $os.getenv("MY_VAR").

[nikhil-varma-mudunuri]

how can i read data in .env file and use in code , this code process.env.MY_VAR is not working for .env file

[ganigeorgiev]

The .env file has no special meaning in PocketBase (and I think this is also the case for Node, at least for v20.4.0).

process.env.MY_VAR returns the OS MY_VAR env variable (if it is defined for your current user).

If you want to read "ENV variables" from an .env file you'll have to manually read it and parse its content on your own. I personally would avoid doing this and instead define the variables in a .json file and require it as a regular js module, for example:

// pb_hooks/config.json
{
    something: "test"
}

// pb_hooks/main.pb.js

// after application bootstrap, or any other hook...
onAfterBootstrap((e) => {
    const config = require(`${__hooks}/config.json`)

    console.log(config.something)
})

This also has the benefit that the config values could be numbers, arrays, objects, etc., not just plain strings.

[groenroos]

While a .json file would be easier out of the box, all my other stuff reads environment variables from .env, and I don't want to worry about storing/syncing variables in multiple places in the repo.

I wrote a little env.js like so, copying the gist of the parse() method in the dotenv npm package (since I couldn't figure out a way to load dotenv directly):

/* Definition of a line, copied from dotenv */
const LINE = /(?:^|^)\s*(?:export\s+)?([\w.-]+)(?:\s*=\s*?|:\s+?)(\s*'(?:\\'|[^'])*'|\s*"(?:\\"|[^"])*"|\s*`(?:\\`|[^`])*`|[^#\r\n]+)?\s*(?:#.*)?(?:$|$)/mg

/* Read env file */
const envFile = $os.readFile('.env');
const envStr = String.fromCharCode(...envFile).replace(/\r\n?/mg, '\n');

/* Go through each line */
let match;
while ((match = LINE.exec(envStr)) != null) {
	const key = match[1];
	let value = (match[2] || '').trim();

	/* Check if double quoted */
	const maybeQuote = value[0];

	/* Remove surrounding quotes */
	value = value.replace(/^(['"`])([\s\S]*)\1$/mg, '$2');

	/* Expand newlines if double quoted */
	if (maybeQuote === '"') {
		value = value.replace(/\\n/g, '\n');
		value = value.replace(/\\r/g, '\r');
	}

	process.env[key] = value;
}

Then, in each pb_hooks file where I need my environment variables, a simple require is enough to populate process.env:

require('./env.js');
console.log(process.env.SOME_VAR);

[ersinakinci]

I slightly modified @groenroos's script to first check for whether .env exists so that it fails gracefully:

/* Definition of a line, copied from dotenv */
const LINE =
  /(?:^|^)\s*(?:export\s+)?([\w.-]+)(?:\s*=\s*?|:\s+?)(\s*'(?:\\'|[^'])*'|\s*"(?:\\"|[^"])*"|\s*`(?:\\`|[^`])*`|[^#\r\n]+)?\s*(?:#.*)?(?:$|$)/gm;
let envFile, envStr;

/* Read env file */
try {
  envFile = $os.readFile(".env");
  envStr = String.fromCharCode(...envFile).replace(/\r\n?/gm, "\n");
} catch (e) {
  // No .env file, noop
}

if (envFile && envStr) {
  /* Go through each line */
  let match;
  while ((match = LINE.exec(envStr)) != null) {
    const key = match[1];
    let value = (match[2] || "").trim();

    /* Check if double quoted */
    const maybeQuote = value[0];

    /* Remove surrounding quotes */
    value = value.replace(/^(['"`])([\s\S]*)\1$/gm, "$2");

    /* Expand newlines if double quoted */
    if (maybeQuote === '"') {
      value = value.replace(/\\n/g, "\n");
      value = value.replace(/\\r/g, "\r");
    }

    process.env[key] = value;
  }
}

I saved it in pb_hooks/lib/env.js, and then I load it when the app starts:

// pb_hooks/main.pb.js

// Read the .env file and set the environment variables.
onAfterBootstrap((e) => {
  require(`${__hooks}/lib/env.js`);
});

[aymericdo]

It's working well on my machine, but when I try to send it in production through docker, the path is not working...

GoError: open .env: no such file or directory