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Environment variable secrets are injected as standard environment variables when your environment starts. The secret name becomes the variable name. 
echo $APP_ENV

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When to use environment variables

Use environment variables for non-sensitive configuration:
  • Application modes - APP_ENV=development, DEBUG=true
  • Feature flags - ENABLE_NEW_UI=true
  • Endpoints - API_BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
Security tradeoff: Environment variables can leak through process listings (ps auxe), logs, and crash dumps. File secrets are more secure - they’re not visible in process listings and won’t appear in logs.However, many tools (including MCP servers) expect credentials as environment variables. For API keys that can be rotated, this tradeoff is often acceptable. For passwords and private keys, prefer file secrets.

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Create an environment variable secret

  1. Navigate to Project → Secrets or Settings → Secrets
  2. Click New Secret, then choose Environment variable from the Secret type dropdown
  3. Configure:
    • Name: Variable name (e.g., LINEAR_API_KEY)
    • Secret: The secret value (max 10KB)
New secret dialog with Environment Variable type selected showing name and value fields

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Access the variable

Available immediately in your environment: 
# In shell
echo $APP_ENV

# In Node.js
process.env.APP_ENV

# In Python
os.environ['APP_ENV']

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Update a secret

  1. Navigate to Project → Secrets or Settings → Secrets
  2. Click Edit, update the value, click Update
Edit secret dialog showing the value field ready to be updated Updated values are automatically propagated to running environments (within 2 minutes). Running processes won’t see the new value until the environment is restarted or the Dev Container is rebuilt.