Environment Variables

Overview

Environment variables allow you to configure your application without hardcoding sensitive data. Used by PostgreSQL and Redis for connection strings.

Setting Variables

In the web dashboard:

1. Navigate to your service
2. Click "Environment Variables" tab
3. Click "Add Variable"
4. Enter key and value (e.g., API_KEY = your-secret-key)
5. Click "Save"
6. Redeploy for changes to take effect

Viewing Variables

In the dashboard:

1. Go to "Environment Variables" tab
2. All variables are listed (values are hidden by default)
3. Click the eye icon to reveal values
4. Use the search box to filter variables

Best Practices

• Never commit secrets to Git
• Use different values per environment
• Rotate secrets regularly
• Use strong encryption

Built-in Variables

Chita Cloud provides these automatically:

• PORT - Application port
• NODE_ENV - Environment name
• CHITA_REGION - Deployment region
• CHITA_APP_ID - Application ID

See deployment overview for usage in different runtimes.

Next Steps

• PostgreSQL connection setup
• Redis cache configuration
• Security best practices
• Deploy from GitHub