.env.local is a powerful tool for managing environment-specific variables in your applications. By separating environment-specific variables from shared variables, you can simplify configuration management, improve flexibility, and reduce security risks. Whether you're working on a small project or a large enterprise application, .env.local is an essential tool to have in your toolkit. By following best practices and using .env.local effectively, you can take your application development to the next level.

Do not use spaces around the = sign. KEY = VALUE will often break the parser. Use KEY=VALUE . Summary

When you start your development server (e.g., npm run dev ):

# .env.local