6.1. Environment Variables

In this chapter, you'll learn how environment variables are loaded in Medusa.

System Environment Variables#

The Medusa application loads and uses system environment variables.

For example, if you set the PORT environment variable to 8000, the Medusa application runs on that port instead of 9000.

In production, you should always use system environment variables that you set through your hosting provider.

Environment Variables in .env Files#

During development, it's easier to set environment variables in a .env file in your repository.

Based on your NODE_ENV system environment variable, Medusa will try to load environment variables from the following .env files:

Tip: As of Medusa v2.5.0, NODE_ENV defaults to production when using medusa start. Otherwise, it defaults to development.

Environment	`.env` File
`NODE_ENV` = `development` or not set	`.env`
`NODE_ENV` = `production`	`.env.production`
`NODE_ENV` = `staging`	`.env.staging`
`NODE_ENV` = `test`	`.env.test`

Set Environment in `loadEnv`#

In the medusa-config.ts file of your Medusa application, you'll find a loadEnv function used that accepts process.env.NODE_ENV as a first parameter.

This function is responsible for loading the correct .env file based on the value of process.env.NODE_ENV.

To ensure that the correct .env file is loaded as shown in the table above, only specify development, production, staging or test as the value of process.env.NODE_ENV or as the parameter of loadEnv.

Environment Variables for Admin Customizations#

Since the Medusa Admin is built on top of Vite, you prefix the environment variables you want to use in a widget or UI route with VITE_. Then, you can access or use them with the import.meta.env object.

Learn more in the Admin Environment Variables chapter.

Predefined Medusa Environment Variables#

The Medusa application uses the following predefined environment variables that you can set:

Tip: You should opt for setting configurations in medusa-config.ts where possible. For a full list of Medusa configurations, refer to the Medusa Configurations chapter.

Environment Variable	Description	Default
`HOST`	The host to run the Medusa application on.	`localhost`
`PORT`	The port to run the Medusa application on.	`9000`
`DATABASE_URL`	The URL to connect to the PostgreSQL database. Only used if projectConfig.databaseUrl isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	`postgres://localhost/medusa-starter-default`
`STORE_CORS`	URLs of storefronts that can access the Medusa backend's Store APIs. Only used if projectConfig.http.storeCors isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	`http://localhost:8000`
`ADMIN_CORS`	URLs of admin dashboards that can access the Medusa backend's Admin APIs. Only used if projectConfig.http.adminCors isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	`http://localhost:7000,http://localhost:7001,http://localhost:5173`
`AUTH_CORS`	URLs of clients that can access the Medusa backend's authentication routes. Only used if projectConfig.http.authCors isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	`http://localhost:7000,http://localhost:7001,http://localhost:5173`
`JWT_SECRET`	A random string used to create authentication tokens in the http layer. Only used if projectConfig.http.jwtSecret isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	-
`COOKIE_SECRET`	A random string used to create cookie tokens in the http layer. Only used if projectConfig.http.cookieSecret isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	-
`MEDUSA_BACKEND_URL`	The URL to the Medusa backend. Only used if admin.backendUrl isn't set in `medusa-config.ts`.	-
`DB_HOST`	The host for the database. It's used when generating migrations for a plugin, and when running integration tests.	`localhost`
`DB_USERNAME`	The username for the database. It's used when generating migrations for a plugin, and when running integration tests.	-
`DB_PASSWORD`	The password for the database user. It's used when generating migrations for a plugin, and when running integration tests.	-
`DB_TEMP_NAME`	The database name to create for integration tests.	-
`LOG_LEVEL`	The allowed levels to log. Learn more in the Logging chapter.	`silly`
`LOG_FILE`	The file to save logs in. By default, logs aren't saved in any file. Learn more in the Logging chapter.	-
`MEDUSA_DISABLE_TELEMETRY`	Whether to disable analytics data collection. Learn more in the Usage chapter.	-