Environment variables are a fundamental aspect of developing in TypeScript and React, allowing you to manage configurations separate from your codebase. This ensures better security and flexibility.
Setting Up .env Files: In your project’s root directory, create a file
named .env. For specific environments like development or production, you
can use .env.development or .env.production.
Using the .env.template File: We provide a .env.template file that
serves as an example of the environment variables structure required by the
project. This template does not contain any real initialization data but
showcases the necessary variable names. It’s the only .env file that should
be publicly accessible in the repository.
Naming Conventions: All variables in a Create React App project should
begin with REACT_APP_. For example: Your API endpoint variable would look
like REACT_APP_API_ENDPOINT.
Accessing Environment Variables: Within your TypeScript React files, you
can access these variables using the process.env object. If your variable is
named REACT_APP_API_ENDPOINT, it can be accessed with
process.env.REACT_APP_API_ENDPOINT.
Type Safety: To ensure that your environment variables are recognized and correctly typed in TypeScript, add their definitions in a type declaration file.
Security Considerations: Never commit your .env files (with the
exception of .env.template), especially if they contain sensitive data. Add
.env to your .gitignore file to prevent them from being tracked by git.
Usage with Different Build Tools: If you’re using tools other than
Create React App, like Webpack, ensure that you’re using the appropriate
plugins or loaders to handle .env files.
Managing configurations through environment variables is crucial for a maintainable and secure application. Ensure that all team members understand and follow the practices mentioned above for consistency across your project.