Manage environment variables from the CLI

List, set, remove or replace the environment variables of a Square Cloud application with squarecloud app env, including loading them from a .env file.

squarecloud app env manages the environment variables of an application. How your application reads them is covered in Environment variables.

list takes the app ID as its argument. set, remove and replace use their arguments for variables, so they take the ID with --app. Both are optional: see how the CLI finds your app.

squarecloud app env list

Usage

squarecloud app env list [appID] [--json]

Prints each variable as KEY=value, sorted by name.

squarecloud app env list <appID> --json
# Prints the variables as a JSON object.

squarecloud app env set

Usage

squarecloud app env set KEY=VALUE... [--from-file <path>] [--app <appID>]

Flag	Description
--from-file <path>	Reads variables from a .env style file. KEY=VALUE arguments override the same keys from the file.
--app <appID>	The application to change.

Sets one or more variables and leaves the others as they are.

squarecloud app env set NODE_ENV=production PORT=80
# Sets two variables on the app in the ID= line.

squarecloud app env set --from-file .env --app <appID>
# Sets every variable of a .env file.

Output

✓ Environment variables set: 2

squarecloud app env remove

Usage

squarecloud app env remove KEY... [--app <appID>]
squarecloud app env remove --all [--app <appID>] [-y]

Aliases: delete, unset

Flag	Description
--all	Removes every variable of the application, after a confirmation. Can’t be combined with variable names.
-y, --yes	Skips the confirmation of --all.
--app <appID>	The application to change.

squarecloud app env remove API_KEY OLD_FLAG
# Removes two variables.

squarecloud app env replace

Usage

squarecloud app env replace KEY=VALUE... [--from-file <path>] [--app <appID>] [-y]

Flag	Description
--from-file <path>	Reads variables from a .env style file.
-y, --yes	Skips the confirmation prompt.
--app <appID>	The application to change.

Replaces the entire set of variables with the ones you pass: variables you don’t list are removed. It asks for y/N confirmation first, and needs at least one variable. To remove every variable, use remove --all.

squarecloud app env replace --from-file .env --app <appID> -y
# Makes the app's variables exactly the ones in .env, without asking.

Values with spaces and special characters

Square Cloud injects the variables every time your application starts. So that your application receives each value exactly as you typed it, the CLI quotes values that contain spaces or characters such as $, &, ; or #. env list then shows the stored value with those quotes.

squarecloud app env set 'GREETING=hello world'
# The application reads: hello world

A value you wrap in one pair of quotes is sent as written, so references to other variables inside it are expanded when the application starts. Use it to build a value from another variable:

squarecloud app env set 'API_URL="${HOST}:3000"'
# The application reads the value of HOST followed by :3000.

The --from-file format

• One KEY=VALUE per line. Blank lines, lines starting with # and lines without = are skipped.
• An export prefix is allowed, and a UTF-8 BOM at the start of the file is ignored.
• A value in matching quotes is taken as it is between them.
• In an unquoted value, anything from # on is a comment: A=foo #bar sets foo. Quote values that contain #.
• Escape sequences and values that span several lines are not supported.

Related

Command	API	JavaScript SDK	VS Code
list	GET .../envs	api.apps.envs.get()	Environment variables
set	POST .../envs	api.apps.envs.set()	Environment variables
remove	DELETE .../envs	api.apps.envs.delete()	Environment variables
replace	PUT .../envs	api.apps.envs.replace()