Laravel Set .env File Variable

by Liam Hammett · 2 minute read · #open-source #php #laravel

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Need a quick way to set an environment variable from the command line that’ll save it to the Laravel .env file?

Here’s a command to do just that.

When running the env:set artisan command, you must provide both a key and value as two arguments.

php artisan env:set app_name Example

# Environment variable with key 'APP_NAME' has been changed from 'Laravel' to 'Example'*

You can also set values with spaces by wrapping them in quotes.

php artisan env:set app_name "Example App"

# Environment variable with key 'APP_NAME' has been changed from 'Laravel' to '"Example App"'*

The command will also create new environment variables if an existing one does not exist.

php artisan env:set editor=vscode

# Environment variable with key 'EDITOR' has been set to 'vscode'*

Instead of two arguments split by a space, you can also mimic the .env file format by supplying KEY=VALUE.

php artisan env:set app_name=Example

# Environment variable with key 'APP_NAME' has been changed from 'Laravel' to 'Example'*

The command will do its best to stop any invalid inputs.

php artisan env:set @pp_n@me Laravel

# Invalid environment key. Only use letters and underscores*

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Liam Hammett

Full-stack software developer that loves working with PHP, Laravel and Vue.