doc: add new environment variables doc page #59052

dario-piotrowicz · 2025-07-13T16:50:24Z

Hi all 👋

This PR at its core is an effort to provide a proper specification for .env files, my interest picked on this after working on #58729 where a user was requesting support for INI sections, claiming that Node.js dotenv implementation is INI compatible (something that initially sounded like a good idea to me, but that I now think we should not strive for ¹).

After poking around it seems evident to me that Node.js current stand on .env file is lukewarm and along the lines of ~"we do whatever dotenv does" (#58807 (comment)).

I more or less agree with that statement; the Node.js dotenv implementation was born based on dotenv and I think we should indeed start from what dotenv does², but also evolve our implementation independently as it makes most sense to us and our users. These are for example the first things that for me come to mind when thinking of diverging from dotenv:

if there there is something dotenv doesn't have specs for (e.g. variable names) we should define whatever makes most sense for us and our users
if there are things that we think dotenv doesn't do great (for me that's the lack of validation for example) we should not shy away from improving things on our end just for fear of diverging from dotenv

(Basically what I am trying to say is that I don't think that our specs being "whatever dotenv" does is really doing us, or our users any favours)

I'd also like to note that the changes in this PR describe the spec that I'm proposing Node.js should follow, they do not describe the current Node.js behaviors. My hope is to first land this, agreeing on the spec, and then go and fix the diverging behaviors (which would basically become bugs) in separate PRs.

Some resources I took inspiration from (no AIs involved in this PR! 🙅):

src: make parsing compatible with motdotla/dotenv package #54215 (showing again that we try to (sometimes a bit blindly) do whatever dotenv does)
--env-file does not support inner quotes (does not behave like dotenv) #54134 (showing that not having our own specification for .env files can trigger long and unproductive discussions)

This PR superseeds #52735 (details below) and invalidates #58782 (explained above)

Fixes: #58807

Why didn't I try to get `52735` landed instead

Regarding #52735, I completely restarted the effort from scratch since I must say that I wasn't a huge fan of the changes there, my main issues there were:

I think it was very perscriptive, introducing a "parsing specification":

node/doc/api/process.md

Line 2312 in ce0154b

### Environment variables file parsing specification

instead of a .env specification
(I don't think we should describe how Node.js processes .env files, but what the syntax for those files is)
(For example in the PR there were lines like: "The parser processes input until it finds a newline", I really
dislike this type of wording which seems to almost describe how Node.js internally processes these files instead of helping users understand the structure of those)
I disagree with some bits like:

node/doc/api/process.md

Line 2326 in ce0154b

* Lines without an `=` are ignored.

That's the current behavior, but I would like not to properly document it and actually to challenge that and encourage users not to provide garbage .env files (I am thinking of possibly adding more strict validation to the dotenv parsing?)
The examples with assert seem to me like adding extra noise more than anything else
Again something like https://github.com/nodejs/node/blob/ce0154b27b38a17011c25f8ab830a7bea63b2c71/doc/api/process.md?plain=1#L2393C2-L2393C18 should in my opinion ideally not be documented but fixed on our side
The changes are all under process.loadEnvFile, but I think that dotenv deserves its own documentation (I personally don't think that a user, looking for a .env specification would think of looking for it in the process doc page)

So because of the above, my preference was to propose a completely different solution for this issue 😅

INI files are their own thing, they share some similarities to .env files but nowhere online I saw libraries/tools claiming that their .env implementation was compatible or related to INI files whatsoever. ↩
Many tools in the JS ecosystem use dotenv under the hood, some of the most noticeable (impactful) I've found online are Vite, Next.js, so our goal, in my opinion, should be to support them the best we can (so that they don't need to rely on third-party tooling for dotenv support). ↩

mertcanaltin

lgtm

if there are things that we think dotenv doesn't do great (for me that's the lack of validation for example) we should not shy away from improving things on our end just for fear of diverging from dotenv

absolutely agree with your approach especially the idea of not being constrained by dotenv when it comes to things like validation or undefined behaviors. Defining our own spec based on real needs (rather than assumptions) sounds like the right path forward. Thanks for driving this!

Hardanish-Singh

LGTM!

add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often referring to other doc pages) the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard Node.js specification for `.env` files

nodejs-github-bot · 2025-07-19T16:09:20Z

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- Loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052
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----------------------------------- PR info ------------------------------------
Title      doc: add new environment variables doc page (#59052)
Author     Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> (@dario-piotrowicz)
Branch     dario-piotrowicz:dario/dotenv-spec -> nodejs:main
Labels     doc
Commits    1
 - doc: add new environment variables doc page
Committers 1
 - Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]>
PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>
------------------------------ Generated metadata ------------------------------
PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782
Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ℹ  This PR was created on Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:50:24 GMT
   ✔  Approvals: 1
   ✔  - James M Snell (@jasnell) (TSC): https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052#pullrequestreview-3035414219
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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nodejs-github-bot · 2025-07-20T17:37:36Z

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- Loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ✔ Done loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ----------------------------------- PR info ------------------------------------ Title doc: add new environment variables doc page (#59052) Author Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> (@dario-piotrowicz) Branch dario-piotrowicz:dario/dotenv-spec -> nodejs:main Labels doc Commits 1 - doc: add new environment variables doc page Committers 1 - Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Generated metadata ------------------------------ PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ℹ This PR was created on Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:50:24 GMT ✔ Approvals: 1 ✔ - James M Snell (@jasnell) (TSC): https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052#pullrequestreview-3035414219 ✔ Last GitHub CI successful ℹ Green GitHub CI is sufficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✔ No git cherry-pick in progress ✔ No git am in progress ✔ No git rebase in progress -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Bringing origin/main up to date... From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch main -> FETCH_HEAD bf2384f224..29626f8fb8 main -> origin/main ✔ origin/main is now up-to-date main is out of sync with origin/main. Mismatched commits: - a032ce3931 test: update `startCLI` to set `--port=0` by default - 29626f8fb8 test: update `startCLI` to set `--port=0` by default -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEAD is now at 29626f8fb8 test: update `startCLI` to set `--port=0` by default ✔ Reset to origin/main - Downloading patch for 59052 From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch refs/pull/59052/merge -> FETCH_HEAD ✔ Fetched commits as 29626f8fb843..529e3a03d0aa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto-merging doc/api/cli.md [main bdf48ddd7b] doc: add new environment variables doc page Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100 4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md ✔ Patches applied -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- New Message ---------------------------------- doc: add new environment variables doc page

add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the
one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often
referring to other doc pages)

the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard
Node.js specification for .env files

PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

[main cafd81d243] doc: add new environment variables doc page
Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]>
Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100
4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md
✖ cafd81d2432117d2a8d2e4c118b66321b6f33e65
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nodejs-github-bot · 2025-07-20T18:07:09Z

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- Loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ✔ Done loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ----------------------------------- PR info ------------------------------------ Title doc: add new environment variables doc page (#59052) Author Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> (@dario-piotrowicz) Branch dario-piotrowicz:dario/dotenv-spec -> nodejs:main Labels doc Commits 1 - doc: add new environment variables doc page Committers 1 - Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Generated metadata ------------------------------ PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ℹ This PR was created on Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:50:24 GMT ✔ Approvals: 1 ✔ - James M Snell (@jasnell) (TSC): https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052#pullrequestreview-3035414219 ✔ Last GitHub CI successful ℹ Green GitHub CI is sufficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✔ No git cherry-pick in progress ✔ No git am in progress ✔ No git rebase in progress -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Bringing origin/main up to date... From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch main -> FETCH_HEAD ✔ origin/main is now up-to-date - Downloading patch for 59052 From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch refs/pull/59052/merge -> FETCH_HEAD ✔ Fetched commits as 29626f8fb843..529e3a03d0aa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto-merging doc/api/cli.md [main 1a1d6533c1] doc: add new environment variables doc page Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100 4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md ✔ Patches applied -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- New Message ---------------------------------- doc: add new environment variables doc page

add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the
one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often
referring to other doc pages)

the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard
Node.js specification for .env files

PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

[main 5f4b03e849] doc: add new environment variables doc page
Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]>
Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100
4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md
✖ 5f4b03e849ab8529468858003500049cd3028881
✔ 0:0 no Co-authored-by metadata co-authored-by-is-trailer
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- Loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ✔ Done loading data for nodejs/node/pull/59052 ----------------------------------- PR info ------------------------------------ Title doc: add new environment variables doc page (#59052) Author Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> (@dario-piotrowicz) Branch dario-piotrowicz:dario/dotenv-spec -> nodejs:main Labels doc Commits 1 - doc: add new environment variables doc page Committers 1 - Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Generated metadata ------------------------------ PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/52735 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/58782 Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ℹ This PR was created on Sun, 13 Jul 2025 16:50:24 GMT ✔ Approvals: 1 ✔ - James M Snell (@jasnell) (TSC): https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/59052#pullrequestreview-3035414219 ✔ Last GitHub CI successful ℹ Green GitHub CI is sufficient -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ✔ No git cherry-pick in progress ✔ No git am in progress ✔ No git rebase in progress -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Bringing origin/main up to date... From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch main -> FETCH_HEAD ✔ origin/main is now up-to-date - Downloading patch for 59052 From https://github.com/nodejs/node * branch refs/pull/59052/merge -> FETCH_HEAD ✔ Fetched commits as 29626f8fb843..529e3a03d0aa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Auto-merging doc/api/cli.md [main 00846d9a44] doc: add new environment variables doc page Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]> Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100 4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md ✔ Patches applied -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- New Message ---------------------------------- doc: add new environment variables doc page

add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the
one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often
referring to other doc pages)

the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard
Node.js specification for .env files

PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

[main d2a5d44990] doc: add new environment variables doc page
Author: Dario Piotrowicz <[email protected]>
Date: Sun Jul 13 16:42:48 2025 +0100
4 files changed, 163 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 doc/api/environment_variables.md
✖ d2a5d449907c19ebec0d37351d62b4513dffe3a7
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nodejs-github-bot · 2025-07-20T20:53:55Z

Landed in 0d14c95

add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often referring to other doc pages) the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard Node.js specification for `.env` files PR-URL: #59052 Fixes: #58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

This MR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [node](https://nodejs.org) ([source](https://github.com/nodejs/node)) | minor | `24.4.1` -> `24.5.0` | MR created with the help of [el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot](https://gitlab.com/el-capitano/tools/renovate-bot). **Proposed changes to behavior should be submitted there as MRs.** --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>nodejs/node (node)</summary> ### [`v24.5.0`](https://github.com/nodejs/node/releases/tag/v24.5.0): 2025-07-31, Version 24.5.0 (Current), @aduh95 [Compare Source](nodejs/node@v24.4.1...v24.5.0) ##### Notable Changes ##### Upgrade to OpenSSL 3.5 This release is distributed with OpenSSL 3.5.1, following the announcement that OpenSSL 3.5 will be supported until April 2030, while Node.js 24 will be supported until April 2028. Read more about OpenSSL support in their blog post: <https://openssl-library.org/post/2025-02-20-openssl-3.5-lts/>. Contributed by Richard Lau in [#58100](nodejs/node#58100). ##### Unflag `--experimental-wasm-modules` Node.js supports both source phase imports and instance phase imports to WebAssembly modules and for WASM imports to JavaScript, in line with the current Phase 3 WebAssembly [ESM Integration](https://github.com/webassembly/esm-integration) proposal. The implementation and the specification are still subject to change. Contributed by Guy Bedford in [#57038](nodejs/node#57038). ##### Built-in proxy support in `request()` and `Agent` `node:http` and `node:https` now support proxies. When `NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY` is set to `1`, the default global agent would parse the `http_proxy`/`HTTP_PROXY`, `https_proxy`/`HTTPS_PROXY`, `no_proxy`/`NO_PROXY` settings from the environment variables, and proxy the requests sent through the built-in http/https client accordingly. To use global proxy support from the command line: ```bash NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY=1 HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080 HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080 NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1 node client.js ``` In addition, `http.Agent` and `https.Agent` now support the custom `proxyEnv` options. ```js const agent = new https.Agent({ proxyEnv: { HTTPS_PROXY: 'http://proxy.example.com:8080' } }); ``` For reference, `fetch()` already supports `NODE_USE_ENV_PROXY` as of Node.js 24.0.0. Contributed by Joyee Cheung in [#58980](nodejs/node#58980). ##### Add `setDefaultCACertificates()` to `node:tls` This API allows dynamically configuring CA certificates that will be used by the Node.js TLS clients by default. Once called, the provided certificates will become the default CA certificate list returned by `tls.getCACertificates('default')` and used by TLS connections that don't specify their own CA certificates. To add system CA certificates to the default bundle (which includes the Mozilla CA certificates): ```js tls.setDefaultCACertificates(tls.getCACertificates('default').concat(tls.getCACertificates('system'))); ``` Contributed by Joyee Cheung in [#58822](nodejs/node#58822). ##### Other notable changes - \[[`d5640ca58a`](nodejs/node@d5640ca58a)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **cli**: support `${pid}` placeholder in `--cpu-prof-name` (Haram Jeong) [#59072](nodejs/node#59072) - \[[`c52aaacfc5`](nodejs/node@c52aaacfc5)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **dns**: support max timeout (theanarkh) [#58440](nodejs/node#58440) - \[[`927742b342`](nodejs/node@927742b342)] - **doc**: update the instruction on how to verify releases (Antoine du Hamel) [#59113](nodejs/node#59113) - \[[`f753645cd8`](nodejs/node@f753645cd8)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **net**: update net.blocklist to allow file save and file management (alphaleadership) [#58087](nodejs/node#58087) - \[[`9791ff3480`](nodejs/node@9791ff3480)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **worker**: add web locks api (ishabi) [#58666](nodejs/node#58666) ##### Commits - \[[`5457c7a8a1`](nodejs/node@5457c7a8a1)] - **benchmark**: adjust configuration for string-decoder bench (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59187](nodejs/node#59187) - \[[`28538f2255`](nodejs/node@28538f2255)] - **benchmark**: add --track to benchmark (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59174](nodejs/node#59174) - \[[`a28d804497`](nodejs/node@a28d804497)] - **benchmark**: small lint fix on \_cli.js (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59172](nodejs/node#59172) - \[[`09717eb68e`](nodejs/node@09717eb68e)] - **benchmark**: drop misc/punycode benchmark (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59171](nodejs/node#59171) - \[[`ad6757ef02`](nodejs/node@ad6757ef02)] - **benchmark**: fix sqlite-is-transaction (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59170](nodejs/node#59170) - \[[`7fc3143f61`](nodejs/node@7fc3143f61)] - **benchmark**: reduce N for diagnostics\_channel subscribe benchmark (Arthur Angelo) [#59116](nodejs/node#59116) - \[[`f2812723a0`](nodejs/node@f2812723a0)] - **buffer**: cache Environment::GetCurrent to avoid repeated calls (Mert Can Altin) [#59043](nodejs/node#59043) - \[[`e3e729ca60`](nodejs/node@e3e729ca60)] - **build**: remove suppressions.supp (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59079](nodejs/node#59079) - \[[`dc66422768`](nodejs/node@dc66422768)] - **build,deps,tools**: prepare to update to OpenSSL 3.5 (Richard Lau) [#58100](nodejs/node#58100) - \[[`f5da4947d9`](nodejs/node@f5da4947d9)] - **cli**: add --use-env-proxy (Joyee Cheung) [#59151](nodejs/node#59151) - \[[`d5640ca58a`](nodejs/node@d5640ca58a)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **cli**: support `${pid}` placeholder in --cpu-prof-name (Haram Jeong) [#59072](nodejs/node#59072) - \[[`eeeb40e95b`](nodejs/node@eeeb40e95b)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **crypto**: add tls.setDefaultCACertificates() (Joyee Cheung) [#58822](nodejs/node#58822) - \[[`135fca5b72`](nodejs/node@135fca5b72)] - **crypto**: avoid copying buffers to UTF-8 strings in `crypto.hash()` (Renegade334) [#59067](nodejs/node#59067) - \[[`998cef10e3`](nodejs/node@998cef10e3)] - **deps**: update archs files for openssl-3.5.1 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59234](nodejs/node#59234) - \[[`1f06ca956a`](nodejs/node@1f06ca956a)] - **deps**: upgrade openssl sources to openssl-3.5.1 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59234](nodejs/node#59234) - \[[`55a90eed8d`](nodejs/node@55a90eed8d)] - **deps**: upgrade npm to 11.5.1 (npm team) [#59199](nodejs/node#59199) - \[[`2b5d451ae0`](nodejs/node@2b5d451ae0)] - **deps**: update amaro to 1.1.1 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59141](nodejs/node#59141) - \[[`af789d9b5c`](nodejs/node@af789d9b5c)] - **deps**: update undici to 7.12.0 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59135](nodejs/node#59135) - \[[`a34e44545e`](nodejs/node@a34e44545e)] - **deps**: update sqlite to 3.50.3 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59132](nodejs/node#59132) - \[[`bfe4781c7d`](nodejs/node@bfe4781c7d)] - **deps**: update googletest to [`7e17b15`](nodejs/node@7e17b15) (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59131](nodejs/node#59131) - \[[`72adf52e51`](nodejs/node@72adf52e51)] - **deps**: update ada to 3.2.6 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#58966](nodejs/node#58966) - \[[`2a5f35b589`](nodejs/node@2a5f35b589)] - **deps**: V8: cherry-pick [`3d750c2`](nodejs/node@3d750c2aa9ef) (Michaël Zasso) [#58750](nodejs/node#58750) - \[[`3f813eaba7`](nodejs/node@3f813eaba7)] - **deps**: update archs files for openssl-3.0.17 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59134](nodejs/node#59134) - \[[`fb52d0d8df`](nodejs/node@fb52d0d8df)] - **deps**: upgrade openssl sources to openssl-3.0.17 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59134](nodejs/node#59134) - \[[`f122602f9d`](nodejs/node@f122602f9d)] - **deps**: update corepack to 0.34.0 (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59133](nodejs/node#59133) - \[[`c52aaacfc5`](nodejs/node@c52aaacfc5)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **dns**: support max timeout (theanarkh) [#58440](nodejs/node#58440) - \[[`927742b342`](nodejs/node@927742b342)] - **doc**: update the instruction on how to verify releases (Antoine du Hamel) [#59113](nodejs/node#59113) - \[[`9a8d2020ad`](nodejs/node@9a8d2020ad)] - **doc**: copyedit SECURITY.md (Rich Trott) [#59190](nodejs/node#59190) - \[[`3da5bc0668`](nodejs/node@3da5bc0668)] - **doc**: fix broken sentence in `URL.parse` (Superchupu) [#59164](nodejs/node#59164) - \[[`06cd7461e0`](nodejs/node@06cd7461e0)] - **doc**: improve onboarding instructions (Joyee Cheung) [#59159](nodejs/node#59159) - \[[`dfb72d158b`](nodejs/node@dfb72d158b)] - **doc**: add constraints for mem leak to threat model (Rafael Gonzaga) [#58917](nodejs/node#58917) - \[[`51b8dfd5c6`](nodejs/node@51b8dfd5c6)] - **doc**: add Aditi-1400 to collaborators (Aditi) [#59157](nodejs/node#59157) - \[[`4ffa756ce3`](nodejs/node@4ffa756ce3)] - **doc**: avoid suggesting testing fast api with intense loop (Chengzhong Wu) [#59111](nodejs/node#59111) - \[[`6f81b274f7`](nodejs/node@6f81b274f7)] - **doc**: fix typo in writing-test.md (SeokHun) [#59123](nodejs/node#59123) - \[[`88e434e687`](nodejs/node@88e434e687)] - **doc**: add new environment variables doc page (Dario Piotrowicz) [#59052](nodejs/node#59052) - \[[`b1a318d706`](nodejs/node@b1a318d706)] - **doc**: update release key for aduh95 (Antoine du Hamel) [#58877](nodejs/node#58877) - \[[`34c49000c9`](nodejs/node@34c49000c9)] - **doc**: add missing section for `setReturnArrays` in `sqlite.md` (Edy Silva) [#59074](nodejs/node#59074) - \[[`9b2e965aff`](nodejs/node@9b2e965aff)] - **doc**: add RafaelGSS as steward July 25 (Rafael Gonzaga) [#59078](nodejs/node#59078) - \[[`2d1dcb87e6`](nodejs/node@2d1dcb87e6)] - **doc**: clarify ERR\_FS\_FILE\_TOO\_LARGE to reflect fs.readFile() I/O limit (Haram Jeong) [#59050](nodejs/node#59050) - \[[`999b5e51e7`](nodejs/node@999b5e51e7)] - **doc**: run license-builder (github-actions\[bot]) [#59056](nodejs/node#59056) - \[[`1940a2cb46`](nodejs/node@1940a2cb46)] - **doc**: fix typed list formatting (Aviv Keller) [#59019](nodejs/node#59019) - \[[`6cb5e0d22f`](nodejs/node@6cb5e0d22f)] - **doc**: refine `util.parseArgs` `default` definition (Slayer95) [#58958](nodejs/node#58958) - \[[`d2e7f8e13a`](nodejs/node@d2e7f8e13a)] - **doc**: remove unused import in `zlib.md` (coderaiser) [#59041](nodejs/node#59041) - \[[`9d02960149`](nodejs/node@9d02960149)] - **doc**: add missing environment variables to manpage (amir lavasani) [#58963](nodejs/node#58963) - \[[`45ffdb34fb`](nodejs/node@45ffdb34fb)] - **doc**: add stability index to the `--watch-kill-signal` flag (Dario Piotrowicz) [#58997](nodejs/node#58997) - \[[`3924c43600`](nodejs/node@3924c43600)] - **doc**: add missing `<code>` blocks (Antoine du Hamel) [#58995](nodejs/node#58995) - \[[`cb95e183f3`](nodejs/node@cb95e183f3)] - **doc**: add scroll margin to links (Roman Reiss) [#58982](nodejs/node#58982) - \[[`c9ded6ba15`](nodejs/node@c9ded6ba15)] - **doc**: add sponsorship link to RafaelGSS (Rafael Gonzaga) [#58983](nodejs/node#58983) - \[[`b919fe0447`](nodejs/node@b919fe0447)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **esm**: unflag --experimental-wasm-modules (Guy Bedford) [#57038](nodejs/node#57038) - \[[`71bb6cd077`](nodejs/node@71bb6cd077)] - **esm**: js-string Wasm builtins in ESM Integration (Guy Bedford) [#59020](nodejs/node#59020) - \[[`8d869e6d62`](nodejs/node@8d869e6d62)] - **fs**: fix return value of fs APIs (theanarkh) [#58996](nodejs/node#58996) - \[[`7f654cee9e`](nodejs/node@7f654cee9e)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **http,https**: add built-in proxy support in http/https.request and Agent (Joyee Cheung) [#58980](nodejs/node#58980) - \[[`85d6a28f4f`](nodejs/node@85d6a28f4f)] - **inspector**: initial support for Network.loadNetworkResource (Shima Ryuhei) [#58077](nodejs/node#58077) - \[[`cfaa299f2e`](nodejs/node@cfaa299f2e)] - **lib**: fix incorrect `ArrayBufferPrototypeGetDetached` primordial type (Dario Piotrowicz) [#58978](nodejs/node#58978) - \[[`d555db22ad`](nodejs/node@d555db22ad)] - **lib**: flag to conditionally modify proto on deprecate (Rafael Gonzaga) [#58928](nodejs/node#58928) - \[[`96c9dd79e6`](nodejs/node@96c9dd79e6)] - **meta**: move one or more collaborators to emeritus (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59140](nodejs/node#59140) - \[[`324d9fc9d4`](nodejs/node@324d9fc9d4)] - **meta**: enable jsdoc/check-tag-names rule (Yagiz Nizipli) [#58521](nodejs/node#58521) - \[[`04c751463b`](nodejs/node@04c751463b)] - **meta**: add marco-ippolito to security release stewards (Marco Ippolito) [#58944](nodejs/node#58944) - \[[`fe0195fdcc`](nodejs/node@fe0195fdcc)] - **module**: fix conditions override in synchronous resolve hooks (Joyee Cheung) [#59011](nodejs/node#59011) - \[[`515b581d47`](nodejs/node@515b581d47)] - **module**: throw error when re-runing errored module jobs (Joyee Cheung) [#58957](nodejs/node#58957) - \[[`f753645cd8`](nodejs/node@f753645cd8)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **net**: update net.blocklist to allow file save and file management (alphaleadership) [#58087](nodejs/node#58087) - \[[`15e6c28d82`](nodejs/node@15e6c28d82)] - **node-api,doc**: update links to ecma262 with section names (Chengzhong Wu) [#59087](nodejs/node#59087) - \[[`f67b686551`](nodejs/node@f67b686551)] - **perf\_hooks**: do not expose SafeMap via Histogram wrapper (René) [#59094](nodejs/node#59094) - \[[`3d2f919f7c`](nodejs/node@3d2f919f7c)] - **process**: make execve's args argument optional (Allon Murienik) [#58412](nodejs/node#58412) - \[[`1a44265810`](nodejs/node@1a44265810)] - **repl**: handle errors from getters during completion (Shima Ryuhei) [#59044](nodejs/node#59044) - \[[`467dbd31e6`](nodejs/node@467dbd31e6)] - **repl**: fix repl crashing on variable declarations without init (Dario Piotrowicz) [#59032](nodejs/node#59032) - \[[`3a3eb6852d`](nodejs/node@3a3eb6852d)] - **repl**: improve REPL disabling completion on proxies and getters (Dario Piotrowicz) [#58891](nodejs/node#58891) - \[[`55838e79b8`](nodejs/node@55838e79b8)] - **src**: call unmask after install signal handler (theanarkh) [#59059](nodejs/node#59059) - \[[`77649ad93b`](nodejs/node@77649ad93b)] - **src**: use `FastStringKey` for `TrackV8FastApiCall` (Anna Henningsen) [#59148](nodejs/node#59148) - \[[`86babf9c4b`](nodejs/node@86babf9c4b)] - **src**: use C++20 `consteval` for `FastStringKey` (Anna Henningsen) [#59148](nodejs/node#59148) - \[[`88b99eeae1`](nodejs/node@88b99eeae1)] - **src**: remove declarations of removed BaseObject static fns (Anna Henningsen) [#59093](nodejs/node#59093) - \[[`d89390fc8f`](nodejs/node@d89390fc8f)] - **src**: add cache to nearest parent package json (Ilyas Shabi) [#59086](nodejs/node#59086) - \[[`21780075e4`](nodejs/node@21780075e4)] - **src**: check import attributes value types as strings (Chengzhong Wu) [#58986](nodejs/node#58986) - \[[`ef89c2fac9`](nodejs/node@ef89c2fac9)] - **src,test**: fix config file parsing for flags defaulted to true (Edy Silva) [#59110](nodejs/node#59110) - \[[`1e990866e0`](nodejs/node@1e990866e0)] - **test**: mark web lock held test as flaky (Ilyas Shabi) [#59144](nodejs/node#59144) - \[[`ba8e95a785`](nodejs/node@ba8e95a785)] - **test**: use mustSucceed in test-fs-read (Sungwon) [#59204](nodejs/node#59204) - \[[`39978f507f`](nodejs/node@39978f507f)] - **test**: prepare test-crypto-rsa-dsa for newer OpenSSL (Richard Lau) [#58100](nodejs/node#58100) - \[[`1c3aadb9d6`](nodejs/node@1c3aadb9d6)] - **test**: fix flaky test-worker-message-port-transfer-filehandle test (Alex Yang) [#59158](nodejs/node#59158) - \[[`a0d22e9c51`](nodejs/node@a0d22e9c51)] - **test**: remove timeout in test-https-proxy-request-handshake-failure (Joyee Cheung) [#59165](nodejs/node#59165) - \[[`7e0a0fccc1`](nodejs/node@7e0a0fccc1)] - **test**: expand linting rules around `assert` w literal messages (Anna Henningsen) [#59147](nodejs/node#59147) - \[[`c6070046c3`](nodejs/node@c6070046c3)] - **test**: update WPT for WebCryptoAPI to [`ab08796`](nodejs/node@ab08796857) (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59129](nodejs/node#59129) - \[[`15d8cc908e`](nodejs/node@15d8cc908e)] - **test**: update WPT for WebCryptoAPI to [`19d82c5`](nodejs/node@19d82c57ab) (Node.js GitHub Bot) [#59129](nodejs/node#59129) - \[[`83023e5144`](nodejs/node@83023e5144)] - **test**: skip tests that cause timeouts on IBM i (Abdirahim Musse) [#59014](nodejs/node#59014) - \[[`82d4175ec3`](nodejs/node@82d4175ec3)] - **test**: update `startCLI` to set `--port=0` by default (Dario Piotrowicz) [#59042](nodejs/node#59042) - \[[`16dc53c143`](nodejs/node@16dc53c143)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **test**: move http proxy tests to test/client-proxy (Joyee Cheung) [#58980](nodejs/node#58980) - \[[`a9511a6066`](nodejs/node@a9511a6066)] - **test**: mark test-inspector-network-fetch as flaky on Windows (Joyee Cheung) [#59091](nodejs/node#59091) - \[[`1cffcc02a3`](nodejs/node@1cffcc02a3)] - **test**: add missing port=0 arg in test-debugger-extract-function-name (Dario Piotrowicz) [#58977](nodejs/node#58977) - \[[`83cdf1701b`](nodejs/node@83cdf1701b)] - **test\_runner**: clean up promisified interval generation (René) [#58824](nodejs/node#58824) - \[[`195d6038dc`](nodejs/node@195d6038dc)] - **tools**: clarify README linter error message (Joyee Cheung) [#59160](nodejs/node#59160) - \[[`51f578a3bf`](nodejs/node@51f578a3bf)] - **tools**: add support for URLs to MR commits in `merge.sh` (Antoine du Hamel) [#59162](nodejs/node#59162) - \[[`20be9012eb`](nodejs/node@20be9012eb)] - **tools**: bump [@eslint/plugin-kit](https://github.com/eslint/plugin-kit) from 0.3.1 to 0.3.3 in /tools/eslint (dependabot\[bot]) [#59119](nodejs/node#59119) - \[[`623e264e93`](nodejs/node@623e264e93)] - **tools**: ignore CVE mention when linting release proposals (Antoine du Hamel) [#59037](nodejs/node#59037) - \[[`0e547e09ab`](nodejs/node@0e547e09ab)] - **tools,test**: enforce best practices to detect never settling promises (Antoine du Hamel) [#58992](nodejs/node#58992) - \[[`075d1968db`](nodejs/node@075d1968db)] - **util**: respect nested formats in styleText (Alex Yang) [#59098](nodejs/node#59098) - \[[`9791ff3480`](nodejs/node@9791ff3480)] - **(SEMVER-MINOR)** **worker**: add web locks api (ishabi) [#58666](nodejs/node#58666) </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined), Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined). 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. 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add a new doc page for environment variables, this would be the one-stop place for all evnrioment variables informations (often referring to other doc pages) the main purpose of this page would also to provide a standard Node.js specification for `.env` files PR-URL: #59052 Fixes: #58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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fix(learn): env var tutorial link to latest docs nodejs/nodejs.org#7996

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doc: add environment variables specification #52735

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src: extend --env-file to also accept sections #58782

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Extend --env-file with support for INI sections #58729

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2025-07-29, Version 24.5.0 (Current) #59257

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.env file support issue tracker #49148

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2025-09-24, Version 22.20.0 'Jod' (LTS) #59973

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PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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doc: add new environment variables doc page #59052

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PR-URL: #59052 Fixes: #52735 Fixes: #58782 Fixes: #58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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PR-URL: #59052 Fixes: #52735 Fixes: #58782 Fixes: #58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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PR-URL: #59052 Fixes: #52735 Fixes: #58782 Fixes: #58807 Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

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PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>

PR-URL: #59052
Fixes: #52735
Fixes: #58782
Fixes: #58807
Reviewed-By: James M Snell <[email protected]>