pnext

Environment Variables

pnext loads .env* files from the project root, never from src/. Variables are server-only unless their name marks them for the browser. Server Components, layouts, route handlers, and the proxy read them from process.env.

What reaches the browser

Browser bundles inline only these:

  • process.env.NODE_ENV
  • process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_*
  • process.env.PNEXT_PUBLIC_*

Load order

Variables already set on process.env win. Missing ones are loaded from:

  1. .env.$NODE_ENV.local
  2. .env.local, except when NODE_ENV is test
  3. .env.$NODE_ENV
  4. .env

If NODE_ENV is not set, the dev server uses development and every other command uses production.

Variable references

A value can reference an earlier variable, with or without braces, and with an optional fallback.

API_HOST=api.example.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://$API_HOST
PORT=${APP_PORT:-3000}

Escape the dollar sign when it should be literal, as \$10.

PNEXT_COMPAT

Setting it to next gives an app with no pnext.config.ts the next/* module surface and next.config.js support. When a config file is present, it forces Next compatibility on and leaves every other compat flag as written. It is read after the .env* files load, so a .env file can set it. See Compatibility.