a better dotenv–from the creator of dotenv.
- run anywhere (cross-platform)
- multi-environment
- encrypted envs
Keep the familiar load_dotenv() entry point with dotenvx loading semantics.
pip install python-dotenvx
The wheel includes native dotenvx Rust primitives. No dotenvx executable or post-install download is required.
# main.py import os from dotenvx import load_dotenv load_dotenv() # take environment variables from .env print(os.getenv("S3_BUCKET"))
You can also parse values without changing the environment:
from dotenvx import dotenv_values values = dotenv_values(".env")
Encrypted values are decrypted using DOTENV_PRIVATE_KEY from the environment
or a neighboring .env.keys file.
The main entry points use the shared dotenvx-ll Rust loader. Errors are printed
to stderr and available values still load by default. Use strict=True, or set
strictness in the current directory's Dotenvxfile, to raise before changing
os.environ. Dotenvxfile required/type/file validation is shared with the CLI.
Ignore selected diagnostics with ignore=["DECRYPTION_FAILED"].
The loader returns redaction metadata without changing application values; the adapter does not install application-output redaction hooks.
load_dotenv() and dotenv_values() accept an optional file path, or stream=
for text input. Loading supports override=, strict=, and ignore=. Options
after the file path are keyword-only. load_dotenvx(path, override=False) remains
available and returns the resolved mapping after loading it.
Parsing, expansion, UTF-8 file decoding, and local key discovery belong to the
shared Rust loader. Python no longer implements a second parser for bare keys
or rewrites dollar signs to disable interpolation. Bare keys without = are
ignored; use KEY= for an empty string. Single quotes preserve literal dollars.
The legacy interpolate, encoding, and verbose options, and the no-op
find_dotenv(usecwd=...) option, are no longer supported. find_dotenv() still
searches upward from the current directory.
The Rust loader owns file discovery, directory expansion, conventions, and
key-based filename inference. Pass one path or a list of paths; use
convention="nextjs" or convention="flow", and key_files="custom.keys" when
needed. The same file-selection and error-ignore environment variables used by
the CLI are supported. find_dotenv() delegates upward searching to Rust.
load_dotenv(convention="nextjs") load_dotenv([".env.production", ".env"]) load_dotenv("app", key_files="shared/.env.keys")