Description

OliverJAsh

opened on Jul 23, 2024

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What is the problem this feature will solve?

We already have --env-file and --watch:

$ node --env-file=.env --watch test.js

However, it seems we're missing the ability to watch the env file. The command above will not restart the script when the env file changes.

--watch-path=.env doesn't help either. It does restart the script when the env file changes, however the env file is not loaded again, so the script only has access to the environment variables that were loaded when the command was first ran.

What is the feature you are proposing to solve the problem?

A flag to watch the env file e.g. --watch-env-file.

What alternatives have you considered?

No response

Reacted by Simon Tremblay and Andrew Plummer

Activity

1. OliverJAsh

   added

   feature requestIssues requesting new Node.js features.Issues requesting new Node.js features.

   on Jul 23, 2024
2. github-project-automation

   added this to Node.js feature requestson Jul 23, 2024
3. github-project-automation

   moved this to Awaiting Triage in Node.js feature requestson Jul 23, 2024
4. MoLow

   added

   good first issueIssues that are suitable for first-time contributors.Issues that are suitable for first-time contributors.

   watch-modeIssues and PRs related to watch mode.Issues and PRs related to watch mode.

   on Jul 23, 2024
5. MoLow commented on Jul 23, 2024

   

   MoLow

   on Jul 23, 2024

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   this should probably be the default, without an extra flag
6. avivkeller

   added

   dotenvIssues and PRs related to .env file parsing.Issues and PRs related to .env file parsing.

   on Jul 23, 2024
7. avivkeller

   moved this from Awaiting Triage to Triaged in Node.js feature requestson Jul 23, 2024
8. tniessen commented on Jul 23, 2024

   

   tniessen

   on Jul 23, 2024

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   --watch-path=.env doesn't help either. It does restart the script when the env file changes, however the env file is not loaded again, so the script only has access to the environment variables that were loaded when the command was first ran.

   I assume that the node process loads .env, then starts the actual application as a child process with the same --env-file flag. This should cause the child process to load the environment file upon start, however, the child process inherits the environment variables from the parent process, and inherited environment variables take precedence over variables read from .env, so you wouldn't see any changes to existing environment variables.

   To test this hypothesis, could you check if you can see new variables in the child process when you add a new entry to .env while --watch is running?
9. OliverJAsh commented on Jul 23, 2024

   

   OliverJAsh

   on Jul 23, 2024

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   To test this hypothesis, could you check if you can see new variables in the child process when you add a new entry to .env while --watch is running?

   I just tested this and I can! You're right.
10. nodejs-github-bot

    closed this as completedin #54109on Aug 5, 2024
11. nodejs-github-bot

    added a commit that references this issue on Aug 5, 2024

    watch: reload changes in contents of --env-file

    a816688
12. targos

    added a commit that references this issue on Aug 14, 2024

    watch: reload changes in contents of --env-file

    4d8b53e
13. avivkeller

    moved this from Triaged to Done in Node.js feature requestson Aug 18, 2024
14. avivkeller

    removed this from Node.js feature requestson Sep 13, 2024

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