Dotenv is a zero-dependency Node.js module that loads key-value pairs from a `.env` file into `process.env`, helping keep configuration separate from application code (following the Twelve-Factor App approach). It is useful for local development and setup by reading configuration files early in your app startup, with options for preloading via Node’s `-r dotenv/config`.
Project status
- The repository appears actively maintained, with recent activity including a last upstream push on 2026-05-30, and multiple versioned updates in April 2026 (v17.4.0 to v17.4.2).
- Update cadence in the available window looks relatively steady but not continuous, with v17.4.0 on 2026-04-01, v17.4.1 on 2026-04-05, and v17.4.2 on 2026-04-12.
AI summary generated Today
Recent updates
v17.4.2
1 month agov17.4.2 was released with no publisher release notes. The diff shows no changes to the library runtime code, but does include documentation updates and substantial rewrites of the agent skill prompt files for both `dotenv` and `dotenvx`, plus the expected version bump in package manifests.
Featuresv17.4.1
2 months agoThis patch release (v17.4.1) makes a minimal code change. There are also documentation updates (README and skill docs) reflecting the same message change and adding some agent-related instructions.
v17.4.0
2 months agoRelease v17.4.0 was published on 2026-04-01, but no release notes were provided by the publisher. As a result, no developer-facing changes, fixes, or migration guidance can be extracted from the available material.
v17.3.1
3 months agov17.3.1 appears to be a documentation-focused release. The diff shows only README and changelog updates plus the package version bump, with no changes to the dotenv runtime code surfaced in the provided diff.
v17.3.0
3 months agoThis release (v17.3.0) appears to be primarily documentation and test updates, with a user-facing change to the randomized “tips” shown by the library. Although the repo changelog mentions only README/content changes, the code diff also updates the tip strings used at runtime. No dependency upgrades or runtime API changes are shown in the provided diff.
v17.2.4
4 months agoThis release is primarily a TypeScript typing update to better support passing Node.js environment variables into dotenv. The only functional-looking change in the diff is a type definition adjustment, plus some accompanying test coverage updates and minor documentation/marketing text changes.
v17.2.3
8 months agov17.2.3 makes changes centered around TypeScript type definitions and some CLI/user-facing “tips” text. The provided release notes are empty, so the only documented change in the repo (CHANGELOG.md) is not reflected in the publisher release notes you supplied.
Breakingv17.2.2
9 months agov17.2.2 primarily updates repository metadata and documentation. The code diff shows a package version bump plus README and changelog updates for sponsor recognition, along with removal of a repo-only configuration file (tea.yaml).
v17.2.1
10 months agov17.2.1 is a small patch release with changes concentrated in runtime console output (random “tip” strings) and documentation updates. Release notes were not provided by the publisher for this version, so the changes below are identified directly from the code diff.
Featuresv17.2.0
11 months agoRelease v17.2.0 was published on 2025-07-09, but no release notes were provided by the publisher. Without documented changes, it is not possible to identify specific new features, bug fixes, or breaking changes from the release notes alone.