Environment variables

Environment variables configure your application at build and runtime. They are managed in the Variables tab of your project.

Adding a variable

1. Open the project → Variables tab.
2. Click Add variable.
3. Enter the key (e.g. DATABASE_URL) and the value.
4. Save.

Build-injected variables

These prefixes are injected during the image build:

VITE_*          Vite / frontend
NEXT_PUBLIC_*   Next.js
REACT_APP_*     Create React App
NUXT_*          Nuxt

Secret detection

Paylood automatically masks sensitive values in the UI based on the key:

• APP_KEY, JWT_SECRET
• *_API_KEY, *_SECRET
• *_PASSWORD, *_PRIVATE_KEY

The value is kept server-side (encrypted) but is not displayed again in the UI.

Importing from a .env file

1. In the Variables tab (or the creation wizard), click Import .env.
2. Select your local file.
3. Each KEY=value is parsed and added. Duplicates are flagged.

Duplicate validation

The UI refuses to save two variables with the same key in the same environment: an error message shows and you must fix it before continuing.

Deleting a variable

Open the variable’s row then Delete. Remember to redeploy to remove the variable from running containers.