Environment Variables

Use a root-level .env.production file for variables needed while building and running your application.

.env.production

QuickDeploy intentionally includes .env.production from the source project root. Its variables are available during the Nixpacks image build and when the deployed container runs. On the server, QuickDeploy copies it to the project directory as .env and references it through Docker Compose's env_file property.

NODE_ENV=production
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@my-project-postgres:5432/app

Other .env files are excluded from the uploaded project. This prevents a development .env file from being used accidentally, but it also means renaming or copying the production values to .env.production is required before deployment.

Do not commit secrets to Git. Keep .env.production in .gitignore, provide it through your local environment or CI secret store, and redeploy after changing its values.

For a Next.js and Prisma example, see the Next.js, Prisma, and PostgreSQL deployment guide.