doppelt.digital Application Platform Documentation
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Working on your project

Working with environment variables

env files in the repository, custom variables, and how dev and prod are configured.

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Every generated repository ships with its configuration. Environment variables live in two places: the env/ directory in the code repository (for local development and app builds) and the gitops-configuration repository (for the dev and prod deployments).

The env/ directory

App and backend repositories contain an env/ directory with files following the pattern <stage>.<kind>.env:

File Maintained by Contents
local.generated.env Platform URLs and values for local development
local.custom.env You Your own local settings
dev.generated.env / prod.generated.env Platform Stage-specific URLs (e.g. backend URL on dev/prod)
dev.custom.env / prod.custom.env You Your own stage-specific values
shared.generated.env Platform Cross-stage values (e.g. Sentry DSN, bundle IDs)
shared.custom.env You Your own cross-stage values

The rule is simple:

  • *.generated.env is written by the platform and overwritten on changes – do not edit.
  • *.custom.env is yours. Add your own variables here or override generated values.

When starting via ap run-local, the right files are loaded automatically – for Flutter apps via --dart-define-from-file, for example.

Tip
Need a new variable for local work? Add it to env/local.custom.env and restart ap run-local.

Deployment configuration: dev and prod

What runs on the servers is configured in your project’s gitops-configuration repository – one folder per environment:

gitops-configuration/
└── configurations/
    ├── dev/
    │   ├── generated.yaml   # Platform: hostnames, registry, secrets (SOPS)
    │   ├── custom.yaml      # You: custom environment variables
    │   └── versions.yaml    # Pipeline: deployed image versions
    └── prod/                # same structure

Add your own deployment environment variables in custom.yaml under additional_env_variables. After a commit to main, the GitOps repository automatically rolls the change out to the respective environment – just like the regular deployment workflow.

Secrets

Passwords, tokens, and keys are generated by the platform and stored encrypted or managed automatically – including database credentials, JWT secrets, and registry credentials.

Warning
Do not put sensitive passwords or API keys in plain text into *.custom.env or custom.yaml. Use the platform-managed secrets for sensitive values, or ask support which approach fits your case.

See also