---
title: Wrangler and the Cloudflare Vite plugin support `.env` files in local development
description: Use `.env` files to provide secrets and override environment variables on the `env` object during local development.
image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/changelog-preview.png
---

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## Wrangler and the Cloudflare Vite plugin support \`.env\` files in local development

Aug 08, 2025 

[ Workers ](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/) 

Now, you can use `.env` files to provide secrets and override environment variables on the `env` object during local development with Wrangler and the Cloudflare Vite plugin.

Previously in local development, if you wanted to provide secrets or environment variables during local development, you had to use `.dev.vars` files. This is still supported, but you can now also use `.env` files, which are more familiar to many developers.

#### Using `.env` files in local development

You can create a `.env` file in your project root to define environment variables that will be used when running `wrangler dev` or `vite dev`. The `.env` file should be formatted like a `dotenv` file, such as `KEY="VALUE"`:

**.env**

```bash
TITLE="My Worker"
API_TOKEN="dev-token"
```

When you run `wrangler dev` or `vite dev`, the environment variables defined in the `.env` file will be available in your Worker code via the `env` object:

**JavaScript**

```javascript
export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const title = env.TITLE; // "My Worker"
    const apiToken = env.API_TOKEN; // "dev-token"
    const response = await fetch(
      `https://api.example.com/data?token=${apiToken}`,
    );
    return new Response(`Title: ${title} - ` + (await response.text()));
  },
};
```

#### Multiple environments with `.env` files

If your Worker defines multiple [environments](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/environments/), you can set different variables for each environment (ex: production or staging) by creating files named `.env.<environment-name>`.

When you use `wrangler <command> --env <environment-name>` or `CLOUDFLARE_ENV=<environment-name> vite dev`, the corresponding environment-specific file will also be loaded and merged with the `.env` file.

For example, if you want to set different environment variables for the `staging` environment, you can create a file named `.env.staging`:

**.env.staging**

```bash
API_TOKEN="staging-token"
```

When you run `wrangler dev --env staging` or `CLOUDFLARE_ENV=staging vite dev`, the environment variables from `.env.staging` will be merged onto those from `.env`.

**JavaScript**

```javascript
export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const title = env.TITLE; // "My Worker" (from `.env`)
    const apiToken = env.API_TOKEN; // "staging-token" (from `.env.staging`, overriding the value from `.env`)
    const response = await fetch(
      `https://api.example.com/data?token=${apiToken}`,
    );
    return new Response(`Title: ${title} - ` + (await response.text()));
  },
};
```

#### Find out more

For more information on how to use `.env` files with Wrangler and the Cloudflare Vite plugin, see the following documentation:

* [Environment variables and secrets](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/local-development/environment-variables)
* [Wrangler Documentation ↗](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler)
* [Cloudflare Vite Plugin Documentation ↗](https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/wrangler/vite)

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