Salesforce CLI DotEnv Plugin

A Salesforce CLI plugin that loads environment variables from .env files when you run sf commands. No need to export project-specific vars in your shell or OS.

What It Does

• Automatic loading: A prerun hook loads a .env file (by default .env in the current directory) before every sf command. Values from the .env file override existing environment variables of the same name; variables not defined in the file are left unchanged.
• Per-command file: Use --env or -e with any command to load a specific file, e.g. sf --env .env.prod project deploy start.
• Inspect loaded vars: Run sf dotenv inspect to see which variables are loaded from .env; use sf dotenv inspect --show-values to print names and values (with a security warning).
• Export from sfdx-project.json: Run sf dotenv export to scaffold (or update) a .env file with every variable referenced by replaceWithEnv entries in your sfdx-project.json.

Quick Start

Create a .env file in your project root:

FOO=123
BAR=some other value

Run any sf command, and the plugin automatically loads the file .env (if it exists). In this example of deploying Apex classes, the names of the loaded environment variables are displayed before the command executes.

Installation

sf plugins install @jongpie/sf-dotenv-cli-plugin

Unsigned plugin: This is a community plugin, so the CLI may prompt you to confirm installation. In CI/CD or non-interactive use, add the plugin to the CLI allowlist so it installs without a prompt:

Platform	AllowList Path
Linux/macOS	$HOME/.config/sf/unsignedPluginAllowList.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.config\sf\unsignedPluginAllowList.json

Example allowlist (array of package names):

["@jongpie/sf-dotenv-cli-plugin"]

Usage: Automatically Load .env Files with Any sf CLI Commands

Automatic: With a .env in your project root & the plugin installed, just run a sf command. Variables are loaded before the command runs.

Specific file: Pass the path of a specific .env file to load to the parameter --env

sf org list --env .env.local
sf project deploy start --env .env.production

Using with sf CLI's Deployment String Replacements

The Salesforce CLI can replace placeholders in metadata with environment variables during deployment. You define replacements in sfdx-project.json (e.g. replaceWithEnv pointing at an env var name), and the CLI substitutes those variables when you deploy. This plugin pairs well with that feature: put the replacement values in a .env file and they’re loaded automatically before sf project deploy start (or sf deploy metadata), so the CLI sees the variables without you exporting them in the shell.

Example: In sfdx-project.json you configure a replacement that uses the env var NAMED_CREDENTIAL_URL:

{
  "name": "My Salesforce Project",
  "packageDirectories": [
    {
      "path": "force-app",
      "default": true
    }
  ],
  "replacements": [
    {
      "filename": "force-app/main/default/namedCredentials/My_Named_Credential.namedCredential-meta.xml",
      "stringToReplace": "https://placeholder.example.com",
      "replaceWithEnv": "NAMED_CREDENTIAL_URL"
    }
  ]
}

In your .env, add the environment variable value for NAMED_CREDENTIAL_URL:

NAMED_CREDENTIAL_URL=https://api.my-org.example.com

Then run your deploy as usual; the plugin loads .env before the command, and the CLI performs the replacement:

sf project deploy start --source-dir force-app

For different environments, use a separate env file and pass it to the command:

sf project deploy start --source-dir force-app -e .env.production

Scaffolding a .env File from sfdx-project.json

Rather than authoring a .env file by hand, you can let the plugin generate one from the replaceWithEnv entries in sfdx-project.json:

sf dotenv export

This reads sfdx-project.json, finds every replaceWithEnv reference under replacements, and writes the keys to a .env file in the current directory (default: .env). If the output file already exists, only missing keys are appended underneath an # Auto-added by sf dotenv export marker — existing entries are left untouched. Any matching variable already set in your shell's environment will be used as the default value; otherwise the key is written with an empty value for you to fill in.

Use --output-file (alias -o) to write to a different file:

sf dotenv export --output-file .env.local
sf dotenv export -o .env.production

Usage: Debug & Test with sf dotenv inspect Command

Inspect: The plugin is primarily focused on automatically running during any sf CLI command. But to aid with debugging & testing, you can run the command sf dotenv inspect to see how your .env files are being loaded.

To see the names of environment variables being loaded, simply run the command:

sf dotenv inspect

This will attempt to load a .env file, and displays the names of any variables loaded:

Warning

If you want to see the names and values, pass the flag --show-values. But doing so will display potentially sensitive values, so use this with caution.

sf dotenv inspect --env .env.staging --show-values

More details about this command (shown below) can be seen by running sf dotenv inspect --help or sf dotenv inspect -h.

USAGE
  $ sf dotenv inspect [--json] [--flags-dir <value>] [-e <value>] [--show-values]

FLAGS
  -e, --env=<value>  [default: .env] Path to the .env file to load.
      --show-values  Print the loaded environment variable names and values.

GLOBAL FLAGS
  --flags-dir=<value>  Import flag values from a directory.
  --json               Format output as json.

Configuration

• Logging: By default, the plugin logs the names of loaded variables before each command. To turn this off, run:

  sf config set should-log-env false

  You can also change this setting globally by adding the flag --global. To re-enable logging, run: sf config set should-log-env true.

• Plugin-Specific Environment Variables: A few environment variables can be set in your shell to control plugin behavior:

  • SF_DOTENV_DISABLED – set to true to disable automatic loading.
  • SF_DOTENV_FILE – path to the .env file used by automatic loading (default: .env in the current directory).