Monorepo with three projects. There is a .env at the repo root with shared values, and each project has its own .env.staging. If both define API_TOKEN, which is used, and is that documented anywhere or just an accident of ordering?
Accepted answer
The project one, and it is deliberate.
Two roots are read, repo root first and then the project folder, and within each root four names in this order: .env, .env.<env>, .env.local, .env.<env>.local. Every file is merged over what came before, so later assignment wins. That gives you, from weakest to strongest:
.env.env.staging.env.local.env.staging.local.env.env.staging.env.local.env.staging.localThe root is for what every project shares; the project folder is for what one project needs, and it is more specific, so it wins. Missing files are skipped, and the whole stack still loses to an exported variable.
Have a different question? Ask it.