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Environment variables let you store API keys, secrets, and configuration values that your website’s code needs at runtime. They are stored securely and injected into your website during build and deployment.

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How to manage environment variables

1

Open the website dashboard

Go to the chat where your website was built. Click the Dashboard tab, then select Secrets from the sidebar.
2

Add a variable

Click Add and enter a key-value pair. The key is the variable name (for example, GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY) and the value is the secret.
Website dashboard Secrets tab showing a list of environment variables with masked values, edit buttons, and a delete button
3

Save

Click Save. The variable is written to your website’s .env.local file. If your website is already published, the variable is also applied to the live deployment automatically.

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Protected variables

Some environment variables are managed by Runable and cannot be edited or deleted. These are set up automatically when your website is created:
VariablePurpose
AI_GATEWAY_BASE_URLURL for the AI gateway that powers AI features in your website
AI_GATEWAY_API_KEYAPI key for the AI gateway
BETTER_AUTH_SECRETSecret for the authentication system
VITE_BASE_URLYour website’s base URL
AUTUMN_SECRET_KEYSecret for the payment billing system
These are marked with a protected indicator in the dashboard and cannot be modified.

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When to add environment variables

  • Third-party API keys (Google Maps, SendGrid, Twilio, etc.)
  • Feature flags or configuration toggles
  • External service credentials
  • Any secret your website backend needs at runtime
Never hardcode API keys or secrets in your website’s source code. Always use environment variables. The agent follows this practice automatically, but if you are adding integrations manually, put secrets here.

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Visibility

Variable values are masked by default in the dashboard. Click the eye icon to reveal a value. Click the copy button to copy it to your clipboard.

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What you cannot do

  • You cannot edit protected variables. They are managed by Runable.
  • You cannot access environment variables from client-side (frontend) code unless the key starts with VITE_. This is a Vite security feature.
  • You cannot import variables from a file. Add them one at a time through the dashboard.

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Next steps

Website Analytics

Track visitors and events on your deployed site.

SEO

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