direnv installieren: .envrc-Grundlagen, allow und Env-Variablen automatisch laden

direnv, .envrc, allow — Env pro Verzeichnis.

Jedes Repo braucht eigene Keys und PATH-Anpassungen — statt jedes .env manuell zu sourcen, liest direnv .envrc. Dieser Leitfaden: its own API keys, database URLs, and PATH tweaks, but manually sourceing .env files gets old. direnv reads .envrc in a project folder: cd in to load environment variables, cd out to unload. Installation macOS/Linux, Shell-Hook, .envrc-Grundlagen, direnv allow, automatisches Laden/Entladen für hereink.

The query is how to install direnv and write .envrc to load project env vars automatically. You should finish with direnv installed, a first .envrc, direnv allow at the repo root, and variables appearing when you enter the directory and disappearing when you leave.

Was direnv löst

Upstream: github.com/direnv/direnv, docs at direnv.net. Run direnv version after install.

direnv installieren

1. 1
   macOS (Homebrew)

   brew install direnv. Verify with which direnv and direnv version.

2. 2
   Linux (distro packages)

   Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt update && sudo apt install direnv. Fedora: sudo dnf install direnv. Arch: sudo pacman -S direnv.

3. 3
   Shell hook (required)

   Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc: eval "$(direnv hook zsh)" (use bash for bash). Open a new terminal or source the file.

4. 4
   fish

   In ~/.config/fish/config.fish: direnv hook fish | source. See official docs for other shells.

.envrc-Grundlagen

.envrc is a shell snippet at the project root (or a subdirectory). Common patterns:

export API_BASE=https://api.staging.example.com
export NODE_ENV=development

PATH_add ./bin

dotenv_if_exists

Do not commit real tokens. Teams can commit non-secret defaults in .envrc and keep secrets in local .env loaded via dotenv_if_exists.

Im Projektverzeichnis allow

The first time you enter a folder with .envrc, direnv blocks execution until you explicitly trust the file:

cd ~/projects/my-app
# direnv: error .envrc is blocked. Run `direnv allow` to approve its content.

direnv allow
# direnv: loading ~/projects/my-app/.envrc
echo $API_BASE

direnv allow stores a hash whitelist under .direnv/. After you edit .envrc, run direnv allow again. That is intentional: a cloned repo cannot silently change your environment.

Automatisch laden und entladen

With the hook installed, you do not need manual source each time:

cd ~/projects/my-app    # loads .envrc
env | grep API_BASE

cd ~                    # unloads project vars
env | grep API_BASE     # should be empty

Nested directories: a child .envrc applies when you enter that path. Monorepos often use a root .envrc with PATH_add for shared tooling—see source_up in direnv docs.

vs manuelles source .env

Passt

Switching repos, per-project PATH, staging vs prod endpoints tied to folders.

Passt nicht

One global export forever, or CI images—set env in Dockerfile or workflow instead.