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In Sevalla, you can define global environment variables at the company level. These variables are available to all applications within the organization, making them ideal for shared settings such as API keys, credentials, or feature flags. Set global environment variables within your company Settings > Global variables.
Global environment variables

Global environment variables in Sevalla.

Copy all copies all environment variables, allowing you to paste them elsewhere. Export to file exports all the environment variables; if you only want to export certain values, select the required environment variables and then click Export to file.
You cannot use a .env file to pass environment variables to the application; you must set them in Sevalla. You can import the contents of a .env file when you add environment variables.

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Special characters in environment variables

In the environment variable keys, you can only use a-z, 0-9, or underscore (_). Environment variable values are applied literally, with the exception of parentheses, commas, and double quotes.

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Parentheses

Parentheses can cause the build or rollout process to fail, depending on when they are available during deployment. They cannot be used in environment variables.

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Commas

Unescaped commas are interpreted as delimiters and cannot be used in environment variables.
  • For example: write_stock,read_orders will cause the rollout process to fail.
  • To keep a comma inside a string, escape it with a backslash (\) like this: write_stock\,read_orders — which will be applied as write_stock,read_orders.

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Double quotes

Unescaped double quotes are either disregarded or will cause the rollout process to fail.
  • For example, "my_example_variable" will be applied as my_example_variable.
  • To keep double quotes around a variable, escape them with a backslash (\) like this: \"my_example_var\" — which will be applied as "my_example_var".
  • If double quotes are inside of a string (e.g. my_exampl"e_text), the rollout process will fail.
  • To keep double quotes inside a string, escape them with a backslash (\) like this: my_examp\"le_var — which will be applied as my_examp"le_var.

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Base64 encoded variables

If your environment variable is Base64 encoded and you experience issues (e.g. 500 errors in the browser, build errors, runtime errors, etc.), try wrapping the value of the variable with single quotes.

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Add global variables

If you use a Dockerfile to build your application and you want the environment variable to be available during build time, you must add ARG ENVVAR_XY to your Dockerfile, where ENVVAR_XY is the environment variable. For example, if your environment variable is DB_CONNECTION_URL you would need to add ARG DB_CONNECTION_URL.
To add global environment variables, click Add environment variables. Add the key-value pairs, select if the variables are to be available during runtime and/or the build process, and click Add environment variables. You can reference another environment variable using the ${key} format. For example, to reference an environment variable with the key DB_PASSWORD use ${DB_PASSWORD}. To add multiple environment variables, copy the keys and values using CMD + C (Mac) or CTRL + C (Windows), and in Add global app environment variables, press CMD + V (Mac) or CTRL + V (Windows). You can also paste the contents of a .env file or import the .env file using Import .env.
Add global environment variables

Add global environment variables.

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Edit global variables

You can edit variable names (keys) or values on the Global variables page. To edit a variable, click the ellipsis (three dots) and click Update, make your changes, and click Update global environment variable.

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View global variables in your applications

If you have a global variable, it is displayed within each application’s Environment variables.
Global variables shown in your application

Global variables shown in your application.