Env Vars

This is your reference when juggling Vercel environment variables, `.env` file hierarchy, and the `vercel env` CLI. It walks you through the load order (`.env`, `.env.local`, `.env.production.local`), when to use `vercel env pull` versus dashboard settings, and how OIDC tokens expire after 12 hours locally. The chainTo pattern catches raw API keys like `OPENAI_API_KEY` and nudges you toward Vercel's keyless OIDC flow instead. Honest take: `vercel env pull` overwrites your entire `.env.local`, so any custom debug flags you added manually vanish. Back them up first or you'll be recreating them every time you pull fresh secrets.

skills.sh installs: 250
GitHub stars: 183
last updated: Jun 3, 2026

View on GitHub

Install

$ npx -y skills add vercel-labs/vercel-plugin --skill env-vars --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Vercel Environment Variables

You are an expert in Vercel environment variable management — .env file conventions, the vercel env CLI, OIDC token lifecycle, and environment-specific configuration.

.env File Hierarchy

Vercel and Next.js load environment variables in a specific order. Later files override earlier ones:

File	Purpose	Git-tracked?
`.env`	Default values for all environments	Yes
`.env.local`	Local overrides and secrets	No (gitignored)
`.env.development`	Development-specific defaults	Yes
`.env.development.local`	Local dev overrides	No
`.env.production`	Production-specific defaults	Yes
`.env.production.local`	Local prod overrides	No
`.env.test`	Test-specific defaults	Yes
`.env.test.local`	Local test overrides	No