Manage Environment Variables

Temps environment variables are set per project and scoped to one or more environments; each value is encrypted at rest and reaches your containers on the next deployment. You can keep a variable out of preview deployments, and Temps injects its own variables (bind address, port, API token, replica number, linked-service credentials) at deploy time.

For server settings such as TEMPS_DATABASE_URL and the ClickHouse variables, see the Environment Variables Reference.

Add a variable

1. Open your project in the dashboard
2. Click Environment Variables in the sidebar
3. Click Add Variable
4. Enter the key and value
5. Select which environments this variable applies to (e.g. production, staging, or all)
6. Click Save

The variable takes effect on the next deployment. Existing running containers are not updated — you need to redeploy for changes to take effect.

Scope variables to environments

Each variable can be assigned to one or more environments. This is how you use different configurations across production, staging, and development.

Common pattern:

To set a variable for a specific environment:

1. When adding or editing a variable, select only the environments you want it applied to
2. Create separate variables with the same key but different values for different environments

If the same key exists for multiple environments, each environment gets its own value. There is no inheritance — a variable scoped to production does not automatically appear in staging.

Preview environment controls

Each variable has an Include in Preview toggle. When disabled, the variable is not injected into preview environments.

Use this to:

• Keep production API keys out of preview branches
• Exclude payment processor credentials from temporary environments
• Control feature flags per environment type

To change this setting:

1. Go to Environment Variables in your project
2. Find the variable you want to adjust
3. Toggle Include in Preview on or off

Variables from linked managed services (like POSTGRES_URL) are always included in all environments, including previews. Each preview gets its own isolated database.

Auto-injected variables

Temps injects these variables at deploy time. You don't need to set them yourself. This is the single list for the docs; other pages link here.

Injected into every deployment

When managed services are linked

Databases aren't created automatically: create the service, then link it to the project. See Deploy with a Database for the full list.

Error tracking

Temps injects a Sentry-compatible DSN for the project's error tracking:

OpenTelemetry

Injected alongside TEMPS_API_URL, so OpenTelemetry SDKs export to Temps without extra configuration:

Port resolution order

Temps picks the container port, and so the PORT value, in this order:

1. exposed_port setting on the environment
2. exposed_port setting on the project
3. EXPOSE directive in the built image
4. Default: 3000

In v0.1.0-beta.56 and earlier, the image's EXPOSE directive takes priority over a configured exposed_port. See Resource Settings.

Use the API

List variables

curl "https://your-temps-instance/api/projects/{project_id}/env-vars?environment_id={env_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Create a variable

curl -X POST "https://your-temps-instance/api/projects/{project_id}/env-vars" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "key": "API_KEY",
    "value": "your-api-key",
    "environment_ids": [1, 2],
    "include_in_preview": false
  }'

Update a variable

curl -X PUT "https://your-temps-instance/api/projects/{project_id}/env-vars/{var_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "key": "API_KEY",
    "value": "new-value",
    "environment_ids": [1, 2],
    "include_in_preview": false
  }'

Delete a variable

curl -X DELETE "https://your-temps-instance/api/projects/{project_id}/env-vars/{var_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Get a single value

curl "https://your-temps-instance/api/projects/{project_id}/env-vars/{key}/value" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Referencing other variables

Temps stores variable values exactly as you enter them. It doesn't expand references to other variables, so a value such as $POSTGRES_URL reaches your app as that literal text, not as the connection string.

If your framework expects DATABASE_URL, point it at the injected variable in your app's configuration instead. For example, with Prisma:

datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("POSTGRES_URL")
}

See Deploy with a Database for the variables each managed service injects.

Related concepts

• Environments — the scopes your variables are assigned to
• Projects and Deployments — where variables are defined and when they're applied
• Resource Settings — CPU, memory, replicas and ports per environment
• Environment Variables Reference — server, CLI and SDK variables