Configuration & Secrets

Secure, consistent handling of configuration and sensitive data is a fundamental requirement for operational security and maintainability. Mismanaged secrets are among the most common vectors for security breaches, and non-standard configurations can lead to environment drift and deployment failures.

The following guidelines ensure that configuration is predictable, auditable, and securely separated from the codebase.

Environment-Specific Handling

Environment	Method	Notes
Local	.env files	For convenience. Always ignored in Git
Production	Environment variables	Set on the corresponding container server

Requirements

• An example.env file must be provided in the repository
• Never commit actual .env files to version control
• Use .gitignore to exclude sensitive files
• Document all required environment variables

Best Practices

• Use descriptive variable names with consistent prefixes
• Group related variables together
• Provide sensible defaults where appropriate
• Validate required variables at application startup

This prevents misconfiguration issues and keeps secrets out of the codebase and CI.