Not all developers have the same local setup. One developer might use mysql , while another uses postgres . .env.local allows each person to configure their environment without affecting others. 3. Separation of Concerns
To truly understand .env.local , you need to understand the entire ecosystem of environment files. Modern frameworks like Next.js support multiple file types, each serving a distinct purpose: .env.local
: Loaded only during local development. It has the highest priority. Why does .env.local override everything else? Not all developers have the same local setup
# .env (default) API_BASE_URL="https://api.example.com" .env.local
It is the standard place to store sensitive data like API keys , database credentials, or personal tokens that should never be pushed to a public repository.