[Help] How to use env var like import.meta.env.VITE_KEY in main/preload ?

[dongivan]

Describe the problem you confuse

Vite supports env vars prefixed with "VITE_" if they are placed in the file .env.
However in electron-vite-vue template, env vars like import.meta.env.VITE_KEY can only be used in renderer process.

How to reproduce:

1. npm create electron-vite & npm i
2. Add .env file at app root with the content:

VITE_TEST="test string"

3. Modify electron/electron-env.d.ts:

/// <reference types="vite-plugin-electron/electron-env" />

interface ImportMetaEnv {
  readonly VITE_TEST: string
}

interface ImportMeta {
  readonly env: ImportMetaEnv
}

4. Add this line into electron/main/index.ts:

console.log("in main process", import.meta.env.VITE_TEST)

5. Add this line into electron/preload/index.ts:

console.log("in preload", import.meta.env.VITE_TEST)

6. Add this line into src/main.ts:

console.log("in renderer process", import.meta.env.VITE_TEST)

7. npm run dev
8. Result:

[dongivan]

BTW, currently I use dotenv to load env vars of .env file into process.env.

[caoxiemeihao]

It's probable a conservative desing, not sure if it's right.
However, usually in Node.js environments, process.env is always avaizble.

  const conf: InlineConfig = {
    // 🚧 Avoid recursive build caused by load config file
    configFile: false,
    envFile: false, // 👈👈👈👈👈👈👈
    publicDir: false,

    build: {
      emptyOutDir: false,
      minify: process.env./* from mode option */NODE_ENV === 'production',
    },
  }

https://github.com/electron-vite/vite-plugin-electron/blob/2df429e643192a0a9a0702b1c3b36544460950b0/packages/electron/src/config.ts#L32

---

Perhaps, this feature is avaiable in v0.8.2, what do you think about it. My bro 😄 @PAXANDDOS

[dongivan]

Thank you for replying!

[PAXANDDOS]

Perhaps, this feature is available in v0.8.2, what do you think about it. My bro 😄 @PAXANDDOS

Honestly, I thought the env file was exposed everywhere 😅

I was thinking that we don't need .env files here at all, we're building desktop applications with Electron anyways. But then I remembered some cases where you need to have, for example, a hash string for modules, and since all application logic is stored in the main process, exposing environment variables to it would be a great idea

@caoxiemeihao So I want to say that yes, it's better to enable the envFile option