feat(cli): load env vars to memory via `vc env` #13440

balazsorban44 · 2025-06-11T15:17:29Z

Right now, when you want to copy environment variables to your machine, your only option is to pull them into a file via vc env pull .env.local.

Also, vc env is just printing what vc env --help would.

We could utilize this command to load the environment variables for a subprocess, instead of having to write them to a file.

Example:

vc env next dev

This has a security benefit since we do not preserve the environment variables after the process exits.

The implementation reuses vc env pull and introduces a new --memory flag, which is added if the vc env command is called without any known subcommand.

Usage:

Screencast.from.2025-06-11.15-47-39.webm

You can test it via

cd packages/cli &&
  pnpm vercel link &&
  pnpm vercel env node -e 'console.log(Boolean(process.env.VERCEL_OIDC_TOKEN))'` // true

changeset-bot · 2025-06-11T15:17:34Z

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chris-olszewski

~~I feel like this would be better suited as a new subcommand for env.~~ Did not realize this had already been deliberated, ignore this suggestion.

packages/cli/src/commands/env/command.ts

chris-olszewski · 2025-06-11T23:29:13Z

packages/cli/test/unit/commands/env/index.test.ts

+    it('inherits variables', async () => {
+      const args = ['not-a-command'];

      client.setArgv('env', ...args);
      const exitCode = await env(client);
-      expect(exitCode).toEqual(2);
+      expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);


Could you update this test to verify that the variables are passed to the child process?

chris-olszewski · 2025-06-11T23:33:34Z

packages/cli/test/unit/commands/env/index.test.ts

+    await expect(exitCodePromise).resolves.toBe(1);
+    expect(client.stderr).toOutput(
+      'Invalid number of arguments. Usage: `vercel env <process>`'
+    );


I think this is a regression in the helpfulness of the text output of vercel env. It goes from

Error: Please specify a valid subcommand: ls | add | rm | pull ▲ vercel env command Interact with Environment Variables for a Project Commands: add name [environment] Add an Environment Variable (see examples below) list [environment] [git-branch] List all Environment Variables for a Project pull [filename] Pull all Development Environment Variables from the cloud and write to a file [.env.local] remove name [environment] Remove an Environment Variable (see examples below)

to

Error: Invalid number of arguments. Usage: `vercel env <process>` See also: `vercel env --help` ELIFECYCLE Command failed with exit code 1.

which requires an additional vercel env --help to discover what commands are available.

I do feel we should have a check for if there's no args provided to vercel env and show vercel env --help instead of an "Invalid number of arguments"

Agree! Will fix!

chris-olszewski · 2025-06-11T23:45:57Z

packages/cli/src/commands/env/pull.ts

+    const child = spawn(command, rest, {
+      env: { ...process.env, ...environmentVariables },
+      stdio: 'inherit',
+    });


This doesn't properly setup signal forwarding from the vercel process to the child process. Can you make sure that sending SIGINT to vercel results in the child process shutting down? I think you'll need to setup a process group where vercel is the leader.

# Get process tree of the vercel cli [0 olszewski@macbookpro] /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/vercel $ pstree -p 88056 -+= 00001 root /sbin/launchd \-+= 16827 olszewski tmux \-+= 98314 olszewski -zsh \-+= 88056 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/.nvm/versions/node/v20.19.2/bin/pnpm vercel env pnpm dev --cwd /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/docs/si \-+- 88077 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/vercel/packages/cli/node_modules/.bin/../../../../node_modules/.pnpm/ts-node@10.9.1_@swc+core@1 \-+- 88123 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/.nvm/versions/node/v20.19.2/bin/pnpm dev \-+- 88145 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/docs/site/node_modules/.bin/../next/dist/bin/next dev --turbopack |--- 88210 olszewski next-server (v15.4.0-canary.23) \--- 88233 olszewski /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/node_modules/.pnpm/@esbuild+darwin-arm64@0.25.2/node_modules/@esbuild/darwin-arm64/b # Send an interrupt to vercel cli [0 olszewski@macbookpro] /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/vercel $ kill -s INT 88056 # Check if next server is running, note that the `pnpm dev` is no longer a child of vercel, but the root process [0 olszewski@macbookpro] /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/vercel $ pstree -p 88123 -+= 00001 root /sbin/launchd \-+- 88123 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/.nvm/versions/node/v20.19.2/bin/pnpm dev \-+- 88145 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/docs/site/node_modules/.bin/../next/dist/bin/next dev --turbopack |-+- 88210 olszewski next-server (v15.4.0-canary.23) | |--- 89346 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/docs/site/.next/transform.js 52496 | \--- 89347 olszewski node /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/docs/site/.next/transform.js 52498 \--- 88233 olszewski /Users/olszewski/code/vercel/turborepo/node_modules/.pnpm/@esbuild+darwin-arm64@0.25.2/node_modules/@esbuild/darwin-arm64/bin/esbui

chris-olszewski · 2025-06-11T23:48:17Z

packages/cli/src/commands/env/index.ts

-      output.error(getInvalidSubcommand(COMMAND_CONFIG));
-      output.print(help(envCommand, { columns: client.stderr.columns }));
-      return 2;
+      return pull(client, args.concat('--memory'));


I think creating a new exec subcommand is the safer option here. Having inferred subcommands can really end up restricting changes we can make to vercel env in the future without being a breaking change.

I think this is a good use case for no subcommands, but we can do this as a follow-up after further discussion, thanks!

Co-authored-by: Chris Olszewski <chrisdolszewski@gmail.com>

balazsorban44 added 2 commits June 11, 2025 17:11

feat(cli): load env vars to memory via vc env

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