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Configure environment variables

dbt v2 automatically loads environment variables from a .env file in your current working directory (the folder you cd into and run dbt commands from in your terminal). This helps you manage credentials and settings without hardcoding them in your profiles.yml or exposing them in your shell history.

Using a .env file​

  1. Create a .env file in your current working directory (typically at the root of your dbt project):

    DBT_MY_DATABASE=my_database
    DBT_MY_SCHEMA=my_schema
    DBT_SECRET_KEY=my_secret_value
    Report incorrect code

  2. Reference these variables in your profiles.yml using the env_var Jinja function:

    my_profile:
      target: dev
      outputs:
        dev:
          type: snowflake
          account: my_account
          database: "{{ env_var('DBT_MY_DATABASE') }}"
          schema: "{{ env_var('DBT_MY_SCHEMA') }}"
    Report incorrect code

  3. Run dbt commands normally. dbt v2 will automatically load the variables from the .env file. For example, running dbtf debug will show your connection using the values from .env:

    dbtf debug
    ...
    Debugging connection:
    "authenticator": "my_authenticator",
    "account": "my_account",
    "user": "my_user",
    "database": "my_database",        # Loaded from DBT_MY_DATABASE in .env
    "schema": "my_schema",            # Loaded from DBT_MY_SCHEMA in .env
    Report incorrect code
note

We recommend placing your .env file in the project root and running dbt commands from that location because the file is loaded only from your current working directory. It doesn't support the --project-dir flag or (Applies to dbt v1.11 and later) DBT_ENGINE_PROJECT_DIR environment variable, and dbt won't search your project root if you're running commands from a different directory location.

Precedence order​

When the same environment variable is defined in multiple places, dbt v2 uses the following precedence order (highest to lowest):

  1. Shell environment — Variables set directly in your shell (for example, export DBT_MY_VAR=value)
  2. .env file — Variables defined in the .env file in your current working directory

This means environment variables set in your shell always override values from the .env file.

tip

Add .env to your .gitignore file to prevent sensitive credentials from being committed to version control. The dbtf init command automatically includes .env in the generated .gitignore file.

For more details on managing environment variables locally, refer to Configure your local environment.

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