# Environment Variables

For GitHub or GitLab releases, make sure the token is available as an environment variable. Example:

```bash
export GITHUB_TOKEN="f941e0..."
```

In macOS or Linux, this can be added to e.g. `~/.profile`, so it's available everytime the shell is used.

## dotenv

Another solution, that works in every environment (Windows, macOS, Linux), is to use an `.env` file and a package like
[dotenv-cli][1]:

In the `.env` file:

```bash
GITHUB_TOKEN="f941e0..."
```

Install the `dotenv-cli` package as a `devDependency`:

```bash
npm install -D dotenv-cli
```

Prefix the release-it script like so:

```json
{
  "scripts": {
    "release": "dotenv release-it --"
  }
}
```

## Read from input

Not used often, but this script asks for the token everytime a `npm run release` is invoked:

```json
{
  "scripts": {
    "release": "read -p 'GITHUB_TOKEN: ' GITHUB_TOKEN && export GITHUB_TOKEN=$GITHUB_TOKEN && release-it"
  }
}
```

## Notes

- Do not check the token into the Git repository.
- Do not check the `.env` file into the Git repository (add it to `.gitignore`). A convention is to use a `.env.example`
  file with dummy values and add this to the repository.
- Do not put the actual token in the release-it configuration. It will be read from the `GITHUB_TOKEN` environment
  variable. To use something different, use e.g. `github.tokenRef="RELEASE_IT_GITHUB_TOKEN"` (or `gitlab.tokenRef`).

All of the above is the same for `GITLAB_TOKEN`.

[1]: https://github.com/entropitor/dotenv-cli#readme