dotenvx / phpdotenvx-ext

v1.0.1 2026-11-13 19:51 UTC

Requires

• php: >=8.1 <8.6

BSD-3-Clause

Published on Packagist.org on 2026-11-14 00:24 UTC

Extension name: ext-phpdotenvx

Supports Zend Thread Safety (ZTS): ❌

Supports non-Thread Safe mode (NTS): ✅

Supported operating systems: darwin, linux

README

A secure dotenv–from the creator of dotenv.

• Encrypt
• Commit
• Ship

Install · Quickstart

Quickstart

Install PIE first.

pie install dotenvx/phpdotenvx-ext
composer require dotenvx/phpdotenvx

index.php

<?php

require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

Dotenvx\Dotenvx::createImmutable(__DIR__)->safeLoad();

echo 'Hello ' . getenv('HELLO') . PHP_EOL;

 

Usage

Install dotenvx.

$ curl -sfS https://dotenvx.sh | sh
◈ installed (2.38.2:/usr/local/bin/dotenvx)

Encrypt your secrets in .env files. The values become ciphertext and only your private key can unlock them.

$ dotenvx encrypt
◈ encrypted .env (039 BCA) via .env.keys ⛉

Commit your encrypted .env files with your code. It's safe. Now you can securely share secrets through git.

$ git add .env
$ git commit -m "encrypt .env"

Ship your code and secrets together. Dotenvx uses your private key to decrypt and inject your secrets just-in-time to your code.

$ php index.php
⟐ injected env (2) from .env (039 BCA) via .env.keys ⛉

 

Design

Three widely used and proven primitives make up Dotenvx's design. Git, .env, and secp256k1.

We chose git because it is the best way to deliver digital goods. It is the container ship of the digital world. All code travels on its ships. Why not secrets? Why invent an inferior secrets delivery mechanism when the world class one is right there at your fingertips.

We chose .env because it is the open standard for loading secrets into code. It represents environment variables, the core primitive that all secrets end up injected into at runtime of code.

Lastly, we needed to choose an encryption algorithm. Encryption of the values inside the .env file would allow us to place those values with code, leveraging git's distribution advantages while still following the twelve-factor config – by separating the decryption key from the code (environment).

It was important that we choose a proven, simple, asymmetric standard with small keys. We chose secp256k1, battle-tested by Bitcoin for more than seventeen years. We made cryptography an opinionated choice so developers wouldn't have to. Encryption just worked.

The result is a system built entirely from primitives, developers already understand, and infrastructure they already use. Secrets can travel with code without becoming part of the code. Git distributes them, .env defines how apps consume them, and secp256k1 keeps their values unreadable. The kicker, all this works by setting a single private key on your infrastructure - no more risky async coordination of secrets, no more centralized downtime risk. Your secrets are always just there with your code, ready to be unlocked at runtime.

Read the whitepaper →