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💡Daily Dev TipBeginnerJavaScript / Next.js / Node.js

Avoid Hardcoding API URLs — Use Environment Variables Properly

~1 min read
💡TL;DR

Hardcoding API URLs makes your app hard to manage across environments. Use environment variables for flexibility and security.

Many developers directly write API URLs in code like this:

const API_URL = "https://api.production.com";

This creates problems when switching between environments (local, staging, production).

Better approach:

Use environment variables:

For Next.js:
process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL

For Node.js:
process.env.API_URL

Example:

TypeScript
const API_URL = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL;

Benefits:

  • Easy environment switching
  • Cleaner code
  • Better security (no secrets in code)
Pro tip:
Never expose sensitive keys using NEXT_PUBLIC — only use it for public data.
environment-variablesbest-practicesNode.jsNext.js
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