PHPackages sodaho/env-loader - PHPackages - PHPackages [Skip to content](#main-content)[PHPackages](/)[Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Leaderboard](/leaderboard)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)[Collections](/collections)[Log in](/login)[Sign up](/register) 1. [Directory](/) 2. / 3. [Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) 4. / 5. sodaho/env-loader ActiveLibrary[Utility & Helpers](/categories/utility) sodaho/env-loader ================= Lightweight .env file loader for PHP v1.0.0(3mo ago)07MITPHPPHP ^8.2CI passing Since Mar 19Pushed 3w agoCompare [ Source](https://github.com/SoDaHo/env-loader)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/sodaho/env-loader)[ RSS](/packages/sodaho-env-loader/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 3w ago READMEChangelogDependencies (3)Versions (2)Used By (0) env-loader ========== [](#env-loader) Lightweight .env file loader for PHP. Zero dependencies. Why This Library? ----------------- [](#why-this-library) There are established .env loaders for PHP, most notably [vlucas/phpdotenv](https://github.com/vlucas/phpdotenv). This library exists because we needed something simpler: - **Zero dependencies** — Nothing to install besides this package. - **Thread-safe by design** — Only writes to `$_ENV`. No `putenv()`/`getenv()`, which are not thread-safe in async runtimes (Swoole, RoadRunner, FrankenPHP). - **No magic** — No variable expansion (`${VAR}`), no multiline values, no interpreted escape sequences (`\n`, `\t`). What you write is what you get. - **Minimal footprint** — Easy to audit, easy to understand. If you need variable expansion, multiline values, or `getenv()` support, use phpdotenv instead. Installation ------------ [](#installation) ``` composer require sodaho/env-loader ``` Usage ----- [](#usage) ### Basic Usage [](#basic-usage) ``` use Sodaho\EnvLoader\EnvLoader; // Loads .env into $_ENV (does not overwrite existing, no required keys) EnvLoader::load(__DIR__ . '/.env'); echo $_ENV['DB_HOST']; ``` ### Options [](#options) ``` // Overwrite existing $_ENV variables EnvLoader::load('.env', overwrite: true); // Require specific keys (throws exception if missing) EnvLoader::load('.env', required: ['DB_HOST', 'DB_NAME']); // Required keys as comma-separated string EnvLoader::load('.env', required: 'DB_HOST,DB_NAME'); // Combine options EnvLoader::load('.env', overwrite: true, required: ['DB_HOST']); ``` ### Parse Without Loading [](#parse-without-loading) ``` // Returns array without setting $_ENV $values = EnvLoader::parse('.env'); print_r($values); // ['DB_HOST' => 'localhost', 'DB_NAME' => 'myapp', ...] ``` Supported .env Syntax --------------------- [](#supported-env-syntax) ``` # Comments DB_HOST=localhost # Empty values EMPTY_VAR= # Values with equals sign PASSWORD=val=ue=with=equals # Double quotes (supports escaped quotes) MESSAGE="Hello World" ESCAPED="Say \"Hello\"" # Single quotes (no escape processing) SINGLE='Hello World' # Inline comments API_KEY=secret123 # this is ignored QUOTED="value with # hash" # comment outside quotes # export prefix export DB_PORT=3306 # Whitespace is trimmed SPACED_KEY = value ``` Exceptions ---------- [](#exceptions) All exceptions extend `EnvLoaderException` for easy catching: ``` use Sodaho\EnvLoader\EnvLoader; use Sodaho\EnvLoader\Exception\EnvLoaderException; use Sodaho\EnvLoader\Exception\FileNotFoundException; use Sodaho\EnvLoader\Exception\MissingRequiredKeyException; try { EnvLoader::load('.env', required: ['API_KEY']); } catch (FileNotFoundException $e) { // File does not exist } catch (MissingRequiredKeyException $e) { // Required key not found } catch (EnvLoaderException $e) { // Any other EnvLoader error } ``` ExceptionWhen`FileNotFoundException`File does not exist or is a directory`FileNotReadableException`File exists but not readable`InvalidKeyException`Key has invalid format (e.g. `123KEY`, `MY-KEY`)`UnterminatedQuoteException`Quoted value missing closing quote`MissingRequiredKeyException`Required key missing after loadingKey Naming Rules ---------------- [](#key-naming-rules) Valid keys must: - Start with a letter or underscore - Contain only letters, numbers, and underscores ``` DB_HOST ✓ _PRIVATE ✓ API_KEY_2 ✓ 123KEY ✗ (starts with number) MY-KEY ✗ (contains hyphen) MY KEY ✗ (contains space) ``` Why $\_ENV Only? ---------------- [](#why-_env-only) This library intentionally writes **only to `$_ENV`**, not `putenv()` or `$_SERVER`. **Reason: Thread Safety** `putenv()` and `getenv()` are **not thread-safe**. In modern PHP runtimes like: - Swoole - RoadRunner - FrankenPHP - ReactPHP ...concurrent requests can overwrite each other's environment variables, causing hard-to-debug race conditions. `$_ENV` is process-local and safe. Use `$_ENV['KEY']` instead of `getenv('KEY')` in your application. ``` // Safe $host = $_ENV['DB_HOST']; // Not recommended (not set by this loader) $host = getenv('DB_HOST'); ``` When to Use ----------- [](#when-to-use) - Development environments - Shared hosting where system ENV is not available - Simple projects without framework - **Modern async PHP** (Swoole, RoadRunner, FrankenPHP) When NOT to Use --------------- [](#when-not-to-use) - Production with proper system ENV configuration - When you need variable expansion (`${OTHER_VAR}`) - When you need multiline values - When you must support legacy code using `getenv()` Requirements ------------ [](#requirements) - PHP ^8.2 Acknowledgments --------------- [](#acknowledgments) Parts of this project (refactoring, documentation, code review) were developed with AI assistance (Claude). License ------- [](#license) MIT ### Health Score 38 — LowBetter than 83% of packages Maintenance89 Actively maintained with recent releases Popularity5 Limited adoption so far Community6 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity46 Maturing project, gaining track record Bus Factor1 Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Unknown Total 1 Last Release 96d ago ### Community Maintainers ![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/4407ed68227862f26dfbd1fff5c4d117c89ba024bf20202280d00d8199036cfc?d=identicon)[SoDaHo](/maintainers/SoDaHo) --- Top Contributors [![SoDaHo](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/73506118?v=4)](https://github.com/SoDaHo "SoDaHo (9 commits)") --- Tags dotenvenvenvironmentphpconfigloaderenvironmentenvdotenv ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit Static AnalysisPHPStan Code StylePHP CS Fixer Type Coverage Yes ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/sodaho-env-loader/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/sodaho-env-loader/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/sodaho-env-loader) ``` ### Alternatives [vlucas/phpdotenv Loads environment variables from `.env` to `getenv()`, `$\_ENV` and `$\_SERVER` automagically. 13.5k627.3M6.1k](/packages/vlucas-phpdotenv)[symfony/dotenv Registers environment variables from a .env file 3.8k237.6M2.6k](/packages/symfony-dotenv)[m1/env Env is a lightweight library bringing .env file parser compatibility to PHP. In short - it enables you to read .env files with PHP. 6112.5M23](/packages/m1-env)[cekurte/environment A library to get the values from environment variables and process to php data types 5886.2k8](/packages/cekurte-environment)[diarmuidie/envpopulate Tool to interactively populate a `.env` file based on an `.env.example` file whenever Composer installs or updates. 1694.6k](/packages/diarmuidie-envpopulate)[zepgram/magento-dotenv Simple autoloader to integrate the Symfony Dotenv component into Magento2 1374.5k](/packages/zepgram-magento-dotenv) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)