Open the application in Coolify, select Environment Variables, add the key and value, choose whether it is available at build time, runtime, or both, then save and redeploy or restart. A build-time value requires a new deployment; a runtime-only change can normally take effect after a restart. The distinction explains most “variable is missing” and “my change did nothing” problems.
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The correct Coolify workflow at a glance
Coolify stores environment variables per application. You can enter them one at a time in Normal view, paste dotenv-formatted text in Developer view, or manage them through the official CLI. In every case, configuration and activation are separate operations: saving changes the application configuration, while a restart or deployment recreates the container with the new environment.
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- Open the target application in Coolify.
- Select Environment Variables.
- Add a variable in Normal view, or paste dotenv entries in Developer view.
- Choose the variable’s build-time and runtime availability.
- Save the variables.
- Redeploy if a build-time value changed; restart if only runtime values changed and the existing image is still suitable.
- Verify the resulting deployment and application behavior without exposing the value in logs.
Build-time and runtime are different environments
Coolify provides two independent availability controls. They determine when a process can read a value, not merely whether the variable exists in the application settings.
| Selection | Available during image build? | Available in the running container? | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build and runtime | Yes | Yes | A value needed by a build command and by the application after startup. |
| Build only | Yes | No | A package-registry token or other input used only while creating the image. |
| Runtime only | No | Yes | Database credentials, API endpoints, feature flags, and other values read when the process runs. |
A front-end framework that substitutes an API URL while compiling needs that URL at build time. A server that reads a database password when it starts needs the password at runtime. If you select Runtime only for a value consumed by a build script, the build cannot see it. If you select Build only for a value the process reads after startup, the container will not receive it.
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When uncertain, identify the exact command that consumes the value. Commands in a Dockerfile, build hook, dependency installation step, or asset compilation phase need build availability. Code executed by the started service needs runtime availability. Selecting both is appropriate only when both phases genuinely require the value.
Add a variable in the dashboard
Normal view: one variable at a time
- In Coolify, open the application that should receive the setting.
- Choose Environment Variables from the application navigation.
- Stay in Normal view and select Add.
- Enter the variable name exactly as the application expects it, such as
API_URLorNODE_ENV. - Enter the value. Check for leading or trailing spaces; they become part of the value in many applications.
- Choose the build-time and runtime scope deliberately.
- Select Add variable, then save the environment-variable changes.
Use the application’s documented spelling and capitalization. Environment-variable names are conventionally uppercase with underscores, but Coolify does not translate a misspelled key into the name your code expects.
Developer view: paste dotenv-formatted entries
Developer view is useful when you already have a block of dotenv-style configuration. For example:
NODE_ENV=production
API_URL=https://api.example.com
LOG_LEVEL=infoEach non-comment line contains a key, an equals sign, and its value. Lines beginning with # are ignored, so you can annotate a block:
# Public service endpoint
API_URL=https://api.example.com
# Application mode
NODE_ENV=productionUse Normal view for locked secrets and multiline values. Developer view is intended for dotenv-formatted entries, not for safely formatting a private key or certificate that spans several lines.
Names and values that commonly cause mistakes
- Do not add spaces around the equals sign unless the consuming application explicitly expects them.
- Preserve URL schemes, port numbers, and required path components.
- Check whether the application expects a Boolean such as
trueor a quoted string; environment variables arrive as text. - Do not paste a shell command such as
export API_URL=...when the field expects dotenv syntax. - Keep comments on their own lines in Developer view.
Save, restart, or redeploy?
Saving a variable does not by itself alter a running container. Coolify’s documented instruction is: “Save the variables, then redeploy or restart the application so Coolify recreates the runtime environment.” Choose the lifecycle action based on the scope of the change.
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| What changed? | Action | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Build-time value | Start a new deployment | The image or build output may depend on the value, so the build must run again. |
| Runtime-only value | Restart the application | The existing image can be reused while the container is recreated with a new environment. |
| Both build and runtime | Start a new deployment | Both the image and the running container may need the changed value. |
A restart cannot retroactively change files that were generated during an earlier image build. Conversely, rebuilding is unnecessary for a purely runtime setting when the image itself remains valid. If the application caches configuration internally, its own reload behavior may require a full process restart even after Coolify has recreated the container.
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Handle passwords, tokens, and private keys safely
Treat passwords, access tokens, private keys, certificates, and connection strings as secrets. Limit who can view or edit them, avoid copying them into tickets or chat, and do not print them from diagnostic commands or application logs.
Multiline values
Private keys and certificates often contain line breaks. In Normal view, set the value type to Multiline and preserve the complete content, including required header and footer lines. Do not flatten a PEM key into one line unless the application specifically documents an escaped format.
Literal interpolation for dollar signs
If a secret contains dollar signs that must remain unchanged, set interpolation to Literal. Otherwise, a value containing interpolation syntax can be interpreted rather than passed byte-for-byte as entered. This matters for generated passwords, signing material, and connection strings that include dollar signs.
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Build-time secret exposure
Build-time secrets need special care. Coolify warns that traditional Docker build arguments can appear in image metadata. A token passed as a conventional build argument may therefore remain discoverable in the resulting image or its history even if the final application never uses it at runtime.
When the build server supports it, use BuildKit build secrets for sensitive build-time data instead of ordinary Docker build arguments. Design the build so the secret is mounted only for the command that needs it and is not copied into the image filesystem or emitted by a log statement. A secret that is safe at runtime is not automatically safe during an image build.
Use an external secret manager when central control is needed
Coolify documents integrations with Doppler, Infisical, and HashiCorp Vault. These systems can supply resolved secrets to an application without requiring each secret to be manually maintained in every application form.
Resolved secrets are redacted from deployment logs. A change to a secret used by the build still requires a deployment; redaction does not make a new image appear automatically. A runtime-only secret can normally be applied with a restart when no image rebuild is needed.
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External management is most useful when several services share credentials, when rotation is governed outside the deployment platform, or when audit and access controls need to be centralized. It adds integration configuration and another dependency, so a small single-application deployment may be simpler with Coolify’s own protected variable fields.
Share variables across projects, environments, or servers
Shared variables reduce repeated entry. Coolify can define a shared variable at team, project, environment, or server scope. Reference it from an application with the corresponding expression:
| Scope | Reference format |
|---|---|
| Team | {{team.VARIABLE_NAME}} |
| Project | {{project.VARIABLE_NAME}} |
| Environment | {{environment.VARIABLE_NAME}} |
| Server | {{server.VARIABLE_NAME}} |
Creating a shared variable does not attach it automatically to every application. Add the reference to the application’s own variable configuration first. If an application has no reference, changing the shared value has no effect on that application.
Use the narrowest scope that matches the ownership of the value. A project-level database setting should not be promoted to team scope merely because several applications currently use it. Shared references also deserve the same build/runtime decision as direct values: mark the application reference for the phase that consumes it.
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Coolify supplies predefined values that can be useful in application configuration and deployment scripts, including:
COOLIFY_FQDNCOOLIFY_URLCOOLIFY_BRANCHCOOLIFY_RESOURCE_UUIDCOOLIFY_CONTAINER_NAMESOURCE_COMMITPORTHOST
SOURCE_COMMIT is excluded from Docker builds by default. If the build needs the commit identifier—for example, to embed a version string—enable its build availability. A value available to the running container is not automatically available while the image is being created.
Before depending on a predefined value, confirm the phase in which your command reads it and whether the deployment type supplies it. The names above are exact; use them without changing capitalization.
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Environment variables in Docker Compose applications
Coolify detects variable references in Compose files and presents them as application variables. Common forms include:
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environment:
DATABASE_URL: ${DATABASE_URL}
LOG_LEVEL: ${LOG_LEVEL:-info}
API_KEY: ${API_KEY:?}Direct substitution
${DATABASE_URL} requires Coolify to provide DATABASE_URL. The Compose service receives the substituted value when the application is deployed.
Defaults
${LOG_LEVEL:-info} uses info when LOG_LEVEL is empty or unset, according to Compose substitution behavior. Use a default only when silently accepting that fallback is safe.
Required values
${API_KEY:?} marks the value as required. Deployment is blocked while the required value is empty. This is preferable to allowing a service to start with an unusable credential and fail later in a less obvious way.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Manage variables with the Coolify CLI
The official CLI is useful for repeatable setup and CI workflows. Create one variable with:
coolify app env create <application-uuid> --key API_URL --value https://api.example.comSynchronize a dotenv file with:
coolify app env sync <application-uuid> --file .env.productionSynchronization updates matching keys and creates missing ones. It does not delete variables that are absent from the file, so removing a line from .env.production is not a deletion operation in Coolify. Remove obsolete values explicitly through the appropriate application settings when that is the intended result.
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Deploy by UUID:
coolify deploy uuid <application-uuid>You can also deploy by name when your CLI workflow uses application names. Afterward, inspect the deployment and application state with:
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coolify app logs <application-uuid>Do not put sensitive values in command arguments when avoidable. Shell history, CI output, process inspection, and copied command transcripts can retain them. Prefer a protected file, an interactive mechanism, or a secret-manager integration, and ensure the file permissions and CI masking rules are appropriate.
Verify that the value reached the right phase
Verification should prove availability without printing the secret itself. Check a non-sensitive variable, a Boolean presence test, or the application’s documented health behavior rather than dumping the complete environment.
- Confirm the key spelling in Coolify matches the application’s expected name.
- Confirm the variable is attached to the correct application, especially when using a shared-variable reference.
- Check whether the consuming command runs during image build or after container startup.
- Confirm the selected scope includes that phase.
- Save the change and perform the required restart or deployment.
- Review the deployment status and logs for errors, while ensuring the application does not echo secret values.
- Test the feature that consumes the setting, such as a database connection or API request.
Troubleshoot the most common failures
The application says the variable is missing during build
The variable is probably Runtime only. Change its scope to include build time, save, and launch a new deployment. A restart cannot make a build-time value appear in an already-created image.
The running container still has the old value
Saving alone does not recreate the runtime environment. Restart the application for a runtime-only change, or deploy again when the value also affects the build. Confirm that you edited the intended application rather than a similarly named project or environment.
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Check that the application contains a reference such as {{project.VARIABLE_NAME}}. Defining the shared variable at team, project, environment, or server level does not attach it automatically.
A Compose deployment is blocked
Look for a required expression such as ${API_KEY:?}. Supply a non-empty value in the application’s Environment Variables settings, then retry the deployment. If the value should be optional, revise the Compose expression to use an explicitly safe default rather than leaving a required marker.
A private key is malformed
Re-enter it in Normal view as a Multiline value and preserve every line break and delimiter. Also check whether interpolation is changing dollar signs; select Literal when the characters must pass through unchanged.
A build secret appears in logs or image history
Stop using a conventional Docker build argument for that secret. Rotate the exposed credential, remove it from image layers where possible, and switch to BuildKit build secrets when supported. Avoid commands that print the secret while testing the replacement.
Choose the management method that fits the application
| Method | Best for | Lifecycle requirement | Secret exposure considerations | Repeatability and verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard Normal view | Careful manual edits, locked secrets, and multiline values. | Restart for runtime-only changes; deploy for build-time changes. | Values stay in the application configuration; protect dashboard access and avoid copying them elsewhere. | Easy to review visually, but manual repetition is error-prone across many applications. |
| Dashboard Developer view | Bulk dotenv-formatted entry. | The same restart/deployment distinction applies. | Convenient for pasting, but a pasted block can expose several secrets at once; use Normal view for locked and multiline values. | Fast for a known file format, with less per-key visual checking. |
| CLI | Automation, provisioning, and repeatable deployments. | Run the appropriate deploy or restart workflow after changes. | Command arguments and CI logs can retain secrets; use protected inputs and masking. | Highly repeatable; deployment, application, and log commands provide scriptable checks. |
| Shared-variable reference | Values reused by applications within a defined team, project, environment, or server scope. | Restart or deploy affected applications according to their selected phase. | Centralizes access, but every application reference must be controlled. | Reduces duplication; verify both the shared definition and the application attachment. |
| External secret manager | Central rotation, audit controls, and multi-application secret delivery. | Build consumers still require a new deployment; runtime consumers generally require a restart. | Resolved secrets are redacted from deployment logs, but integration access must be secured. | Strong central repeatability, with additional integration and availability dependencies. |
A practical pre-deployment checklist
- The variable name exactly matches the code, Dockerfile, build hook, or Compose file.
- The value is attached to the intended Coolify application.
- Build-time and runtime availability match the phase that consumes it.
- Multiline secrets use the Multiline type.
- Dollar signs that must remain literal use Literal interpolation.
- Build-time credentials do not rely on exposed Docker build arguments.
- Shared variables are referenced by the application rather than merely defined at a higher scope.
- Compose required expressions have non-empty values before deployment.
SOURCE_COMMIThas build availability enabled if the image build needs it.- The change has been saved, followed by a restart or deployment as appropriate.
- CLI commands and CI logs do not reveal secret values.
- Deployment status and a non-secret functional check confirm the new configuration.
What to remember
Coolify environment variables are application configuration with an explicit lifecycle. Add them under the application’s Environment Variables screen or through the CLI, decide independently whether the build and the running container need each value, and then recreate the affected environment. Use protected multiline and literal settings for sensitive formats, BuildKit secrets for sensitive build inputs, shared references when duplication is the problem, and an external secret manager when centralized rotation and access control justify the added integration.
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