Managing Multiple Environments in Node.js Development, Staging, and Production

Managing Multiple Environments in Node.js

Every Node.js application goes through multiple environments: development, staging, and production. Each needs different configuration.

The Three Environments

Using .env Files per Environment

.env.development    # Local development
.env.staging        # Staging server
.env.production     # Production server
.env.example        # Template (committed to Git)

// Load the right .env based on NODE_ENV
const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || "development";
require("dotenv").config({ path: `.env.${env}` });

console.log(`Running in ${env} mode`);
console.log(`Database: ${process.env.MONGODB_URI}`);

.env.development

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/devtinder_dev
JWT_SECRET=dev_secret_not_for_production
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173
LOG_LEVEL=debug

.env.staging

NODE_ENV=staging
PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://staging-user:[email protected]/devtinder_staging
JWT_SECRET=staging_secret_different_from_dev
CLIENT_URL=https://staging.yourdomain.com
LOG_LEVEL=info

.env.production

NODE_ENV=production
PORT=3000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://prod-user:[email protected]/devtinder_prod
JWT_SECRET=production_secret_long_random_string
CLIENT_URL=https://app.yourdomain.com
LOG_LEVEL=warn

Using a Configuration Module

Instead of accessing process.env directly everywhere, centralize config:

// src/config/index.js
require("dotenv").config();

const config = {
  env: process.env.NODE_ENV || "development",
  port: parseInt(process.env.PORT) || 3000,
  mongoUri: process.env.MONGODB_URI,
  jwtSecret: process.env.JWT_SECRET,
  jwtExpiresIn: process.env.JWT_EXPIRES_IN || "7d",
  clientUrl: process.env.CLIENT_URL,
  logLevel: process.env.LOG_LEVEL || "info",
  isDev: process.env.NODE_ENV === "development",
  isProd: process.env.NODE_ENV === "production",
  isStaging: process.env.NODE_ENV === "staging"
};

// Validate
const required = ["mongoUri", "jwtSecret"];
const missing = required.filter(key => !config[key]);
if (missing.length > 0) {
  throw new Error(`Missing config: ${missing.join(", ")}`);
}

module.exports = config;

Usage:

const config = require("./config");

app.listen(config.port, () => {
  console.log(`Server running on port ${config.port} in ${config.env} mode`);
});

if (config.isDev) {
  console.log("Development mode   verbose logging enabled");
}

Environment-Specific Behavior

// Different cookie settings per environment
const cookieOptions = {
  httpOnly: true,
  maxAge: 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,
  ...(config.isProd && {
    secure: true,
    sameSite: "none"
  }),
  ...(config.isDev && {
    sameSite: "lax"
  })
};

// Different logging levels
if (config.isDev) {
  app.use(morgan("dev"));  // Verbose
} else {
  app.use(morgan("combined"));  // Standard
}

// Different CORS origins
const corsOrigins = {
  development: "http://localhost:5173",
  staging: "https://staging.yourdomain.com",
  production: "https://app.yourdomain.com"
};

app.use(cors({
  origin: corsOrigins[config.env],
  credentials: true
}));

Setting NODE_ENV

Local development:

# In .env.development
NODE_ENV=development

# Or in package.json scripts
"scripts": {
  "dev": "NODE_ENV=development nodemon src/server.js",
  "start": "NODE_ENV=production node src/server.js"
}

On EC2:

# In .env.production
NODE_ENV=production

# Or in PM2 ecosystem file
module.exports = {
  apps: [{
    name: "devtinder-api",
    script: "src/server.js",
    env: {
      NODE_ENV: "production"
    }
  }]
};

The Takeaway

Managing multiple environments involves: using separate .env files per environment (.env.development, .env.staging, .env.production), loading the right file based on NODE_ENV, centralizing config in a config module with validation, using environment-specific behavior (cookie settings, CORS, logging), and setting NODE_ENV in package.json scripts or PM2 ecosystem files. Always use different secrets per environment.