LOG_CHANNEL=stack LOG_LEVEL=debug
To master .env.dist.local, you must understand the precedence order used by frameworks like Symfony's Dotenv component.
Consider a typical Symfony or Laravel application. When the application boots, it loads environment variables in this order (lowest to highest precedence): .env.dist.local
Wait — why does .env.dist.local load after .env.local? Actually, the correct model in Symfony is:
But in practice, many teams use .env.dist.local as the source of truth that developers copy to .env.local. LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_LEVEL=debug
To master
Add a CI job that runs:
# Check that all keys in .env.dist.local exist in .env.local (if user has one)
# Or detect if any secret-like pattern appears in .env.dist.local
grep -E "SECRET|KEY|PASSWORD|TOKEN" .env.dist.local && echo "WARNING: Dummy values look real!" || true
The .env.dist.local file is a convention used in many development projects to distribute a template of environment variables that are necessary for the application to run. This file usually contains key-value pairs that define various settings and credentials required by the application, such as database connections, API keys, and other sensitive information. Wait — why does
| File | Version Control | Purpose | Typical content |
|------|----------------|---------|----------------|
| .env.dist.local | ✅ Committed | Blueprint for local dev env vars | DATABASE_URL=mysql://root@127.0.0.1:3306/app |
| .env.local | ❌ Gitignored | Actual local overrides (user-specific) | DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:pass@127.0.0.1:3306/app |
| .env.testing | ✅ Committed (or sample) | Test suite config | DATABASE_URL=sqlite:///:memory: |
If a developer runs cp .env.dist.local .env.local, they instantly have a working local configuration that respects the project's required variables.