# Setting Environment Variables

> Learn how to set environment variables in your Remix Supabase project and how to use them in your code.

*Canonical: https://makerkit.dev/docs/remix-supabase/how-to/setup/environment-variables-setup*

---

Makerkit ships with some environment variables pre-configured for you.

If you don't have experience with environment variables, you can think of them as a way to store configuration values for your project.

Remix ships with a `.env` file that contains the following variables:

```bash
DEFAULT_LOCALE=en
SITE_URL=http://localhost:3000

# set the below to "production" in your production environment
ENVIRONMENT=development

# SUPABASE
SUPABASE_URL=http://localhost:54321
SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=

# STRIPE
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=

# EMAIL
EMAIL_HOST=
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=
EMAIL_PASSWORD=
EMAIL_SENDER='MakerKit Team <info@makerkit.dev>'
```

NB: Remix only used the `.env` file during development. If you want to use environment variables in production, you need to set them in your hosting provider.

## If I set mt variables in Vercel/another hosting provider, do I still need to set them in my project?

No. If you set your environment variables in your hosting provider, you don't need to set them in your project.

## Can I add secrets to my environment variables, like my OpenAI API key?

**No.** You should never add secrets to your environment variables. Instead, you should use your CI provider to set them.

## Does Remix automatically load my environment variables?

No - or better - only during development. Which means that you need to set them in your hosting provider if you want to use them in production.