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Function Signature

async function maybeSecretInt(
  key: string
): Promise<number | undefined>

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Parameters

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key
string
required
The environment variable name that points to the secret file path

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Returns

Promise<number | undefined> - The integer value from the secret file, or undefined if not found

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How It Works

This is the optional variant of secretInt. It reads secrets from the filesystem without throwing errors when the file is missing:
  1. Checks if the environment variable key contains a file path
  2. If no path is set, defaults to /run/secrets/{key}
  3. Reads the file contents and parses it as an integer
  4. Returns undefined if the secret file doesn’t exist (instead of throwing)
  5. Still throws an error if the file exists but contains an invalid number

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Difference from secretInt

  • maybeSecretInt: Returns undefined when the secret file is missing
  • secretInt: Throws an error when the secret file is missing (unless a fallback is provided)
Use maybeSecretInt for truly optional integer secrets where absence is a valid state.

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Example

import { maybeSecretInt } from "@nore/load-env"

// Returns undefined if the secret doesn't exist
export const MAX_RETRIES = await maybeSecretInt("MAX_RETRIES")

const retries = MAX_RETRIES ?? 3 // Default to 3 if not set
console.log(`Max retries: ${retries}`)

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Error Handling

Returns undefined if:
  • The secret file doesn’t exist
  • The file is empty
Throws an error if:
  • The file exists but cannot be parsed as a number (NaN)

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