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The application uses environment variables to configure MongoDB connections and other runtime settings.

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Required Variables

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MONGODB_URI

Required: Yes
Type: String
Description: MongoDB connection string The connection string for your MongoDB database. Supports both standard and SRV formats. 
# MongoDB Atlas (recommended for production)
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://username:[email protected]/?retryWrites=true&w=majority

# Local MongoDB
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017

# MongoDB with authentication
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://username:password@host:27017/database?authSource=admin
The application will throw an error if MONGODB_URI is not defined: MONGODB_URI no está definida en .env

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MONGODB_DB

Required: No
Type: String
Default: portafolio
Description: Database name to use in MongoDB Specifies which database to query for NFQ events. 
MONGODB_DB=portafolio

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MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ

Required: No
Type: String
Default: nfq
Description: Collection name for NFQ events Specifies which collection contains the NFQ (No Failure Questions) events. 
MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ=nfq

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Configuration by Environment

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Local Development

Create a .env file in the project root: 
# .env
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017
MONGODB_DB=portafolio
MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ=nfq
The application uses dotenv to load these variables: 
import * as dotenv from "dotenv";
import { resolve } from "path";

dotenv.config({ path: resolve(process.cwd(), ".env"), override: false });
The override: false option means environment variables already set in process.env take precedence over the .env file.

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Docker Deployment

Pass environment variables when running the container: 
docker run -p 3000:3000 \
  -e MONGODB_URI="mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/?retryWrites=true&w=majority" \
  -e MONGODB_DB="portafolio" \
  -e MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ="nfq" \
  portfolio-javier-navas

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Cloud Platforms

Each cloud platform has its own method for setting environment variables: 
# Task Definition JSON
{
  "containerDefinitions": [{
    "environment": [
      {
        "name": "MONGODB_URI",
        "value": "mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]"
      },
      {
        "name": "MONGODB_DB",
        "value": "portafolio"
      },
      {
        "name": "MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ",
        "value": "nfq"
      }
    ]
  }]
}

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Security Best Practices

Never commit .env files or environment variables containing secrets to version control.

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Protecting Credentials

  1. Add to .gitignore
# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
  1. Use secrets management for production:
    • AWS Secrets Manager
    • Google Secret Manager
    • Azure Key Vault
    • HashiCorp Vault
  2. URL-encode special characters in connection strings: 
# If password is p@ssw0rd!
# Encode as: p%40ssw0rd%21
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://user:p%40ssw0rd%[email protected]
  1. Rotate credentials regularly and update environment variables
  2. Use read-only credentials when the application doesn’t need write access

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Environment-Specific Variables

Maintain separate configurations for each environment: 
# .env.development
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017
MONGODB_DB=portafolio_dev

# .env.staging
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://staging:[email protected]
MONGODB_DB=portafolio_staging

# .env.production
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://prod:[email protected]
MONGODB_DB=portafolio

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Validation

The application validates that MONGODB_URI is set at runtime: 
const uri = process.env.MONGODB_URI;
if (!uri) throw new Error("MONGODB_URI no está definida en .env");
If the variable is missing, the application will crash on startup with a clear error message.

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Example .env File

Here’s a complete example .env file: 
# MongoDB Configuration
MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://portfolio_user:[email protected]/?retryWrites=true&w=majority
MONGODB_DB=portafolio
MONGODB_COLLECTION_NFQ=nfq

# Optional: Node environment
NODE_ENV=production

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Troubleshooting

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Variable Not Loading

  1. Verify .env file is in the project root
  2. Check file has no syntax errors (no spaces around =)
  3. Restart the development server after changes
  4. Ensure the file is not named .env.txt or similar

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Connection String Issues

  1. Special characters: URL-encode special characters in passwords
  2. Whitespace: Remove any trailing spaces from values
  3. Quotes: Don’t use quotes around values in .env files
# Correct
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017

# Incorrect
MONGODB_URI="mongodb://localhost:27017"
MONGODB_URI = mongodb://localhost:27017

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Production vs Development

If variables work locally but not in production:
  1. Verify environment variables are set in your deployment platform
  2. Check that the platform restarts the application after setting variables
  3. Review platform-specific logs for configuration errors
  4. Ensure secrets are not masked or truncated

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Next Steps

MongoDB Setup

Configure MongoDB database and collections

Docker Deployment

Deploy using Docker containers

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