Contexts for previews and customers

Give each preview or customer its own values with context create --from.

Sep 26, 2026 · 3 min read

One list of variables, a context for each place. A new context can copy another. Production is locked.

One context per place

A context is a set of values for one place your app runs. Every context has the same variables. A preview deploy or a customer install is one more context.

Copy from development

npx getmyenv context create "Preview 42" --from development
npx getmyenv context create "Customer Acme" --from development

The slug comes from the name: preview-42, customer-acme. --from copies ciphertext on the server without decrypting. The CLI creates open contexts and copies from open contexts only.

Change what differs

npx getmyenv set -c customer-acme API_BASE_URL=https://acme.example.com
npx getmyenv set -c customer-acme STRIPE_SECRET_KEY   # prompts for the value

npx getmyenv ls shows variable names by context with status. Never values.

Run one

npx getmyenv run customer-acme -- npm start
npx getmyenv context use customer-acme   # make it this folder's default

A missing value in that context stops the run and names it. Pass --allow-missing to run anyway.

Lock the ones that matter

In the dashboard, open the context settings and switch it to Locked. After that, only a server token bound to it can read it, and the CLI is read-only there.