# 🔧 Environment Configuration Guide

## 🌍 Overview
This project uses **environment variables** to manage configuration across different environments (development, staging, production, etc.). These variables are loaded from `.env` files and can be overridden at multiple levels.

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## 📌 **Environment Variable Priority (Lowest to Highest)**

| 🔢 Priority | 📄 Source | 🔍 Description |
|------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 1️⃣ **Fallback Values** | hardcoded defaults | Used only if no other configuration is provided |
| 2️⃣ **Global Defaults** | `.env.all` | Shared settings for all services |
| 3️⃣ **Service-Specific Overrides** | `.env.backend`, `.env.proxy`, etc. | Overrides `.env.all` with service-specific values |
| 4️⃣ **Shell Environment Variables** | `export VAR=value` before running | Takes precedence over `.env` files |
| 5️⃣ **CLI Overrides** | `docker compose --env-file` or `-e VAR=value` | **Highest priority** (for temporary overrides) |

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## 🔄 **Overwriting Behavior**
- 🏗 **Variables defined in `.env.all`** override fallback values.
- 🏗 **Variables defined in `.env.<service>`** (e.g., `.env.backend`) override `.env.all`.
- 🔧 **Manually exported environment variables** in the shell take priority over `.env` files.
- 🚀 **Variables passed via CLI (`--env-file` or `-e VAR=value`)** override everything.

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## 🚀 **Best Practices**
✔️ **Use `.env.all` for global configurations** (e.g., `ENVIRONMENT=development`, `INFRASTRUCTURE_LABEL=myinfra`).  
✔️ **Use `.env.<service>` for service-specific configurations** (e.g., `.env.backend` for Laravel, `.env.database` for MariaDB).  
✔️ **If needed, manually override variables in the shell** using `export VAR=value`.  
✔️ **Use CLI `--env-file` for temporary overrides** in testing/debugging scenarios.  

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## 🏗 **Example File Structure**
```sh
/env/
  ├── .env.all                  # Global default variables
  ├── development/
  │   ├── .env.backend          # Backend service config for development
  │   ├── .env.database         # Database config for development
  │   ├── .env.proxy            # Proxy config for development
  ├── staging/
  │   ├── .env.backend          # Backend service config for staging
  │   ├── .env.database         # Database config for staging
  ├── production/
  │   ├── .env.backend          # Backend service config for production
  │   ├── .env.database         # Database config for production