[Best Practice] Boolean Values in Config Files

Dear all,

thanks for this wonderful package. I recently stumbled upon an issue where i would like to get your input on how to deal with this properly (e.g., best practice).

Consider the following config file:

// config/debug.ts
export default {
  debug_mode: process.env.APP_DEBUG || false,
};

Basically, it reads the .env file to get the APP_DEBUG config value, otherwise it is set to false. Now, if i want to use it like this in a service:

if (configService.get('debug.debug_mode', false) === true) {
   // do something that needs to be done, if the debug mode is enabled, e.g., extensive logging
}

this is never executed, because the value, that is read from the .env file is interpreted as string (e.g., typeof configService.get('debug.debug_mode') is string and not boolean as one would guess.

How do you deal with boolean values in .env files specifically? For now, the best approach for me is as follows

// "cast" it as boolean
const enabled = !! configService.get('debug.debug_mode', false);
if (enabled === true) { /* ... */ }

What would you suggest? All the best

[michaelyali]

Hi guys! Let me share my approach if you don’t mind 😃

import { get } from 'env-var';

export default {
  version: get('SERVER_VERSION', 'v1').asString(),
  port: get('SERVER_PORT', '3000').asIntPositive(),
};

Cheers!

[johannesschobel]

i just tried the env-var approach and it works like a charm! I really (!) like it!