Environment Variables

When you run ctx use <name>, these environment variables are set automatically based on your context configuration.

Context Metadata

Variable	Description
`CTX_CURRENT`	Current context name
`CTX_ENVIRONMENT`	Environment type (development, staging, production)

AWS

Variable	Description
`AWS_PROFILE`	AWS CLI profile name (when not using aws-vault)
`AWS_REGION`	AWS region
`AWS_DEFAULT_REGION`	AWS default region
`AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	Temporary access key (when using aws-vault)
`AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	Temporary secret key (when using aws-vault)
`AWS_SESSION_TOKEN`	Session token (when using aws-vault)

See AWS Provider for details.

GCP

Variable	Description
`CLOUDSDK_ACTIVE_CONFIG_NAME`	gcloud configuration name
`CLOUDSDK_CORE_PROJECT`	GCP project ID
`GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT`	GCP project ID
`CLOUDSDK_CONFIG`	Per-context gcloud config directory

See GCP Provider for details.

Azure

Variable	Description
`AZURE_CONFIG_DIR`	Per-context Azure CLI config directory
`AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID`	Azure subscription ID

See Azure Provider for details.

HashiCorp Tools

Variable	Description
`NOMAD_ADDR`	Nomad server address
`NOMAD_NAMESPACE`	Nomad namespace
`CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR`	Consul server address
`VAULT_ADDR`	Vault server address
`VAULT_NAMESPACE`	Vault namespace

See HashiCorp Vault for details.

Git

Variable	Description
`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`	Git commit author name
`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	Git commit author email
`GIT_COMMITTER_NAME`	Git committer name
`GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL`	Git committer email

Databases

PostgreSQL

Variable	Description
`PGHOST`	PostgreSQL host
`PGPORT`	PostgreSQL port
`PGDATABASE`	PostgreSQL database name
`PGUSER`	PostgreSQL username

MySQL

Variable	Description
`MYSQL_HOST`	MySQL host
`MYSQL_TCP_PORT`	MySQL port
`MYSQL_DATABASE`	MySQL database name

Redis

Variable	Description
`REDIS_HOST`	Redis host
`REDIS_PORT`	Redis port

MongoDB

Variable	Description
`MONGODB_HOST`	MongoDB host
`MONGODB_PORT`	MongoDB port

Proxy

Variable	Description
`HTTP_PROXY`	HTTP proxy URL
`http_proxy`	HTTP proxy URL (lowercase)
`HTTPS_PROXY`	HTTPS proxy URL
`https_proxy`	HTTPS proxy URL (lowercase)
`NO_PROXY`	Proxy bypass list
`no_proxy`	Proxy bypass list (lowercase)

Both uppercase and lowercase variants are set for maximum compatibility.

See Proxy Configuration for details.

Custom Environment Variables

Any variables defined in the env: section are set directly:

env:
  ENVIRONMENT: production
  PROJECT: myproject
  LOG_LEVEL: info
  MY_CUSTOM_VAR: custom_value

Secrets

Secrets fetched from providers are injected as environment variables:

secrets:
  bitwarden:
    DB_PASSWORD: "prod-database"      # Sets DB_PASSWORD
  aws_secrets_manager:
    API_KEY: "prod/api-keys#stripe"   # Sets API_KEY

See Secrets Management for details.

Variable Precedence

When the same variable is set by multiple sources, the order of precedence (highest to lowest):

Secrets (from password managers / cloud secret services)
Custom env: section
Provider-specific variables (AWS, GCP, etc.)
Context metadata (CTX_CURRENT, CTX_ENVIRONMENT)

Checking Variables

After switching context, check what's set:

# Check specific variable
echo $AWS_PROFILE

# Check all ctx-related variables
env | grep -E '^(CTX_|AWS_|GOOGLE_|AZURE_|VAULT_|NOMAD_|CONSUL_)'

# Check proxy variables
env | grep -i proxy