Environment Variables on Render

Render exposes configuration to services as environment variables. Values are always strings at the platform layer—applications must parse numbers, booleans, and structured data explicitly.

There are three primary ways to set variables:

1. Render Dashboard — per-service UI, bulk import from .env, save/redeploy options
2. Blueprint — envVars (and related keys) in render.yaml
3. MCP / API — e.g. update_environment_variables on a service

Deep wiring patterns, full platform variable tables, and language-specific notes live under references/.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when users want to: