Environment variables

Configure environment variables

Use environment variables to avoid hard-coding secrets and to parameterize your test runs:

• Upload one or more .env files (up to 5 MB each) by dragging and dropping into the upload area:
  • You can upload .env, .yaml, .yml, .json, .properties, .ini, or .cfg files.
  • After upload, the variables become available to your test run.
• Manually add key–value pairs:
  • Click Add Variable, then enter the Key and Value.
  • Your variables are saved for this run and applied during execution.
  • Use the bin icon to delete any key-value pair

Enable masking in UI Builder

To mask a variable when using the UI Builder:

1. Select the closed-eye icon next to the variable name you want to mask.
2. The variable value is then hidden wherever sensitive values should not be exposed.

Where masked values are not exposed:

• UI Builder editor
• Public-facing interfaces

Where masked values remain visible:

• Test execution on BrowserStack (for debugging purposes)

Configure environment variables

The env config lets you pass an array of name-value string pairs to set environment variables on the remote machines where tests are executed.
Currently, a maximum of 20 pairs is allowed (masked and non-masked variables count together toward this limit).

Environment variables can be set using any one of the following two methods:

Inline variables

Declare each variable with a name and value. BrowserStack injects these pairs into the test environment.

File-based variables

Use sources to reference one or more files containing environment variables (for example, .env files). Use variables to add or override specific pairs.
Result: the system loads values from files first, then applies overrides.

env:
  sources:
   - path/to/env/file
  variables:
   - name: "variable1"
     value: "value1"
   - name: "variable2"
     value: "value2"

Enable masking in CLI

To mask a variable in your YAML configuration, set isMasked: true for that variable:

Where masked values are not exposed:

• Public-facing test runner interfaces

Where masked values remain visible:

• BrowserStack web console (for debugging)
• Test execution environment (required for tests to run)

env:
  variables:
   - name: "API_KEY"
     value: "sk-prod-abc123xyz"
     isMasked: true
   - name: "PUBLIC_URL"
     value: "https://api.example.com"