# Environment variables

Supervisely has the set default environment variables, Supervisely Application has access to them and we recommend using the same variables during development and debugging.

{% hint style="info" %}
Environment variables are case-sensitive.
{% endhint %}

For development and debugging purposes you can manually **copy the ID to a clipboard** for every item you are working on: team, workspace, project, dataset, image, labeling job, team member, etc... Just open the context menu of the item and press **`Copy ID`** button.

![](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/12828725/180638373-7f0d81c1-9e53-454e-82c6-50abd184bd00.png)

## **.ENV file**

For convenient development and debugging we recommend using `.env` files to avoid hardcoding test variables into your sources and [keep private your passwords, secrets, and other sensitive information](https://developer.supervisely.com/getting-started/pages/2TS0DqIIblacweum1NCW#use-.env-file-recommended). Also, it allows avoiding accidentally committing (exposing) these values to a git repository.

Save `.env` file to `~/supervisely.env` [with your credentials](/getting-started/basics-of-authentication.md). The content of this file will look something like this:

```python
SERVER_ADDRESS="https://app.supervisely.com"
API_TOKEN="4r47N.....blablabla......xaTatb" 
```

Also with every tutorial, guide, and demo application you will find `local.env` file that contains other environment variables used for debugging. For example:

```python
# change the Project ID to your value
PROJECT_ID=12208 # ⬅️ change it
```

And then load it in your python code using **`is_development`** method:

```python
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import supervisely as sly

if sly.is_development():
    load_dotenv("local.env")
    load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/supervisely.env"))

api = sly.Api.from_env()
```

{% hint style="info" %}
**`is_development`** and **`is_production`** methods are used to check the environment variable that tells if the app is spawned in IDE in debug mode on localhost or spawned on the platform (production mode).
{% endhint %}

## Basic usage principle

Environment variables could be read both with a pure python, and with our SDK. **`TEAM_ID`** variable will be used down below for an example, this logic cn be applied to every variable.

Read environment variable with pure python:

```python
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import supervisely as sly

if sly.is_development():
    load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/supervisely.env"))
    load_dotenv("local.env")

team_id = int(os.environ["TEAM_ID"])
```

Read environment variable with our SDK:

```python
import supervisely as sly
from dotenv import load_dotenv

if sly.is_development():
    load_dotenv(os.path.expanduser("~/supervisely.env"))
    load_dotenv("local.env")

team_id = sly.env.team_id()
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Keep in mind that every example in our portal features reading environment variables with SDK methods.
{% endhint %}

It is important to note that reading method for every variable in our SDK has an optional **`raise_not_found`** flag with default value `True`. It means that an exception is raised if an env variable is not found.

Sometimes it is convenient to set this argument **`raise_not_found`** as False when you, for example, wait for either **`PROJECT_ID`** or **`DATASET_ID`** variable, and you don't want an exeption to be raised every time either of those is not found.

It is also worth mentioning that it is possible to use legacy variable names, like the **`context.teamId`** for compatibility purposes.

## Video tutorial

Here is a quick demo on environment variables usage in python:

{% embed url="<https://youtu.be/maW29yDgQlI>" %}
Video tutorial - environment variables usage for python developers
{% endembed %}

{% hint style="info" %}
You can try example shown in the video for yourself: find the repository with this app on [GitHub](https://github.com/supervisely-ecosystem/example-creds-storage).
{% endhint %}

## Environment variables

Here is a list of environment variables you could use in app development.

### **`SERVER_ADDRESS`**

address of your Supervisely instance, for Community Edition the value should be `https://app.supervisely.com`. For the Enterprise Edition the value is custom and depends on your configuration. Learn more [here](/getting-started/basics-of-authentication.md#server_address-env). This variable is always passed to an App.

### **`API_TOKEN`**

Your personal access token for authentication. Learn more [here](/getting-started/basics-of-authentication.md#api_token-env). This variable is always passed to an App.

We recommend reading **`API_TOKEN`** and **`SERVER_ADDRESS`** variables from a seperate environment file, as those variables are essential to authenticate in Supervisely platfrom, and thus are always passed to an App. Learn more about authentication [here](/getting-started/basics-of-authentication.md).

### **`TASK_ID`**

When you run an app on Supervisely, the platform creates a task for this app to store all relevant information for this task (logs, persistent data, cache, temporary files, ...). Task ID is needed to access this data (read or write). This variable is always passed to an App.

![Aplication task on page "Workspace tasks"](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/12828725/180637942-73b9b411-8251-48f6-a0bf-3b341346d55e.png)

How to read **`TASK_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
task_id = sly.env.task_id()
```

### **`TEAM_ID`**

The ID of the currently opened team. This variable is always passed to an App.

![Current team](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/12828725/180637662-83b572ee-c49f-41df-9114-241b92207e82.png)

How to read **`TEAM_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
team_id = sly.env.team_id()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.teamId`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_TEAMID`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`WORKSPACE_ID`**

The ID of the currently opened workspace. This variable is always passed to an App.

![Current workspace](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/12828725/180637666-c3778b97-f616-4f93-9c8c-e66b82da0257.png)

How to read **`WORKSPACE_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
workspace_id = sly.env.workspace_id()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.workspaceId`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_WORKSPACEID`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`USER_LOGIN`**

Name of the user who run (spawned) current application session (`task_id`).

How to read **`USER_LOGIN`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
user_login = sly.env.user_login()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.userLogin`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_USERLOGIN`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`USER_ID`**

ID of the user who run (spawned) current application session (`task_id`).

How to read **`USER_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
user_id = sly.env.user_id()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.userId`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_USERID`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`APP_NAME`**

Name of the app that is being spawned.

```python
app_name = sly.env.app_name()
```

The application name that you use in this variable is only used while debugging. The production name of the app is defined in configuration file.

### **`PROJECT_ID`**

It is set when an app is spawned from the context menu of a project. For apps, that are running on agents with version <= `6.6.6`, please use \*\*`modal.state.slyProjectId` \*\* or be sure that you are using the latest version of the Supervisely Agent (recommended).

How to read **`PROJECT_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
project_id = sly.env.project_id()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.projectId`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_PROJECTID`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`DATASET_ID`**

It is set when an app is spawned from the context menu of a dataset. For apps, that are running on agents with version <= `6.6.6`, please use \*\*`modal.state.slyDatasetId` \*\* or be sure that you are using the latest version of the Supervisely Agent (recommended).

How to read **`DATASET_ID`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
dataset_id = sly.env.dataset_id()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.datasetId`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_DATASETID`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`FOLDER`**

It is set when an app is spawned from the context menu of a folder in Team Files. For apps, that are running on agents with version <= `6.6.9`, please use \*\*`modal.state.slyFolder` \*\* or be sure that you are using the latest version of the Supervisely Agent (recommended).

How to read **`FOLDER`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
folder = sly.env.folder()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.slyFolder`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_SLYFOLDER`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.

### **`FILE`**

It is set when an app is spawned from the context menu of a file in Team Files. For apps, that are running on agents with version <= `6.6.9`, please use \*\*`modal.state.slyFile` \*\* or be sure that you are using the latest version of the Supervisely Agent (recommended).

How to read **`FILE`** from environment file with SDK:

```python
env_file = sly.env.file()
```

Alternative env is duplicated for compatibility: **`context.slyFile`**

Some Docker images do not support env names with dot `.` symbols. For such cases, the alternative variable **`CONTEXT_SLYFILE`** is available starting from Agent version `>=6.7.0`.


---

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