render-env-vars

Configure environment variables in render.yaml by defining envVars entries within your service block. You can set per-service values, reference environment groups, or use generateValue to auto-create secrets, with sync: false ensuring values persist independently across updates.

Environment groups let you share a set of variables across multiple services, while per-service envVars are scoped to an individual service. When both exist, Render applies precedence rules to determine which value takes priority at runtime.

Render mounts secret files under the /etc/secrets directory at runtime. Your application reads individual files from this path to access sensitive values, keeping them separate from standard environment variables injected by the platform.

Yes, Render supports cross-service references in environment variables, allowing you to wire database connection strings or outputs from other services directly into your service configuration via Dashboard entries or render.yaml blueprints.

Use MCP or API workflows to automate rotating and updating secret values, combined with render.yaml blueprints to enforce configuration as code. This prevents drift and ensures synchronization across services unless sync: false is explicitly set.

Environment variable changes in the Dashboard require a service redeploy to take effect at runtime. If sync: false is set in your render.yaml, the value also will not be overwritten by blueprint deployments, preserving manually set secrets.