Getting Started with envbee: Application Configuration, Separate from CI/CD

Introduction

Modern applications depend on dozens of environment variables, API keys, and configuration values. Keeping all of these consistent across local development, staging, and production quickly becomes a challenge.
envbee was built to simplify this process, centralizing application configuration by environment, separately from the pipeline that deploys it.

This article gives a quick overview of what envbee is, how it works, and how you can start using it today.

What is envbee?

envbee helps engineering teams manage application configuration outside their CI/CD settings. It provides:

• A clean dashboard for storing and organizing configs
• Strong access control
• Import and export of .env files
• SDKs for multiple languages
• A simple API for automation

Whether you’re building microservices, deploying serverless functions, or maintaining multiple environments, envbee gives you one place to manage configuration values.

Core concepts

1. Applications and Environments

Each application in envbee can contain multiple environments—for example:

• development
• staging
• production

You can define variables for an application and set separate values for each environment.

2. Access and encrypted values

Profiles and environment permissions control access to configuration. The SDKs can locally decrypt AES-256-GCM encrypted values using a separately supplied key. Public dashboard and API connections use HTTPS. See the access controls and encryption support.

3. Optional SDK integration

envbee offers SDKs for:

• .NET
• Node.js
• Python

Use the API or an SDK to fetch values during deployment or at application startup. Runtime SDK integration is optional.

Example (Node.js):

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const envbeeInit = require("envbee-sdk");

const client = envbeeInit({
  key: process.env.ENVBEE_API_KEY,
  secret: process.env.ENVBEE_API_SECRET
});

// Credentials select the application and environment.
// Call this from your application startup code.
async function loadConfiguration() {
  return { databaseUrl: await client.get("DATABASE_URL") };
}

Using the envbee dashboard

You can manage everything visually through the app:

👉 https://app.envbee.dev/

From there you can:

• Add application configuration variables
• Organize values by application and environment
• Search and filter
• Import and export .env files per environment
• Invite teammates and manage roles

The interface is simple and designed for teams that want clarity instead of spreadsheet chaos.

API access

For automation, envbee exposes a clean REST API:

👉 https://docs.envbee.dev/reading-first-variable

Use it to:

• Fetch configuration for CI pipelines
• Integrate envbee into custom deployment workflows

Best Practices for teams

1. Use separate environments
   Keep development and production configs cleanly isolated.

2. Avoid hardcoding secrets
   Fetch configuration during deployment or at startup using the API or an optional SDK.

3. Review configuration changes
   Review values for the target environment before deploying and validate required settings in your deployment or application.

4. Automate where possible
   CI/CD pipelines can fetch configs automatically before deploys.

Conclusion

envbee separates application configuration from deployment configuration. If you’re starting a new project—or you’re tired of juggling .env files—envbee gives you a centralized, reliable way to store and sync configuration across your entire stack.

Ready to try it out?

👉 Visit the landing page: https://www.envbee.dev
👉 Explore the docs: https://docs.envbee.dev/