Configuration and the .env file

Settings are the values the site depends on: its address, language, database access. In CodeIgniter they are stored in classes in the app/Config folder, one class per subject. Values that differ between your computer and the server are overridden in the .env file.

Config files

Each setting is a public property of the class with a comment above it.

Reading a setting

The config() function returns the config object:

// app/Controllers/Home.php
public function index(): string
{
    return 'Site address: ' . config('App')->baseURL;
}

The home page shows "Site address: http://localhost:8080/". The argument is the name of a class from app/Config.

Your own config file

Your own values — the number of posts per page, the blog name — are best kept in a separate class:

php spark make:config Blog

The command creates the file app/Config/Blog.php. Add properties to it:

// app/Config/Blog.php
namespace Config;
 
use CodeIgniter\Config\BaseConfig;
 
class Blog extends BaseConfig
{
    public string $name = 'My blog';
    public int $perPage = 10;
}

Now the value is available anywhere in the project as config('Blog')->perPage.

Overriding in .env

A line in .env replaces the value of a property. The line name is the class name in lowercase, a dot, and the property name:

CI_ENVIRONMENT = development
 
app.baseURL = 'http://localhost:8080/'
blog.perPage = 5

The file app/Config/Blog.php itself does not change, but config('Blog')->perPage returns 5. This way the same code works with different values on different computers.

Environments

The CI_ENVIRONMENT line sets the environment:

If the line is missing, production applies. The php spark env command prints the current environment; in code it is available as the ENVIRONMENT constant.

Common mistake

The .env file contains passwords and must not get into the repository: in a new project it is already listed in .gitignore. Because of that it does not exist on the server — after the project is moved, the file is created there by hand. Do not write passwords in the app/Config classes: those files are stored with the code and visible to everyone with access to the repository.