npm adds whitespace when setting env variable in package.json

Question

I have a pre-written package.json file for an app which I need to modify. More specifically, I want to change the NODE_PORT environment variable through the package.json file and I'm working on a Windows machine.

In the package.json I have several scripts that I run through npm when I like to spin up an instance of the app.

For example:

set NODE_PORT=80&& set NODE_ENV=test&& pm2 install pm2-logrotate&& pm2 start app.js -i max -o ./logs/access.log -e ./logs/err.log --time --name Test

This script for example works fine.

However, when I'm trying to set the NODE_PORT variable to 8080 (that's the port I need) like so:

set NODE_PORT=8080&& set NODE_ENV=parallel_test&& pm2 install pm2-logrotate&& pm2 start app.js -i max -o ./logs/parallel_access.log -e ./logs/parallel_err.log --time --name Parallel_Test

a whitespace at the end of the variable gets added.

I verified this by printing out the number of chars of $process.env.NODE_PORT in the log file which prints 5. Moreover the login for the app via Google crashes as the redirect link of the app doesn't match with the one in the Google Cloud Platform. That is:

app: http://localhost:8080 /auth/check-google vs. Google Cloud Platform: http://localhost:8080/auth/check-google

Any idea why this is happening?

Answer 1

i have faced similar issue recently. Handled it with .trimEnd() while adding variables with dotenv . But I think using cross-env can solve your problems.

Most Windows command prompts will choke when you set environment variables with NODE_ENV=production like that. (The exception is Bash on Windows, which uses native Bash.) Similarly, there's a difference in how windows and POSIX commands utilize environment variables. With POSIX, you use: $ENV_VAR and on windows you use %ENV_VAR%.

Adding this inside your script: " cross-env NODE_PORT=8080... "