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vercel env add defaults Production and Preview variables to sensitive

Introduced 2026-04-20 · score 0.96

HOW TO USE IT

When adding a variable to Production or Preview, run `vercel env add` and it defaults to sensitive; pass `--no-sensitive` to request the prior encrypted behavior. For Development, add it separately and omit `--sensitive`.

vercel env add <NAME> <production|preview>
vercel env add <NAME> <development>
vercel env add <NAME> <production|preview> --no-sensitive

WHY THIS HELPS

Add an environment variable to a Vercel Production or Preview target, or to Development when that target is selected.

BEFORE THIS CHANGE

Production and Preview variables defaulted to encrypted and remained readable later; `--sensitive` could request sensitive storage. For Development, `--sensitive` silently fell back to encrypted, and a mixed target selection could not share a record type.

REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS

  • Version: 51.8.0
  • <NAME> (required): Environment variable name; positional argument.
  • <production|preview|development> (required): Target environment; positional argument. Add Development separately from Production or Preview.
  • --sensitive: Marks a variable sensitive; release note says it errors when Development is selected.
  • --no-sensitive: New flag to request encrypted behavior for Production or Preview; on a team enforcing sensitive variables it is a no-op with a warning.
  • Prerequisite: Run from a Vercel project context; the documentation describes adding variables to a Vercel Project.
  • Prerequisite: Enter the variable value when prompted, or provide it through stdin using the documented command form.
  • Sensitive values are encrypted at rest and cannot be retrieved later via the dashboard or CLI; they are still resolved for builds, deployments, `vercel env pull`, and runtime.
  • Development is always stored as encrypted; sensitive is not supported by the Vercel API for Development.
  • A mixed Development and Production/Preview selection errors; add Development separately.
  • Passing `--sensitive` with Development errors up-front.
  • Passing `--sensitive` and `--no-sensitive` together errors.
  • On teams with the Enforce Sensitive Environment Variables policy enabled, `--no-sensitive` is a no-op for Production/Preview because the server promotes the variable regardless.

FIRST-PARTY EVIDENCE

Check the installed version and the source before using it. Entry JSON

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