[BUG] The dotenv-vault UI sometimes replaces escaped newline characters with actual newline characters, breaking the config

[oconnorjoseph]

We've run into trouble when using https://vault.dotenv.org/ui/ to edit our environmental variables. Many of our environmental variables contain escaped newline characters (\n). Our environmental variable values are sometimes wrapped in quotes (""s), like NEXT_PUBLIC_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID="blumint-development" and sometimes they are not, like FB_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY={ "type": "service_account", ....

1. Sometimes editing a value via the UI will cause the entire environmental configuration file to replace all escped newline characters with actual newline characters. I cannot tell you the exact steps to replicate the issue.

   • This can cause dotenv-vault to create new environmental variables by accident. For example:

     GOOGLE_SHEETS_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\nMIgEvgIBADANagkqhkiG440BAQEFAASCBKgc`
     

     turns into:

     GOOGLE_SHEETS_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
     MIgEvgIBADANagkqhkiG440BAQEFAASCBKgc
     

     which turns into something like:

     GOOGLE_SHEETS_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_PRIVATE_KEY="-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
     MIgEvgIBADANagkqhkiG440BAQEFAASCBKgc=""
     

2. Sometimes editing a value via the UI will cause escaped newline characters to be replace with literal 'n' characters. Again, I cannot tell you the exact steps to replicate the issue.

[motdotla]

Hi @oconnorjoseph. I'll investigate.

Also, have you seen dotenvx ?

My current overarching timeline for things is:

1. Recommend dotenvx going forward (active)
2. Release dotenvx pro (coming soon)
3. Merge dotenv-vault into dotenvx pro (end of 2025)

We learned a lot with dotenv-vault and it is a great tool, but dotenvx with dotenvx pro unlocks a lot more for the community while still maintaining a source of revenue for us and team features for small and medium businesses.

Basically everything currently in dotenv-vault will make its way into dotenvx pro - except that we are deprecating the .env.vault format. The underlying format will become the encrypted .env format.