Use config() Instead of env() in Application Code

Call env() only inside configuration files and use config() throughout your application code to prevent missing values when configuration is cached.

A foundational Laravel convention is keeping env() calls confined strictly to files in the config/ directory while reading settings across controllers, services, and models via config().

The Common Mistake

It is tempting to read environment variables directly inside application code:

// ❌ Don't call env() directly in application code
$stripeKey = env('STRIPE_KEY');

While this works during local development when .env is loaded on every request, it breaks in production when configuration caching is enabled.

The Laravel Way

Environment variables should be accessed inside configuration files, and application code should read from Laravel's configuration repository:

// config/services.php
return [
    'stripe' => [
        'key' => env('STRIPE_KEY'),
    ],
];

Application code then retrieves the setting through config():

// ✅ Read the configured value
$stripeKey = config('services.stripe.key');

The application does not need to know where the value originated; it accesses the value through Laravel's unified configuration repository.

Why config:cache Matters

In production, optimizing performance involves running:

php artisan config:cache

Once configuration is cached, Laravel combines all files in config/*.php into a single cached file and ignores the .env file during requests and Artisan commands.

When .env is not loaded:

• config('services.stripe.key') reads the compiled value from the configuration cache.
• Calling env('STRIPE_KEY') directly in application code bypasses the configuration cache and returns null, unless an external operating system environment variable of the same name is explicitly defined on the host server.

Enforce It with Pest

You can enforce this convention automatically using a Pest architecture test:

// tests/ArchitectureTest.php
arch('globals')
    ->expect(['env'])
    ->not->toBeUsed();

This test flags any direct env() usage in your application code before code is merged or deployed.

Catch It with Larastan

Larastan includes static analysis rules to detect env() usage outside configuration files.

The larastan.noEnvCallsOutsideOfConfig rule (enabled by default in Larastan 3.x) analyzes your codebase and reports violations:

Called 'env' outside of the config directory which returns null when the config is cached, use 'config'.

Quick Rule

.env → env() → config/*.php → config() → application code

• env() belongs in config/*.php files.
• config() belongs everywhere else in application code.