Configuration and Secrets

Never hardcode: - database passwords - API keys - URLs

They change and must be protected.

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Use environment variables

```bash export DB_URL="sqlite:///scraped.db" export API_KEY="secret123" ```

```python import os

db_url = os.getenv("DB_URL") api_key = os.getenv("API_KEY") ```

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Use .env file (with python-dotenv)

``` DB_URL=sqlite:///scraped.db API_KEY=secret123 ```

```python from dotenv import load_dotenv load_dotenv() ```

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Why config matters - safe secrets - different envs (dev, prod) - easy changes without code edit

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Graph: config flow

```mermaid flowchart LR A[Env / Config File] --> B[App] B --> C[DB / APIs] ```

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Remember - Never commit secrets to git - Use env vars for sensitive data - Keep config separate from logic