Default Node.js process.env variables in GCP cloud functions and app engine

Discovering the default process.env variables provided in cloud functions and app engine services on Google Cloud Platform covering Node.js 16, 18 and 20 as well as Gen1 and Gen2 functions. Including a simple project for retrieving the values.

For cloud functions or app engine services using Node.js runtimes GCP will provide a default set of environment variables accessible through process.env. In this article we will explore how this env vars look like for different versions of Node.js in these GCP services.

A very simple project for deploying the needed functions and app engine services to discover these env vars in your own GCP account is also provided.

Table of Contents

Cloud functions environment variables

See below for the default process.env variables provided by GCP cloud functions with different Node.js runtimes. Click the link to call a provided function and retrieve the most current result.

Node.js 20 Gen2
Node.js 20
Node.js 18 Gen2
Node.js 18
Node.js 16 Gen2
Node.js 16

{
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  K_REVISION: "node20-gen2-get-env-00003-sip",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PORT: "8080",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  HOME: "/root",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  K_SERVICE: "node20-gen2-get-env",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs20",
  SHLVL: "0",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  K_CONFIGURATION: "node20-gen2-get-env",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 20 Gen2 env vars for cloud functions

{
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  K_REVISION: "3",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PORT: "8080",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  HOME: "/root",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_go112: "410",
  K_SERVICE: "node20-get-env",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs20",
  SHLVL: "0",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_nodejs6: "410",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 20 env vars for cloud functions

{
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  K_REVISION: "node18-gen2-get-env-00003-gic",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PORT: "8080",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  HOME: "/root",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  K_SERVICE: "node18-gen2-get-env",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs18",
  SHLVL: "0",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  K_CONFIGURATION: "node18-gen2-get-env",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 18 Gen2 env vars for cloud functions

{
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  K_REVISION: "3",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PORT: "8080",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  HOME: "/root",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_go112: "410",
  K_SERVICE: "node18-get-env",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs18",
  SHLVL: "0",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_nodejs6: "410",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 18 env vars for cloud functions

{
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  HOME: "/root",
  DEBIAN_FRONTEND: "noninteractive",
  PORT: "8080",
  K_REVISION: "node16-gen2-get-env-00003-rok",
  K_SERVICE: "node16-gen2-get-env",
  SHLVL: "1",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs16",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  K_CONFIGURATION: "node16-gen2-get-env",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 16 Gen2 env vars for cloud functions

{
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_nodejs6: "410",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  FUNCTION_TARGET: "getEnv",
  GCF_BLOCK_RUNTIME_go112: "410",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=192",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  HOME: "/root",
  DEBIAN_FRONTEND: "noninteractive",
  PORT: "8080",
  K_REVISION: "3",
  K_SERVICE: "node16-get-env",
  SHLVL: "1",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs16",
  FUNCTION_SIGNATURE_TYPE: "http",
  PATH: "/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  _: "/layers/google.nodejs.functions-framework/functions-framework/node_modules/.bin/functions-framework"
}

Link: Get Node.js 16 env vars for cloud functions

App engine environment variables

See below for the default process.env variables provided by GCP app engine with different Node.js runtimes. Click the link to call a provided service and retrieve the most current result.

Node.js 20
Node.js 18
Node.js 16

{
  S2A_ACCESS_TOKEN: "xxxx",
  GAE_MEMORY_MB: "384",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  GAE_INSTANCE: "00c61b117c1d6452581b06dcb5f23b1f1bc9a6c6aaebd47203070aa80a23270580b3af586743534bbd4012aa004c1437350e8cda1dc423b4be",
  HOME: "/root",
  PORT: "8081",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=300 ",
  GAE_SERVICE: "node20-get-env",
  PATH: "/srv/node_modules/.bin/:/workspace/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  GAE_DEPLOYMENT_ID: "454320553896815573",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT: "tsmx-gcp",
  GAE_ENV: "standard",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  GAE_APPLICATION: "h~tsmx-gcp",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs20",
  GAE_VERSION: "20230819t221144",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22"
}

Link: Get Node.js 20 env vars for app engine

{
  S2A_ACCESS_TOKEN: "xxxx",
  GAE_MEMORY_MB: "384",
  LANGUAGE: "en_US:en",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  GAE_INSTANCE: "00c61b117cf7b9059c648a310d860a5f66a16dc1761710ac82df9a38392a9624cbdebd451f3978bb6cfc0640f5680590beee2d4afe3b214a879c",
  HOME: "/root",
  PORT: "8081",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=300 ",
  GAE_SERVICE: "node18-get-env",
  PATH: "/srv/node_modules/.bin/:/workspace/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  CNB_GROUP_ID: "33",
  CNB_USER_ID: "33",
  GAE_DEPLOYMENT_ID: "454320535647197464",
  LANG: "en_US.UTF-8",
  GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT: "tsmx-gcp",
  GAE_ENV: "standard",
  GAE_APPLICATION: "h~tsmx-gcp",
  LC_ALL: "en_US.UTF-8",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs18",
  GAE_VERSION: "20230819t221044",
  NODE_ENV: "production",
  CNB_STACK_ID: "google.gae.22"
}

Link: Get Node.js 18 env vars for app engine

{
  S2A_ACCESS_TOKEN: "xxxx",
  NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER: "true",
  GAE_MEMORY_MB: "384",
  GAE_INSTANCE: "00c61b117c641ca0a31d2baf0347dc63fc3e870aee7b8707eccebd1f31d5b5372af69bd5178f08349fb3f3ee5ac460efeae28ed842e96fe861",
  HOME: "/root",
  PORT: "8081",
  NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=300 ",
  GAE_SERVICE: "node16-get-env",
  PATH: "/srv/node_modules/.bin/:/workspace/node_modules/.bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin",
  GAE_DEPLOYMENT_ID: "454320521333239759",
  DEBIAN_FRONTEND: "noninteractive",
  GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT: "tsmx-gcp",
  GAE_ENV: "standard",
  GAE_APPLICATION: "h~tsmx-gcp",
  PWD: "/workspace",
  GAE_RUNTIME: "nodejs16",
  GAE_VERSION: "20230819t220949",
  NODE_ENV: "production"
}

Link: Get Node.js 16 env vars for app engine

Project for discovering process.env in different services and runtimes

Alongside with this article the gcp-get-env project is provided on GitHub. This simple Node.js solution ships a function and an express application that can be deployed either as a GCP cloud function or an app engine service. Simply use the provided scripts in package.json to deploy as a function or service with different runtimes.

For that you’ll need an active GCP account and a configured and ready-to-go gcloud CLI on your machine. For details on the installation & configuration see here.

The following deployment scripts are provided in package.json. Simply call npm run [scriptname] to deploy.

scriptname	deploys	function/service name
`deploy-node16-func`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 16 Gen 1	`node16-get-env`
`deploy-node16-func-gen2`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 16 Gen 2	`node16-gen2-get-env`
`deploy-node18-func`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 18 Gen 1	`node18-get-env`
`deploy-node18-func-gen2`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 18 Gen 2	`node18-gen2-get-env`
`deploy-node20-func`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 20 Gen 1	`node20-get-env`
`deploy-node20-func-gen2`	cloud function with runtime Node.js 20 Gen 2	`node20-gen2-get-env`
`deploy-node16-gae`	app engine service with runtime Node.js 16	`node16-get-env`
`deploy-node18-gae`	app engine service with runtime Node.js 18	`node18-get-env`
`deploy-node20-gae`	app engine service with runtime Node.js 20	`node20-get-env`

Please note that the deployed functions and services would be publicly accessable and may cause charges to your GCP account.

Happy coding 🙂

Cloud functions environment variables

App engine environment variables

Project for discovering process.env in different services and runtimes

Useful links