Environment Configuration

Configure Sentry for different deployment environments

Properly configuring environments helps you organize issues, filter noise, and apply environment-specific settings.

Setting the Environment

The environment option identifies where your code is running:

import * as Sentry from '@sentry/browser';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: 'production',
});

Using Environment Variables

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development',
});

Common environment names: production, staging, development, qa, test

Environment-Specific Configuration

Conditional Initialization

Only initialize Sentry in certain environments:

if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
  Sentry.init({
    dsn: '__DSN__',
    environment: 'production',
  });
}

Different Settings Per Environment

const sentryConfig = {
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
};

if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production') {
  sentryConfig.tracesSampleRate = 0.1; // 10% in production
  sentryConfig.debug = false;
} else if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'staging') {
  sentryConfig.tracesSampleRate = 0.5; // 50% in staging
  sentryConfig.debug = false;
} else {
  sentryConfig.tracesSampleRate = 1.0; // 100% in development
  sentryConfig.debug = true;
}

Sentry.init(sentryConfig);

Environment Variables

Node.js

import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT,
  release: process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE,
});

Browser (with Build Tools)

Using Webpack DefinePlugin or similar:

// webpack.config.js
const webpack = require('webpack');

module.exports = {
  plugins: [
    new webpack.DefinePlugin({
      'process.env.SENTRY_DSN': JSON.stringify(process.env.SENTRY_DSN),
      'process.env.NODE_ENV': JSON.stringify(process.env.NODE_ENV),
    }),
  ],
};

Then in your code:

import * as Sentry from '@sentry/browser';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
});

Vite

Vite automatically exposes environment variables prefixed with VITE_:

// .env.production
VITE_SENTRY_DSN=https://[e-mail]/project-id
VITE_SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production

import * as Sentry from '@sentry/browser';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: import.meta.env.VITE_SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: import.meta.env.VITE_SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT,
});

Development vs Production

Disabling in Development

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
  enabled: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'development',
});

Disabling Sentry in development means you won’t catch development-only bugs. Consider using filtering instead.

Development-Specific Settings

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.NODE_ENV,
  debug: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',
  tracesSampleRate: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ? 1.0 : 0.1,
});

Browser Extension Detection

The Browser SDK automatically detects browser extensions and disables itself by default:

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  // Default: skipBrowserExtensionCheck: false
  // Set to true to allow Sentry in browser extensions
  skipBrowserExtensionCheck: true,
});

Multiple Environments in the Same Project

Use environments to segment data in your Sentry project:

// Production deployment
Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: 'production',
  release: 'my-app@1.0.0',
});

// Staging deployment
Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: 'staging',
  release: 'my-app@1.0.0-staging',
});

Then in Sentry’s UI, filter by environment to see only relevant issues.

Server-Side Environment Detection

Express.js

import express from 'express';
import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';

const app = express();

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: app.get('env'), // 'development' or 'production'
});

Cloud Platforms

Vercel

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.VERCEL_ENV, // 'production', 'preview', or 'development'
});

AWS Lambda

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.AWS_EXECUTION_ENV ? 'production' : 'development',
});

Netlify

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: process.env.CONTEXT, // 'production', 'deploy-preview', or 'branch-deploy'
});

Framework-Specific Configuration

Next.js

Next.js supports .env.local, .env.production, etc.:

# .env.production
NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN=https://[e-mail]/project-id
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production

// sentry.client.config.ts
import * as Sentry from '@sentry/nextjs';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN,
  environment: process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT,
});

SvelteKit

// hooks.server.ts
import * as Sentry from '@sentry/sveltekit';
import { dev } from '$app/environment';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  environment: dev ? 'development' : 'production',
});

Best Practices

Use consistent environment names

Choose a standard set of environment names and use them consistently across all your projects. Common choices:

• production
• staging
• development
• qa / test

Don't hardcode sensitive values

Never commit DSN or other sensitive configuration to source control. Use environment variables:

// ❌ Bad
Sentry.init({ dsn: 'https://[e-mail]/123' });

// ✅ Good
Sentry.init({ dsn: process.env.SENTRY_DSN });

Configure sampling per environment

Production environments may need lower sampling rates to control volume:

const isProduction = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  tracesSampleRate: isProduction ? 0.1 : 1.0,
  replaysSessionSampleRate: isProduction ? 0.01 : 0.1,
});

Enable debug mode in development

Debug mode helps troubleshoot SDK issues during development:

Sentry.init({
  dsn: '__DSN__',
  debug: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production',
});

Next Steps

Sampling Configuration

Control data volume with sampling rates

Filtering Events

Filter events before sending to Sentry