> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.krypthq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Projects and environments

> How Krypt organizes your secrets

Krypt organizes secrets into **projects**, each with three fixed **environments**. This page explains how they work together.

## Projects

A project in Krypt represents one application or service — your frontend app, your API server, your mobile backend, etc. Each project has:

* Its own set of secrets (environment variables)
* Its own team members and permissions
* Three separate environments

Create projects from the [Krypt dashboard](https://krypthq.com/dashboard) or list your existing ones with:

```bash theme={null}
krypt list
```

## Environments

Every project has three fixed environments:

| Environment   | Purpose                | Example `DATABASE_URL`                      |
| ------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `development` | Local dev work         | `postgres://localhost:5432/myapp_dev`       |
| `staging`     | Pre-production testing | `postgres://staging-db.internal:5432/myapp` |
| `production`  | Live application       | `postgres://prod-db.internal:5432/myapp`    |

The same secret keys exist across environments but hold different values. This mirrors how most teams deploy — the same app runs in multiple places with different configuration.

## The .krypt file

When you run `krypt init`, it creates a `.krypt` file in your project directory:

```json theme={null}
{
  "project": "my-app",
  "environment": "development"
}
```

This tells the CLI which project and default environment to use when you run `krypt push`, `krypt pull`, or `krypt run` from that directory.

<Note>
  Add `.krypt` to your `.gitignore`. It contains your local binding and should not be committed.
</Note>

## Switching environments

Override the default environment with the `--env` flag on any command:

```bash theme={null}
krypt pull --env staging
```

```bash theme={null}
krypt push --env production
```

```bash theme={null}
krypt run --env staging -- npm test
```

```bash theme={null}
krypt diff --envA development --envB production
```

The `--env` flag is temporary — it doesn't change your `.krypt` file. Your default remains whatever you set with `krypt init`.

## Why three fixed environments?

We considered supporting custom environment names but kept it to three. Most teams follow the development → staging → production flow, and three covers that without adding configuration complexity. If you need a separate environment for a feature branch, use a separate project (e.g. `my-app-feature-x`).

## Next steps

* [Roles and permissions](/concepts/roles-and-permissions) — control who can access and edit each environment