jdx/mise · error

Environment variable

Error message

Environment variable {} not found

What it means

`mise set get` (mise set --get / `mise set` with a key filter) looks up each requested key in the environment map computed from all config sources (`env_with_sources`), which already includes decrypted values. If a requested key is not present in any active config's [env] directives, mise aborts with this error instead of printing anything. It is a user-facing lookup failure indicating the variable simply is not defined in the current environment context.

Solutions

1. Run `mise env` to list all environment variables mise actually manages and confirm the exact key name.
2. Add the key to an [env] block in the appropriate mise.toml (or run `mise set KEY=value` to write it).
3. Check you are in the project directory (or use --cd) so the config file defining the variable is loaded.

Example fix

// before: key not in any [env]
mise set API_URL
// error: Environment variable API_URL not found

// after: define it first, then get
[env]
API_URL = "https://api.example.com"
$ mise set API_URL

if mise env | grep -qx 'API_URL=.*'; then mise set API_URL; else echo 'API_URL not managed by mise' >&2; fi

if ! value=$(mise set API_URL 2>/dev/null); then value="${API_URL_DEFAULT:-}"; fi

When it happens

Trigger: Running `mise set <key>` (get path) where `config.env_with_sources()` returns no entry for the requested key — e.g. the key is defined in a different mise environment/directory, was removed from mise.toml, or was never set.

Common situations: Typo in the variable name; variable defined only in a project-level mise.toml while running from another directory; variable removed by a teammate's config change; expecting a shell-exported variable to be managed by mise when it is not in any [env] block.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

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AI-assisted analysis of jdx/mise@533346cc37 (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5f58a6fbd47967e1. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/cli/set.rs:305

                    None // Fall back to global config if no local config exists
                }
            }
        } else {
            None
        };

        let filter = self.env_vars.unwrap();

        // Handle global config case first
        if config_path.is_none() {
            let config = Config::get().await?;
            let env_with_sources = config.env_with_sources().await?;
            // env_with_sources already contains decrypted values
            for eva in filter {
                if let Some((value, _source)) = env_with_sources.get(&eva.key) {
                    miseprintln!("{value}");
                } else {
                    bail!("Environment variable {} not found", eva.key);
                }
            }
            return Ok(());
        }

        // Get the config to access directives directly
        let config = MiseToml::from_file(&config_path.unwrap()).unwrap_or_default();

        // For local configs, check directives directly
        let env_entries = config.env_entries()?;
        for eva in filter {
            match env_entries.iter().find_map(|ev| match ev {
                EnvDirective::Val(k, v, _) if k == &eva.key => Some((v.clone(), Some(ev))),
                EnvDirective::Age {
                    key: k, value: v, ..
                } if k == &eva.key => Some((v.clone(), Some(ev))),
                _ => None,
            }) {

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