bluwy · May 4, 2026 · Apr 30, 2026 · Apr 30, 2026 · Apr 30, 2026 · Apr 30, 2026
diff --git a/.changeset/late-animals-drive.md b/.changeset/late-animals-drive.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@changesets/changelog-github": patch
+---
+
+Use `parseEnv` instead of `dotenv` to load the `.env` file and avoid loading them to `process.env`
diff --git a/.changeset/tricky-spies-hunt.md b/.changeset/tricky-spies-hunt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@changesets/get-github-info": patch
+---
+
+Automatically load `GITHUB_` environment variables from `.env` file
diff --git a/packages/changelog-github/src/index.ts b/packages/changelog-github/src/index.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
+import { parseEnv } from "node:util";
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
 import type { ChangelogFunctions } from "@changesets/types";
-import { config } from "dotenv";
 import { getInfo, getInfoFromPullRequest } from "@changesets/get-github-info";
 
-config();
-
 // "match what you skip, capture what you want": the left alternative
 // consumes markdown links so the right alternative only matches bare refs
 function linkifyIssueRefs(
@@ -17,9 +17,28 @@ function linkifyIssueRefs(
   );
 }
 
-function readEnv() {
+async function readEnvFile() {
+  const envFile = path.resolve(process.cwd(), ".env");
+  let content: string | undefined;
+  try {
+    content = await fs.readFile(envFile, "utf-8");
+  } catch {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return parseEnv(content);
+}
+
+let cachedEnv: ReturnType<typeof readEnvFile> | undefined;
+function readEnvFileCached() {
+  cachedEnv ??= readEnvFile();
+  return cachedEnv;
+}
+
+async function readEnv() {
   const GITHUB_SERVER_URL =
-    process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL || "https://github.com";
+    process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL ||
+    (await readEnvFileCached()).GITHUB_SERVER_URL ||
+    "https://github.com";
   return { GITHUB_SERVER_URL };
 }
 
@@ -59,7 +78,7 @@ const changelogFunctions: ChangelogFunctions = {
     return [changesetLink, ...updatedDepenenciesList].join("\n");
   },
   getReleaseLine: async (changeset, type, options) => {
-    const { GITHUB_SERVER_URL } = readEnv();
+    const { GITHUB_SERVER_URL } = await readEnv();
     if (!options || !options.repo) {
       throw new Error(
         'Please provide a repo to this changelog generator like this:\n"changelog": ["@changesets/changelog-github", { "repo": "org/repo" }]',

diff --git a/packages/get-github-info/README.md b/packages/get-github-info/README.md
@@ -9,25 +9,11 @@
 
 > Note: This assumes you already have changesets setup.
 
-To use `@changesets/get-github-info`, you'll need to install it and you'll probably also want `dotenv` to provide a GitHub personal access token via a `.env` file.
+You can use `@changesets/get-github-info` like this if you have a [custom changelog formatter](https://github.com/changesets/changesets/blob/main/docs/modifying-changelog-format.md).
 
-```bash
-yarn add --dev @changesets/get-github-info dotenv
-```
-
-or
-
-```bash
-npm install --save-dev @changesets/get-github-info dotenv
-```
-
-Then you can use it in your `.changeset/config.js` like this.
-
-```jsx
-import dotenv from "dotenv";
+```js
 import { getInfo } from "@changesets/get-github-info";
 
-dotenv.config();
 // ...
 
 const getReleaseLine = async (changeset, type) => {
@@ -53,7 +39,7 @@ const getReleaseLine = async (changeset, type) => {
 // ...
 ```
 
-You'll need to [get a GitHub personal access token](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=read:user,repo:status&description=changesets) with `read:user` and `repo:status` permissions, and add it to a `.env` file.
+You'll need to [get a GitHub personal access token](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=read:user,repo:status&description=changesets) with `read:user` and `repo:status` permissions, and add it to a `.env` file (it'll be loaded automatically).
 
 ```bash
 GITHUB_TOKEN=token_here

diff --git a/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts b/packages/get-github-info/src/index.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,36 @@
 import DataLoader from "dataloader";
+import { parseEnv } from "node:util";
+import fs from "node:fs/promises";
+import path from "node:path";
 
-function readEnv() {
+async function readEnvFile() {
+  const envFile = path.resolve(process.cwd(), ".env");
+  let content: string | undefined;
+  try {
+    content = await fs.readFile(envFile, "utf-8");
+  } catch {
+    return {};
+  }
+  return parseEnv(content);
+}
+
+let cachedEnv: ReturnType<typeof readEnvFile> | undefined;
+function readEnvFileCached() {
+  cachedEnv ??= readEnvFile();
+  return cachedEnv;
+}
+
+async function readEnv() {
   const GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL =
-    process.env.GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL || "https://api.github.com/graphql";
+    process.env.GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL ||
+    (await readEnvFileCached()).GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL ||
+    "https://api.github.com/graphql";
   const GITHUB_SERVER_URL =
-    process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL || "https://github.com";
-  const GITHUB_TOKEN = process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN;
+    process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL ||
+    (await readEnvFileCached()).GITHUB_SERVER_URL ||
+    "https://github.com";
+  const GITHUB_TOKEN =
+    process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN || (await readEnvFileCached()).GITHUB_TOKEN;
   return { GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL, GITHUB_SERVER_URL, GITHUB_TOKEN };
 }
 
@@ -33,9 +58,7 @@ function makeQuery(repos: ReposWithCommitsAndPRsToFetch) {
             ${repos[repo]
               .map((data) =>
                 data.kind === "commit"
-                  ? `a${data.commit}: object(expression: ${JSON.stringify(
-                      data.commit,
-                    )}) {
+                  ? `a${data.commit}: object(expression: ${JSON.stringify(data.commit)}) {
             ... on Commit {
             commitUrl
             associatedPullRequests(first: 50) {
@@ -86,7 +109,8 @@ function makeQuery(repos: ReposWithCommitsAndPRsToFetch) {
 // getReleaseLine will be called a large number of times but it'll be called at the same time
 // so instead of doing a bunch of network requests, we can do a single one.
 const GHDataLoader = new DataLoader(async (requests: RequestData[]) => {
-  const { GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL, GITHUB_SERVER_URL, GITHUB_TOKEN } = readEnv();
+  const { GITHUB_GRAPHQL_URL, GITHUB_SERVER_URL, GITHUB_TOKEN } =
+    await readEnv();
   if (!GITHUB_TOKEN) {
     throw new Error(
       `Please create a GitHub personal access token at ${GITHUB_SERVER_URL}/settings/tokens/new?scopes=read:user,repo:status&description=changesets-${new Date()
@@ -129,11 +153,7 @@ const GHDataLoader = new DataLoader(async (requests: RequestData[]) => {
 
   if (data.errors) {
     throw new Error(
-      `Fetched data from GitHub returned errors\n${JSON.stringify(
-        data.errors,
-        null,
-        2,
-      )}`,
+      `Fetched data from GitHub returned errors\n${JSON.stringify(data.errors, null, 2)}`,
     );
   }
 

diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
@@ -2086,11 +2086,6 @@ doctrine@^3.0.0:
   dependencies:
     esutils "^2.0.2"
 
-dotenv@^16.4.7:
-  version "16.4.7"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dotenv/-/dotenv-16.4.7.tgz#0e20c5b82950140aa99be360a8a5f52335f53c26"
-  integrity sha512-47qPchRCykZC03FhkYAhrvwU4xDBFIj1QPqaarj6mdM/hgUzfPHcpkHJOn3mJAufFeeAxAzeGsr5X0M4k6fLZQ==
-
 dunder-proto@^1.0.0:
   version "1.0.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/dunder-proto/-/dunder-proto-1.0.1.tgz#d7ae667e1dc83482f8b70fd0f6eefc50da30f58a"