# Mutiline env variables

**URL:** <https://community.convox.com/t/mutiline-env-variables/571>\
**Category:** Configuration\
**Created:** [July 23, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://community.convox.com/t/mutiline-env-variables/571 "2019-07-23T16:40:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kmikhailets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@kmikhailets](https://community.convox.com/u/kmikhailets)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://community.convox.com/t/mutiline-env-variables/571/1 "2019-07-23T16:40:36Z")

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Hey there!  
How can I add multiline env variable? I’ve tried to add it via [console.convox.com](http://console.convox.com), and only first line is added, other lines are being truncated. Tried via `convox env set VAR $VAR`, and it’s being set as single line. Tried with `convox env set VAR "$VAR"` and got an error `bad flag syntax: -----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----`.  
What am I doing wrong?

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**Author:** ![idris](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.convox.com/idris/32/21_2.png) [@idris](https://community.convox.com/u/idris)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.convox.com/t/mutiline-env-variables/571/2 "2019-07-23T17:57:46Z")

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Would love to know the answer to this. We used a workaround where we base64 encode the multiline value (public key) and then our app decodes the env var.

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**Author:** ![kmikhailets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@kmikhailets](https://community.convox.com/u/kmikhailets)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://community.convox.com/t/mutiline-env-variables/571/3 "2019-07-23T18:09:22Z")

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we’ve previously used the same workaround but it’s not really good since you have to maintain both PEM and base64 keys.