export

Additional Notes

export makes a shell variable available to commands started from that shell. Without export, a variable may exist only inside the current shell.

It is usually a shell builtin.

Syntax

export NAME=VALUE
export NAME

Parameters

• options: Flags that change how export behaves.
• arguments: Values consumed by the shell builtin or script command.
• command: Command line to run, test, wrap, or control.

Examples

export EDITOR=nano

Set and export EDITOR.

API_URL="https://api.example.com"
export API_URL

Assign first, then export.

export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"

Add a personal bin directory to PATH.

export

List exported variables in many shells.

env | grep API_URL

Check whether a variable is in the environment.

Practical Notes

• Use quotes around values containing spaces or shell characters.
• Exported variables are inherited by child processes, not parent shells.
• Avoid exporting secrets in shared terminals or logs.
• To make exports permanent, add them to shell startup files such as ~/.bashrc when appropriate.