Next.js SSR mode - Environment Variables not being carried over to the created Lambda Functions

[joelvarty]

Before opening, please confirm:

• I have checked to see if my question is addressed in the FAQ.
• I have searched for duplicate or closed issues.
• I have read the guide for submitting bug reports.
• I have done my best to include a minimal, self-contained set of instructions for consistently reproducing the issue.

App Id

d36aqre3ndgr2h

Region

us-east-1

Amplify Console feature

Environment variables

Describe the bug

When I set environment variables in the Amplify app, they are NOT being carried through to the Lambda functions that are automatically created for my Next.js SSR website.

Even if I set the environment variables later on the Lambda functions that are created, they get wiped out the next time I do a build.

Here's a link to my repo: https://github.com/agility/agilitycms-nextjs-ssr-starter

Expected behavior

I expected the environment variables to propagate from the Amplify settings to the Lambda functions that are created.

Reproduction steps

• Create a new Next.js site on Amplify site using this repo: https://github.com/agility/agilitycms-nextjs-ssr-starter
• Set the environment variables as needed (let me know if you need this information specifically)
• Push a change to the main branch
• The Environment variables are NOT on the Lambda functions.
• The code in the Lambda functions that uses process.env.VARIABLE_NAME doesn't work

Build Settings

No response

Additional information

No response

[haderman]

hey @joelvarty did you find any solution? I am having the same problem

[joelvarty]

hey @joelvarty did you find any solution? I am having the same problem

Nope. I think this is an actual bug in the Next.js SSR Logic with Amplify

[Athena96]

Hi, yes this is a bug and we are working on a fix. As a temporary workaround you can manually add the environment variable to your SSR Lambda function in the Lambda Console. Sorry you are facing this issue; we will follow up when this is fixed. Thanks!

[jcmartinezdev]

@Athena96 thanks for the workaround, however, after a redeploy all lambda functions are published as a new version without the env. variables, is there a way to prevent that from happening?

On each push to my branches I'm losing the data and the app starts crashing.

Thanks

[joekendal]

Same issue here. The only solution I can think of in the meantime is to use secrets manager or ssm parameter store

[joekendal]

@bajcmartinez You could try this in the meantime:

Go to AWS Console->Systems Manager->Parameter store

Create your environment variables. If you have different stages, you should be using different accounts anyway so the keys shouldn't clash

import AWS from 'aws-sdk'

var ssm = new AWS.SSM()

export default async (req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse) => {
    var MY_TABLE;

    ssm.getParamter({ Name: 'MY_TABLE' }, (err, data) => {
        MY_TABLE = data.Parameter?.Value!
    })

    ...
}

While not an ideal solution, it is perhaps futureproofed if you needed to reuse environment variables across different apps. Although the Amplify team will fix this in a few hours I hope. Perhaps best not to refactor large parts of code if it is to be fixed tomorrow or something.

[jcmartinezdev]

Would be nice to have an ETA here, in the meanwhile I moved my config to parameter store as pointed out by @joekendal, however, it is not ideal as the parameter key name is "hardcoded" and it is not environment independent.

I can survive with it for now, but I can see this being a major issue for some others, it is very inconvinient.

[jcmartinezdev]

Additionally, what would be the best way to give those lambda functions a policy to read from parameter store?

They have a custom role created by amplify, but there's no cloud formation template for it.

I did it manually for now

[joekendal]

@bajcmartinez yeah I haven't opted for that solution myself. Waiting for an update here. Will have to just deploy the API lambdas separately using CDK or something as opposed to Next.js /api/ route feature.

[jcmartinezdev]

The problem is even more deep, even if I try to add the env variables manually I cannot deploy those functions as the CloudFront edge run environment does not support lambda environment variables as described here: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/edge-functions-restrictions.html#edge-function-restrictions-all

[joekendal]

The problem is even more deep, even if I try to add the env variables manually I cannot deploy those functions as the CloudFront edge run environment does not support lambda environment variables as described here: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudFront/latest/DeveloperGuide/edge-functions-restrictions.html#edge-function-restrictions-all

I'm very confused then @Athena96 declares this is a bug and not a feature. But it seems it is in fact a feature and not a bug. Vercel uses Lambda@Edge and enables the user to provide environment variables. So they must be doing something during build time to make that available to process.env behind the scenes

[Nick-Navarro]

Hi @Athena96 has there been any movement on this?

[RealDrewKlayman]

This is a really big issue.