fix: respect env variables in .env for settings.json variable substitution (#3416)

packages/cli/src/config/auth.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { AuthType } from '@google/gemini-cli-core';
-import { loadEnvironment } from './config.js';
+import { loadEnvironment } from './settings.js';
 
 export const validateAuthMethod = (authMethod: string): string | null => {
   loadEnvironment();

packages/cli/src/config/config.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import {
   setGeminiMdFilename as setServerGeminiMdFilename,
   getCurrentGeminiMdFilename,
   ApprovalMode,
-  GEMINI_CONFIG_DIR as GEMINI_DIR,
   DEFAULT_GEMINI_MODEL,
   DEFAULT_GEMINI_EMBEDDING_MODEL,
   FileDiscoveryService,
@@ -23,10 +22,6 @@ import { Settings } from './settings.js';
 
 import { Extension } from './extension.js';
 import { getCliVersion } from '../utils/version.js';
-import * as dotenv from 'dotenv';
-import * as fs from 'node:fs';
-import * as path from 'node:path';
-import * as os from 'node:os';
 import { loadSandboxConfig } from './sandboxConfig.js';
 
 // Simple console logger for now - replace with actual logger if available
@@ -166,8 +161,6 @@ export async function loadCliConfig(
   extensions: Extension[],
   sessionId: string,
 ): Promise<Config> {
-  loadEnvironment();
-
   const argv = await parseArguments();
   const debugMode = argv.debug || false;
 
@@ -279,39 +272,3 @@ function mergeExcludeTools(
   }
   return [...allExcludeTools];
 }
-
-function findEnvFile(startDir: string): string | null {
-  let currentDir = path.resolve(startDir);
-  while (true) {
-    // prefer gemini-specific .env under GEMINI_DIR
-    const geminiEnvPath = path.join(currentDir, GEMINI_DIR, '.env');
-    if (fs.existsSync(geminiEnvPath)) {
-      return geminiEnvPath;
-    }
-    const envPath = path.join(currentDir, '.env');
-    if (fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
-      return envPath;
-    }
-    const parentDir = path.dirname(currentDir);
-    if (parentDir === currentDir || !parentDir) {
-      // check .env under home as fallback, again preferring gemini-specific .env
-      const homeGeminiEnvPath = path.join(os.homedir(), GEMINI_DIR, '.env');
-      if (fs.existsSync(homeGeminiEnvPath)) {
-        return homeGeminiEnvPath;
-      }
-      const homeEnvPath = path.join(os.homedir(), '.env');
-      if (fs.existsSync(homeEnvPath)) {
-        return homeEnvPath;
-      }
-      return null;
-    }
-    currentDir = parentDir;
-  }
-}
-
-export function loadEnvironment(): void {
-  const envFilePath = findEnvFile(process.cwd());
-  if (envFilePath) {
-    dotenv.config({ path: envFilePath, quiet: true });
-  }
-}

packages/cli/src/config/settings.ts

@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import { homedir } from 'os';
+import * as dotenv from 'dotenv';
 import {
   MCPServerConfig,
+  GEMINI_CONFIG_DIR as GEMINI_DIR,
   getErrorMessage,
   BugCommandSettings,
   TelemetrySettings,
@@ -172,11 +174,48 @@ function resolveEnvVarsInObject<T>(obj: T): T {
   return obj;
 }
 
+function findEnvFile(startDir: string): string | null {
+  let currentDir = path.resolve(startDir);
+  while (true) {
+    // prefer gemini-specific .env under GEMINI_DIR
+    const geminiEnvPath = path.join(currentDir, GEMINI_DIR, '.env');
+    if (fs.existsSync(geminiEnvPath)) {
+      return geminiEnvPath;
+    }
+    const envPath = path.join(currentDir, '.env');
+    if (fs.existsSync(envPath)) {
+      return envPath;
+    }
+    const parentDir = path.dirname(currentDir);
+    if (parentDir === currentDir || !parentDir) {
+      // check .env under home as fallback, again preferring gemini-specific .env
+      const homeGeminiEnvPath = path.join(homedir(), GEMINI_DIR, '.env');
+      if (fs.existsSync(homeGeminiEnvPath)) {
+        return homeGeminiEnvPath;
+      }
+      const homeEnvPath = path.join(homedir(), '.env');
+      if (fs.existsSync(homeEnvPath)) {
+        return homeEnvPath;
+      }
+      return null;
+    }
+    currentDir = parentDir;
+  }
+}
+
+export function loadEnvironment(): void {
+  const envFilePath = findEnvFile(process.cwd());
+  if (envFilePath) {
+    dotenv.config({ path: envFilePath, quiet: true });
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Loads settings from user and workspace directories.
  * Project settings override user settings.
  */
 export function loadSettings(workspaceDir: string): LoadedSettings {
+  loadEnvironment();
   let userSettings: Settings = {};
   let workspaceSettings: Settings = {};
   const settingsErrors: SettingsError[] = [];