One-click Environment Variable Examples for OpenAI, Stripe, Sentry & 9 More Services

by Veselina Staneva

Welcome to Week 3 of our Dashboard Improvements Series. Over the last two week we've covered what's new in Builds and what's new in Deployments sections. This week, we’re improving one of the most foundational steps in your backend setup: adding environment variables.

You know the routine: you sign up for a service, copy your API key, and then spend the next 10 minutes Googling what to name the variable. STRIPE_KEY? STRIPE_SECRET? STRIPE_API_KEY? Trial and error until it works.

We’ve all been there. So we fixed it.

We know this part of the process often leads to repetitive questions and unnecessary friction, especially when integrating third-party services.

Which variable name should I use? What should the format look like? Why are there three different naming conventions floating around?

You shouldn’t need a scavenger hunt just to wire up Stripe, OpenAI, or Twilio.

So we’re making it easier.

From Guessing to Guided

When you create a new environment variable, you’ll now see a helpful set of examples of third-party services - everything from payment processors to LLMs. We took the top 12 services SashiDo developers actually use - like Stripe, OpenAI, Sentry, and Google Maps - and created Environment Variable Examples for each.

Now, when you add a new variable, you just Click the example > Paste your key >Save & Deploy

And you’re done. No docs. No guesswork. No naming debates.

Each example comes pre-filled with:

  • The proper variable name(what your code or SDK expects)
  • An example value format
  • Instant Copy to clipboard buttons for both

You go from setup to deployment in 30 seconds flat.

Note: Each example helps you create one variable at a time. Once saved, you can click on the "Add Environment Variable" button to create another custom one.

What’s Included?

We started with the 12 services developers on our platfrom use the most - from AI tools to core infrastructure and created examples that make setup easier.

AI Services

  • OpenAI - OPENAI_API_KEY - Powers ChatGPT, GPT-4, DALL-E, and Whisper. For chat, text generation, image generation, and audio transcription.
  • Claude AI - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY - Anthropic's Claude 3 models. For advanced reasoning, coding assistance, and longer context windows.
  • Hugging Face - HUGGINGFACE_API_KEY - Access thousands of open-source ML models. For NLP, computer vision, audio processing, and more.
  • Cohere - COHERE_API_KEY - Enterprise-grade NLP. For text generation, semantic search, and classification.
  • Replicate - REPLICATE_API_TOKEN - Run open-source ML models via API. For image generation, video processing, and audio synthesis.
  • Stability AI - STABILITY_API_KEY - Stable Diffusion and other image generation models. For AI-powered image creation and editing.

Core Services

  • Stripe - STRIPE_SECRET_KEY - Payment processing for online businesses. Handles credit cards, subscriptions, and invoicing.
  • Sentry - SENTRY_DSN - Real-time error tracking and performance monitoring. Catch errors before your users report them.
  • SendGrid - SENDGRID_API_KEY - Transactional and marketing email delivery. For password resets, receipts, and notifications.
  • Twilio - TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID - Programmable SMS, voice, and video. For 2FA, notifications, and customer communication.
  • Google Maps - GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY - Maps, geocoding, places, and directions. For location-based features and store locators.
  • Cloudinary - CLOUDINARY_URL - Image and video storage, transformation, and delivery via CDN. For user uploads and media optimization.

A Real Setup Example

Let’s say you’re integrating OpenAI into your app for the first time — maybe to power chat, generate text, or use DALL·E. You go to SashiDo Dashbaord > Runtime > Environment Variables and then:

No trial and error. Just done. That's 20x faster.

Why These 12 Services?

We didn't pick these randomly. We analyzed what services SashiDo developers integrate most, what mobile & AI developers need most daily, and of course - what causes the most "how do I set this up" support tickets.

The result:

  • Mobile devs need push notifications, error tracking, maps → Sentry, Google Maps
  • AI builders need LLM APIs → OpenAI, Claude AI, Hugging Face, Cohere, Replicate, Stability AI
  • SaaS founders need payments, email, SMS → Stripe, SendGrid, Twilio
  • Everyone needs media storage and errors → Cloudinary, Sentry

These examples cover 90% of third-party integration setup.

Why This Matters

You get faster setup and fewer context switches. No docs to open. No trial and error. Just click, paste, deploy. And for your team this means consistency across environments. Easier onboarding for new devs. No more Slack threads about variable names. Which ultimately leads to fewer bugs due to misnamed vars. Faster integrations. Less friction when trying new tools.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Try It Now

This is live for all SashiDo customers:

👉 Log in to SashiDo Dashboard → Go to any app → Runtime → Environment Variables → See the examples grid

Click a service. Experience what setup should feel like.

Want More Examples?

We started with the 12 most-requested services. But we're not done.

What service should we add next?

  • Firebase?
  • MongoDB Atlas?
  • Redis Cloud?
  • Algolia?
  • Auth0?

Email us at support@sashido.io to tell us which ones you need. If enough people request it, we'll build it.

What’s Next?

This is part of a bigger effort to make your entire SashiDo dashboard more helpful. Over the last week of our 4-week sprint, we'll be sharing updates to Logs section. Each one solves a real problem we heard from you, so we'd love your feedback!

Not using SashiDo yet?

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👉 Start your Free trial now

Happy Coding!