The .env.dist.local file serves as a . To understand its importance, it is best to view it within the hierarchy of environment files:

In your PHP code, you can load the environment variables using a library like vlucas/phpdotenv :

Then, update your README, add the .gitignore rules, and watch your team's environment chaos disappear.

Treat .env.dist.local like any source file — resolve conflicts manually. Or adopt a tool like dotenv-linter + alphabetical sorting.