winglang / winglang/wing

Confusion around `util.env` and `util.tryEnv` in preflight vs inflight contexts

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Description

The util.env and util.tryEnv utilities work differently in preflight and inflight contexts.

Given the following example:

MY_VAR=123 wing compile main.w

// main.w
bring cloud;
bring util;

log(util.env("MY_VAR")); // Logs 123
let MY_VAR = util.env("MY_VAR");

new cloud.Function(inflight () => {
  log(util.tryEnv("MY_VAR") ?? "<no value>"); // Logs <no value>
  log(MY_VAR); // Logs 123
});

The Cloud Function util.tryEnv is being translated into a lookup to process.env rather than use the host's environment variables. I find this behaviour confusing, maybe even unnecessary. Do we need to access environment variables in inflight functions? The only environment variables we can specify are when invoking the Wing CLI.

IMO, log(util.tryEnv("MY_VAR") ?? "<no value>"); should log 123 as well, with the actual inflight code being inlined as log("123" ?? "<no value>"); (it could even be simplified to log("123")).

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Research direction

The issue names no implementation file or test. Start by tracing the compiler handling for util.env and util.tryEnv in preflight and inflight contexts, then compare the generated process.env lookup with the host environment behavior. Done means the intended semantics are decided, implemented consistently, and covered by a regression test for the shown example.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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