I've been trying to figure out why my .env file isn't working. I'm new at this, so it took some time... hope this is helpful for others out there.

First of all... I'm running macOS. It was clear that all of my errors were around missing API Keys... and lack of variables defined in the .env file.

I was editing my .env file in TextEdit. I would update my variables... change the name... and save the file. I confirmed the name change in my Finder window... but I was still getting all sorts of errors... all leading back to the .env file.

I then learned how to check the files in my directory with the:

ls -a command to view all files (even hidden files)

The command returned a list of files... including a file named ".env.template". I'm not sure why, but for some reason the name change that was showing in my finder window was not actually being recognized by the program.

Then found the command to change a file name... and it works like a charm!

mv .env.template .env

Run that line in terminal and it will force the name change.

Please don't use finder or windows explorer for changing the .env.template if you haven't got the extention visible.
Otherwise it makes it .env.txt but you cannot see as the .txt is cut off.
Best is to use vscode and rename it there :)
Closing as solved.