Title: Implemented custom VIP user defined environment variable access
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: October 19, 2021
Last modified: August 5, 2025

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 1. [Changelog](https://docs.wpvip.com/changelog/)
 2. [VIP MU plugins [Production]](https://docs.wpvip.com/changelog/vip-mu-plugins-production/)
 3. Implemented custom VIP user defined environment variable access

# Implemented custom VIP user defined environment variable access

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 19 October 2021

09:29:44 GMT+0000

 [ VIP MU plugins [Production] ](https://docs.wpvip.com/changelog/vip-mu-plugins-production/)

 [ Permalink  ](https://docs.wpvip.com/changelog/vip-mu-plugins-production/implemented-custom-vip-user-defined-environment-variable-access/)

Users of VIP will be able to commit custom environment variables in their VIP Dashboard
or CLI. This change supports the retrieval of those environment variables, in WordPress:
mu-plugins.

In the class: `Automattic\VIP\Environment` is a new method called `get_var`

`get_var( string $key, $default_value = '' )`

The result will always be a string but if the environment variable is not set previously
then the return will be the $default_value.

[https://github.com/Automattic/vip-go-mu-plugins/pull/2516](https://github.com/Automattic/vip-go-mu-plugins/pull/2516)