# What changed in dotenv-expand

> 7 changes in dotenv-expand 6 to 1000 from its official release notes, upgrade guides and advisories: 4 breaking, 1 new APIs and options. Each one cited. Sources checked 2026-10-27. HTML: https://unstale.sh/npm/dotenv-expand/

To see which of these apply to a repository, run `npx @unstale/cli init` in it.

## dotenv-expand 1000

### Breaking changes

- Command substitution is now supported automatically during expansion. (1000.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/324a135fb745584be6ca4cfa0157f57b4a9b311d/CHANGELOG.md#100000-2026-07-29)
- Expansion now distinguishes unset variables (`-` and `+`) from empty variables (`:-` and `:+`). (1000.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/324a135fb745584be6ca4cfa0157f57b4a9b311d/CHANGELOG.md#100000-2026-07-29)
- Node.js 16 or later is now required. (1000.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/324a135fb745584be6ca4cfa0157f57b4a9b311d/CHANGELOG.md#100000-2026-07-29)

### Behavior and default changes

- Decryption of encrypted .env files is now supported automatically during expansion. (1000.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/324a135fb745584be6ca4cfa0157f57b4a9b311d/CHANGELOG.md#100000-2026-07-29)

### Fixes and other changes

- The license changed from BSD-2-Clause to BSD-3-Clause, which may affect adoption decisions. (1000.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/324a135fb745584be6ca4cfa0157f57b4a9b311d/CHANGELOG.md#100000-2026-07-29)

## dotenv-expand 6

### Breaking changes

- The default export was changed to the expand function, changing how developers import and call the package. (6.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/HEAD/CHANGELOG.md)

### New APIs and options

- Default expansion was added. (6.0.0) — [release notes](https://github.com/dotenvx/dotenv-expand/blob/HEAD/CHANGELOG.md)