Vercel Environment Variables Transition to Config and Secret Type Definitions

Vercel has rolled out a security architectural update to how project environment variables are defined, stored, and injected into cloud functions.

Variables are now explicitly designated as either standard Config (plaintext settings visible in build logs) or Secret (hardware-encrypted strings masked across runtime contexts). The separation prevents developers from accidentally exposing API keys in client-side bundles during automated build steps.

The feature is now available across all Vercel team accounts with automatic migration tools for existing environments.