base64: is prepended with Laravel APP_KEY

Question

When I do a var_dump('APP_KEY') in Laravel, why does my app_key prepended with base64: as it was in the .env file? I got something like "base64:bgdhyebgehjegg" instead of just bgdhyebgehjegg.

Answer 1

I found out that there is a commit on Laravel that now takes care of this from The Encrypter.

https://github.com/laravel/framework/commit/370ae34d41362c3adb61bc5304068fb68e626586