--- /dev/null
+Environment specific settings
+=============================
+
+Some of the settings in ``behat.yml`` are environment specific. For example the
+base URL may be ``http://mysite.localhost`` on your local development
+environment, while on a test server it might be ``http://127.0.0.1:8080``. Some
+other environment specific settings are the Drupal root path and the paths to
+search for subcontexts.
+
+If you intend to run your tests on different environments these settings should
+not be committed to ``behat.yml``. Instead they should be exported in an
+environment variable. Before running tests Behat will check the ``BEHAT_PARAMS``
+environment variable and add these settings to the ones that are present in
+``behat.yml``. This variable should contain a JSON object with your settings.
+
+Example JSON object:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+ {
+ "extensions": {
+ "Behat\\MinkExtension": {
+ "base_url": "http://myproject.localhost"
+ },
+ "Drupal\\DrupalExtension": {
+ "drupal": {
+ "drupal_root": "/var/www/myproject"
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ }
+
+
+To export this into the ``BEHAT_PARAMS`` environment variable, squash the JSON
+object into a single line and surround with single quotes:
+
+.. code-block: bash
+
+ $ export BEHAT_PARAMS='{"extensions":{"Behat\\MinkExtension":{"base_url":"http://myproject.localhost"},"Drupal\\DrupalExtension":{"drupal":{"drupal_root":"/var/www/myproject"}}}}'
+
+There is also a `Drush extension <https://github.com/pfrenssen/drush-bde-env>`_
+that can help you generate these environment variables.