diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 107b0d744..9aaaf23f2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
     "@faker-js/faker": "^7.6.0",
     "@jest/globals": "^29.2.0",
     "@playwright/test": "^1.27.1",
-    "about-window": "^1.15.2",
     "husky": "^8.0.3",
     "jest": "^29.2.0",
     "pretty-quick": "^3.1.3",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-app/package.json b/packages/bruno-app/package.json
index f8ad53c01..da3577055 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-app/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-app/package.json
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
     "@tabler/icons": "^1.46.0",
     "@tippyjs/react": "^4.2.6",
     "@usebruno/graphql-docs": "0.1.0",
-    "@usebruno/schema": "0.3.1",
+    "@usebruno/schema": "0.4.0",
     "axios": "^0.26.0",
     "classnames": "^2.3.1",
     "codemirror": "^5.65.2",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-app/src/components/Sidebar/index.js b/packages/bruno-app/src/components/Sidebar/index.js
index 7ce4a9d42..c2488ffe5 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-app/src/components/Sidebar/index.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-app/src/components/Sidebar/index.js
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ const Sidebar = () => {
                   </GitHubButton>
                 )}
               </div>
-              <div className="flex flex-grow items-center justify-end text-xs mr-2">v0.15.0</div>
+              <div className="flex flex-grow items-center justify-end text-xs mr-2">v0.15.2</div>
             </div>
           </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/changelog.md b/packages/bruno-cli/changelog.md
index 49b0126d2..10045c025 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/changelog.md
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/changelog.md
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.8.0
+
+- `--env-var` flag to set environment variables
+- loading environment variables from `.env` file
+
 ## 0.7.1
 
-* `--cacert` flag to support custom CA certificates
+- `--cacert` flag to support custom CA certificates
 
 ## 0.7.0
 
-* `--insecure` flag to disable SSL verification
\ No newline at end of file
+- `--insecure` flag to disable SSL verification
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/package.json b/packages/bruno-cli/package.json
index 8a517db55..c8acd5232 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@usebruno/cli",
-  "version": "0.7.1",
+  "version": "0.8.0",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "bin": {
     "bru": "./bin/bru.js"
@@ -20,13 +20,14 @@
     "package.json"
   ],
   "dependencies": {
-    "@usebruno/js": "0.4.0",
-    "@usebruno/lang": "0.3.0",
+    "@usebruno/js": "0.5.0",
+    "@usebruno/lang": "0.4.0",
     "axios": "^1.3.2",
     "chai": "^4.3.7",
     "chalk": "^3.0.0",
     "form-data": "^4.0.0",
     "fs-extra": "^10.1.0",
+    "handlebars": "^4.7.8",
     "inquirer": "^9.1.4",
     "lodash": "^4.17.21",
     "mustache": "^4.2.0",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/commands/run.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/commands/run.js
index 4b6aa3afa..62d53246c 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/commands/run.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/commands/run.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 const chalk = require('chalk');
 const path = require('path');
+const { forOwn } = require('lodash');
 const { exists, isFile, isDirectory } = require('../utils/filesystem');
 const { runSingleRequest } = require('../runner/run-single-request');
 const { bruToEnvJson, getEnvVars } = require('../utils/bru');
 const { rpad } = require('../utils/common');
 const { bruToJson, getOptions } = require('../utils/bru');
+const { dotenvToJson } = require('@usebruno/lang');
 
 const command = 'run [filename]';
 const desc = 'Run a request';
@@ -225,12 +227,34 @@ const handler = async function (argv) {
       }
     }
 
+    // load .env file at root of collection if it exists
+    const dotEnvPath = path.join(collectionPath, '.env');
+    const dotEnvExists = await exists(dotEnvPath);
+    const processEnvVars = {
+      ...process.env
+    };
+    if (dotEnvExists) {
+      const content = fs.readFileSync(dotEnvPath, 'utf8');
+      const jsonData = dotenvToJson(content);
+
+      forOwn(jsonData, (value, key) => {
+        processEnvVars[key] = value;
+      });
+    }
+
     const _isFile = await isFile(filename);
     if (_isFile) {
       console.log(chalk.yellow('Running Request \n'));
       const bruContent = fs.readFileSync(filename, 'utf8');
       const bruJson = bruToJson(bruContent);
-      const result = await runSingleRequest(filename, bruJson, collectionPath, collectionVariables, envVars);
+      const result = await runSingleRequest(
+        filename,
+        bruJson,
+        collectionPath,
+        collectionVariables,
+        envVars,
+        processEnvVars
+      );
 
       if (result) {
         const { assertionResults, testResults } = result;
@@ -281,7 +305,14 @@ const handler = async function (argv) {
 
       for (const iter of bruJsons) {
         const { bruFilepath, bruJson } = iter;
-        const result = await runSingleRequest(bruFilepath, bruJson, collectionPath, collectionVariables, envVars);
+        const result = await runSingleRequest(
+          bruFilepath,
+          bruJson,
+          collectionPath,
+          collectionVariables,
+          envVars,
+          processEnvVars
+        );
 
         if (result) {
           const { assertionResults: _assertionResults, testResults: _testResults } = result;
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/interpolate-vars.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/interpolate-vars.js
index abd76ad47..bfb0601da 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/interpolate-vars.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/interpolate-vars.js
@@ -1,24 +1,51 @@
-const Mustache = require('mustache');
-const { each, forOwn } = require('lodash');
+const Handlebars = require('handlebars');
+const { each, forOwn, cloneDeep } = require('lodash');
 
-// override the default escape function to prevent escaping
-Mustache.escape = function (value) {
-  return value;
+const interpolateEnvVars = (str, processEnvVars) => {
+  if (!str || !str.length || typeof str !== 'string') {
+    return str;
+  }
+
+  const template = Handlebars.compile(str, { noEscape: true });
+
+  return template({
+    process: {
+      env: {
+        ...processEnvVars
+      }
+    }
+  });
 };
 
-const interpolateVars = (request, envVars = {}, collectionVariables = {}) => {
+const interpolateVars = (request, envVars = {}, collectionVariables = {}, processEnvVars = {}) => {
+  // we clone envVars because we don't want to modify the original object
+  envVars = cloneDeep(envVars);
+
+  // envVars can inturn have values as {{process.env.VAR_NAME}}
+  // so we need to interpolate envVars first with processEnvVars
+  forOwn(envVars, (value, key) => {
+    envVars[key] = interpolateEnvVars(value, processEnvVars);
+  });
+
   const interpolate = (str) => {
     if (!str || !str.length || typeof str !== 'string') {
       return str;
     }
 
+    const template = Handlebars.compile(str, { noEscape: true });
+
     // collectionVariables take precedence over envVars
     const combinedVars = {
       ...envVars,
-      ...collectionVariables
+      ...collectionVariables,
+      process: {
+        env: {
+          ...processEnvVars
+        }
+      }
     };
 
-    return Mustache.render(str, combinedVars);
+    return template(combinedVars);
   };
 
   request.url = interpolate(request.url);
diff --git a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
index d108341bf..50bb7d546 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
+++ b/packages/bruno-cli/src/runner/run-single-request.js
@@ -11,7 +11,14 @@ const { ScriptRuntime, TestRuntime, VarsRuntime, AssertRuntime } = require('@use
 const { stripExtension } = require('../utils/filesystem');
 const { getOptions } = require('../utils/bru');
 
-const runSingleRequest = async function (filename, bruJson, collectionPath, collectionVariables, envVariables) {
+const runSingleRequest = async function (
+  filename,
+  bruJson,
+  collectionPath,
+  collectionVariables,
+  envVariables,
+  processEnvVars
+) {
   let request;
 
   try {
@@ -49,7 +56,7 @@ const runSingleRequest = async function (filename, bruJson, collectionPath, coll
     }
 
     // interpolate variables inside request
-    interpolateVars(request, envVariables, collectionVariables);
+    interpolateVars(request, envVariables, collectionVariables, processEnvVars);
 
     const options = getOptions();
     const insecure = get(options, 'insecure', false);
diff --git a/packages/bruno-electron/package.json b/packages/bruno-electron/package.json
index 1c1c8c067..e460e200f 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-electron/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-electron/package.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "version": "v0.15.0",
+  "version": "v0.15.2",
   "name": "bruno",
   "description": "Opensource API Client for Exploring and Testing APIs",
   "homepage": "https://www.usebruno.com",
@@ -14,9 +14,10 @@
     "test": "jest"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@usebruno/js": "0.4.0",
-    "@usebruno/lang": "0.3.0",
-    "@usebruno/schema": "0.3.1",
+    "@usebruno/js": "0.5.0",
+    "@usebruno/lang": "0.4.0",
+    "@usebruno/schema": "0.4.0",
+    "about-window": "^1.15.2",
     "axios": "^0.26.0",
     "chai": "^4.3.7",
     "chokidar": "^3.5.3",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-js/package.json b/packages/bruno-js/package.json
index 7bf8e3a21..ad28493a1 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-js/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-js/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@usebruno/js",
-  "version": "0.4.0",
+  "version": "0.5.0",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "files": [
     "src",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-lang/package.json b/packages/bruno-lang/package.json
index 9a8869f24..d820ccfb0 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-lang/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-lang/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@usebruno/lang",
-  "version": "0.3.0",
+  "version": "0.4.0",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "files": [
     "src",
diff --git a/packages/bruno-schema/package.json b/packages/bruno-schema/package.json
index 5b177aaa5..3c6704e3d 100644
--- a/packages/bruno-schema/package.json
+++ b/packages/bruno-schema/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@usebruno/schema",
-  "version": "0.3.1",
+  "version": "0.4.0",
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "files": [
     "src",