There is a built-in environment variable called NODE_ENV. You can access it from process.env.NODE_ENV. This variable changes based on what mode you are currently in. When you run npm start, it is equal to ‘development’, when you run npm test it is equal to ‘test’, and when you run npm run build it is equal to ‘production’. This variable is special as it can be used to access different environment configurations based on your mode.