diff --git a/commands/commands.go b/commands/commands.go
index 0febace..b07111f 100644
--- a/commands/commands.go
+++ b/commands/commands.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/up"
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/version"
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/web"
+	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/env"
 )
 
 type RunFn func() (string, error)
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ COMMANDS
       info
       progress
       headlamp
+      env
 
 DESCRIPTION
 
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ DESCRIPTION
   version     v             shows the version of the sbx cli.
   info        i             shows the summary of the sandbox.
   progress    p             opens deployment progress in a browser.
+  env         e             shows the configured environment variables for sbx.
   headlamp    h             opens headlamp ( kubernetes dashboard ) in a browser.
 
 USAGE:
@@ -82,5 +85,7 @@ func Commands() map[string]RunFn {
 		"i":        summary.Run,
 		"headlamp": web.OpenHeadlamp,
 		"h":        web.OpenHeadlamp,
+		"env":      env.Run,
+		"e":        env.Run,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/env/env.go b/env/env.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22b3821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env/env.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package env
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
+	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/errr"
+)
+
+const format = "%-20s%-20s%-120s\n"
+const durationTooLong = 8 * time.Hour
+
+const DURATION = "DURATION"
+var allowlist = map[string]string{
+	DURATION: "how long sandboxes live for",
+}
+
+var warning = errr.Warning
+
+func Run() (string, error) {
+	output := fmt.Sprintf(format, "KEY", "VALUE", "DESCRIPTION")
+	output += fmt.Sprint("\n")
+
+	for key, description := range allowlist {
+		val := Getenv(key)
+		if val == "" {
+			val = "n/a"
+		}
+
+		output += fmt.Sprintf(format, key, val, description)
+	}
+
+	return output, nil
+}
+
+func Verify() (error) {
+	fmtErr := func(msg string) error {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid env, please fix the following issue: %s", msg)
+	}
+
+	dur := Getenv(DURATION)
+	if dur != "" {
+		parsed, err := time.ParseDuration(dur)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmtErr(fmt.Sprintf("%s is an invalid duration", dur))
+		}
+
+		if parsed > durationTooLong {
+			warning(fmt.Sprintf("%s is a long duration! this is okay on occassion, but consider lowering it", dur))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+var Getenv = _getenv
+func _getenv(key string) string {
+	return readenv()[key]
+}
+
+func readenv() map[string]string {
+	filepath := fmt.Sprintf("%s/.sbx", os.Getenv("HOME"))
+
+	var err error
+	env, err := godotenv.Read(filepath)
+	if err != nil {
+		env = make(map[string]string)
+	}
+
+	return env
+}
diff --git a/env/env_test.go b/env/env_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63f2151
--- /dev/null
+++ b/env/env_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package env
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestVerify(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("it errs if duration is invalid", func(t *testing.T) {
+		Getenv = func(key string) string {
+			if (key == DURATION) {
+				return "invalid"
+			}
+
+			return ""
+		}
+
+		err := Verify()
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("got nil, want error")
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("it warns when duration is too long", func(t *testing.T) {
+		Getenv = func(key string) string {
+			if (key == DURATION) {
+				return "10h"
+			}
+
+			return ""
+		}
+
+		warned := false
+		warning = func(message string) {
+			warned = true
+		}
+
+		_ = Verify()
+		if !warned {
+			t.Error("got no warning, want warning about duration being too long")
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/errr/errr.go b/errr/errr.go
index f494c9c..45f1897 100644
--- a/errr/errr.go
+++ b/errr/errr.go
@@ -8,3 +8,7 @@ import (
 func New(message string) error {
 	return errors.New(fmt.Sprintf("🚫 %s", message))
 }
+
+func Warning(message string) {
+	fmt.Printf("⚠️️ %s\n", message)
+}
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 03baf28..afe32d4 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ require github.com/google/go-github/v67 v67.0.0
 
 require (
 	github.com/google/go-querystring v1.1.0 // indirect
+	github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241204233417-43b7b7cde48d // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 39a0b98..457a099 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ github.com/google/go-github/v67 v67.0.0 h1:g11NDAmfaBaCO8qYdI9fsmbaRipHNWRIU/2YG
 github.com/google/go-github/v67 v67.0.0/go.mod h1:zH3K7BxjFndr9QSeFibx4lTKkYS3K9nDanoI1NjaOtY=
 github.com/google/go-querystring v1.1.0 h1:AnCroh3fv4ZBgVIf1Iwtovgjaw/GiKJo8M8yD/fhyJ8=
 github.com/google/go-querystring v1.1.0/go.mod h1:Kcdr2DB4koayq7X8pmAG4sNG59So17icRSOU623lUBU=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1 h1:7eLL/+HRGLY0ldzfGMeQkb7vMd0as4CfYvUVzLqw0N0=
+github.com/joho/godotenv v1.5.1/go.mod h1:f4LDr5Voq0i2e/R5DDNOoa2zzDfwtkZa6DnEwAbqwq4=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241204233417-43b7b7cde48d h1:0olWaB5pg3+oychR51GUVCEsGkeCU/2JxjBgIo4f3M0=
 golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241204233417-43b7b7cde48d/go.mod h1:qj5a5QZpwLU2NLQudwIN5koi3beDhSAlJwa67PuM98c=
 golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191204190536-9bdfabe68543/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
diff --git a/name/name.go b/name/name.go
index 5df37f3..d071245 100644
--- a/name/name.go
+++ b/name/name.go
@@ -9,11 +9,14 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/cli"
+	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/env"
 )
 
 const maxStep = 2
 const sandbox = "sandbox-"
 
+var getenv = env.Getenv
+
 func Run() (string, error) {
 	return Name()
 }
@@ -110,8 +113,17 @@ func hash(name string, step int) (string, error) {
 	return strings.ToLower(words[index]), nil
 }
 
-func prefix(name string) string {
-	return sandbox + name
+func prefix(name string) (string) {
+	return sandbox + duration() + name
+}
+
+func duration() (string) {
+	dur := getenv(env.DURATION)
+	if dur == "" {
+		return dur
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-", dur)
 }
 
 func properNames() ([]string, error) {
diff --git a/name/name_test.go b/name/name_test.go
index 703a5f5..36c112a 100644
--- a/name/name_test.go
+++ b/name/name_test.go
@@ -9,13 +9,34 @@ func TestRun(t *testing.T) {
 		return []string{"blake", "julian", "kevin"}, nil
 	}
 
+	getenv = func(key string) (string) {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	Branch = func() (string, error) {
+		return "nn-sbx-1234", nil
+	}
+
 	t.Run("it generates a sandbox name", func(t *testing.T) {
-		Branch = func() (string, error) {
-			return "nn-sbx-1234", nil
+		got, err := Run()
+		want := "sandbox-blake-julian-kevin"
+
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("got %v, want nil", err)
+		}
+
+		if got != want {
+			t.Errorf("got %v, want %v", got, want)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("it includes duration when set", func(t *testing.T) {
+		getenv = func(key string) (string) {
+			return "5h"
 		}
 
 		got, err := Run()
-		want := "sandbox-blake-julian-kevin"
+		want := "sandbox-5h-blake-julian-kevin"
 
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("got %v, want nil", err)
@@ -32,6 +53,10 @@ func TestProperNames(t *testing.T) {
 		return []string{"blake", "julian", "kevin", "a", "super-long-name-that-does-not-fit"}, nil
 	}
 
+	getenv = func(key string) (string) {
+		return ""
+	}
+
 	t.Run("it should be longer than 2 and less than 13", func(t *testing.T) {
 		words, err := properNames()
 
@@ -56,6 +81,10 @@ func TestName(t *testing.T) {
 		return []string{"blake", "julian", "kevin"}, nil
 	}
 
+	getenv = func(key string) (string) {
+		return ""
+	}
+
 	t.Run("it generates a sandbox name", func(t *testing.T) {
 		Branch = func() (string, error) {
 			return "nn-sbx-1234", nil
diff --git a/parser/parser.go b/parser/parser.go
index adc1d60..3a4f98d 100644
--- a/parser/parser.go
+++ b/parser/parser.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ func cmdfn(command string) (*commands.RunFn, error) {
 		"h",
 		"version",
 		"v",
+		"env",
 	}
 
 	if !slices.Contains(general, command) {
diff --git a/sbx.go b/sbx.go
index 85468fa..7f1caac 100644
--- a/sbx.go
+++ b/sbx.go
@@ -4,11 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/env"
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/errr"
 	"github.com/reverbdotcom/sbx/parser"
 )
 
 func main() {
+	err := env.Verify()
+	onError(err)
+
 	cmdfn, err := parser.Parse(os.Args)
 	onError(err)