diff --git a/lightrag/kg/neo4j_impl.py b/lightrag/kg/neo4j_impl.py
index 06abfe02..12a8a221 100644
--- a/lightrag/kg/neo4j_impl.py
+++ b/lightrag/kg/neo4j_impl.py
@@ -29,12 +29,20 @@ from neo4j import (  # type: ignore
     AsyncManagedTransaction,
 )
 
-config = configparser.ConfigParser()
-config.read("config.ini", "utf-8")
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# use the .env that is inside the current folder
+# allows to use different .env file for each lightrag instance
+# the OS environment variables take precedence over the .env file
+load_dotenv(dotenv_path=".env", override=False)
 
 # Get maximum number of graph nodes from environment variable, default is 1000
 MAX_GRAPH_NODES = int(os.getenv("MAX_GRAPH_NODES", 1000))
 
+config = configparser.ConfigParser()
+config.read("config.ini", "utf-8")
+
+
 # Set neo4j logger level to ERROR to suppress warning logs
 logging.getLogger("neo4j").setLevel(logging.ERROR)
 
diff --git a/lightrag/kg/networkx_impl.py b/lightrag/kg/networkx_impl.py
index 50b3d34a..70a055b0 100644
--- a/lightrag/kg/networkx_impl.py
+++ b/lightrag/kg/networkx_impl.py
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ from .shared_storage import (
     set_all_update_flags,
 )
 
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# use the .env that is inside the current folder
+# allows to use different .env file for each lightrag instance
+# the OS environment variables take precedence over the .env file
+load_dotenv(dotenv_path=".env", override=False)
+
 MAX_GRAPH_NODES = int(os.getenv("MAX_GRAPH_NODES", 1000))
 
 
diff --git a/lightrag/kg/postgres_impl.py b/lightrag/kg/postgres_impl.py
index 2c1e794d..eec042a2 100644
--- a/lightrag/kg/postgres_impl.py
+++ b/lightrag/kg/postgres_impl.py
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ if not pm.is_installed("asyncpg"):
 import asyncpg  # type: ignore
 from asyncpg import Pool  # type: ignore
 
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
+
+# use the .env that is inside the current folder
+# allows to use different .env file for each lightrag instance
+# the OS environment variables take precedence over the .env file
+load_dotenv(dotenv_path=".env", override=False)
+
 # Get maximum number of graph nodes from environment variable, default is 1000
 MAX_GRAPH_NODES = int(os.getenv("MAX_GRAPH_NODES", 1000))
 
diff --git a/lightrag/operate.py b/lightrag/operate.py
index c3f39cce..bba7da9d 100644
--- a/lightrag/operate.py
+++ b/lightrag/operate.py
@@ -1560,7 +1560,7 @@ async def _find_most_related_edges_from_entities(
 ):
     node_names = [dp["entity_name"] for dp in node_datas]
     batch_edges_dict = await knowledge_graph_inst.get_nodes_edges_batch(node_names)
-    
+
     all_edges = []
     seen = set()