Setup boot environment file. Should be ignored in git as well.

.env_boot.php

<?php

return 'local';

environment.php

<?php
/**
 * Found in
 * /bootstrap/environment.php
 */
 
$env = $app->detectEnvironment(function()
    {
        if(file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../.env_boot.php'))
        {
            return require_once( __DIR__ . '/../.env_boot.php');
        }
        return 'production';
    }
);