But a dotenv file doesn't really have to have that exact filename.

Pydantic has support for reading from these types of files using an external library. You can read more at <a href="https://docs.pydantic.dev/latest/concepts/pydantic_settings/#dotenv-env-support" class="external-link" target="_blank">Pydantic Settings: Dotenv (.env) support</a>.

!!! tip
    For this to work, you need to `pip install python-dotenv`.