diff --git a/cli_options/CHANGELOG.md b/cli_options/CHANGELOG.md
index aaab082..09ebfac 100644
--- a/cli_options/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/cli_options/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 ### Added
 
+* Support getting option value from an environment variable, through the `:env` option. Used
+only if not provided by the user in the CLI arguments.
+
 * Support grouping options in the docs by section. You can now specify the `:doc_section`
 to any option, and pass a `:sections` option in the `CliOptions.docs/2` function for the
 headers and extended docs of each section.
diff --git a/cli_options/lib/cli_options.ex b/cli_options/lib/cli_options.ex
index 3b63811..ad2d979 100644
--- a/cli_options/lib/cli_options.ex
+++ b/cli_options/lib/cli_options.ex
@@ -359,6 +359,61 @@ defmodule CliOptions do
   CliOptions.parse(["--file", "foo.ex", "--file", "xyz.ex"], [file: [type: :string]])
   ```
 
+  ## Environment variable aliases
+
+  You can optionally define an environment variable alias for an option through the
+  `:env` schema option. If set the environment variable will be used **only if** the
+  argument is not present in the `args`.
+
+  ```cli
+  schema = [
+    mode: [
+      type: :string,
+      env: "CLI_OPTIONS_MODE"
+    ]
+  ]
+
+  # assume the environment variable is set
+  System.put_env("CLI_OPTIONS_MODE", "parallel")
+
+  # if the argument is provided by the user the environment variable is ignored
+  CliOptions.parse(["--mode", "sequential"], schema)
+  >>>
+
+  # the environment variable will be used if not set
+  CliOptions.parse([], schema)
+  >>>
+
+  System.delete_env("CLI_OPTIONS_MODE")
+  ```
+
+  > #### Boolean flags and environment variables {: .warning}
+  >
+  > Notice that if the option is `:boolean` and an `:env` alias is set, then the
+  > environment variable will be used only if it has a _truthy_ value. A value is
+  > considered truthy if it is one of `1`, `true` (the match is case insensitive).
+  > In any other case the environment variable is ignored.
+  >
+  > ```cli
+  > schema = [
+  >   enable: [type: :boolean, env: "CLI_OPTIONS_ENABLE"]
+  > ]
+  >
+  > System.put_env("CLI_OPTIONS_ENABLE", "1")
+  > CliOptions.parse([], schema)
+  > >>>
+  >
+  > System.put_env("CLI_OPTIONS_ENABLE", "TrUE")
+  > CliOptions.parse([], schema)
+  > >>>
+  >
+  > System.put_env("CLI_OPTIONS_ENABLE", "other")
+  > CliOptions.parse([], schema)
+  > >>>
+  >
+  > System.delete_env("CLI_OPTIONS_ENABLE")
+  > ```
+
   ## Return separator
 
   The separator `--` implies options should no longer be processed. Every argument
diff --git a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/docs.ex b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/docs.ex
index 77a7c8a..18b9279 100644
--- a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/docs.ex
+++ b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/docs.ex
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ defmodule CliOptions.Docs do
     [
       schema[:doc],
       maybe_allowed(schema),
+      maybe_env(schema),
       maybe_default(schema),
       maybe_aliases(schema)
     ]
@@ -177,6 +178,17 @@ defmodule CliOptions.Docs do
     end
   end
 
+  defp maybe_env(schema) do
+    case schema[:env] do
+      nil ->
+        nil
+
+      env ->
+        env = String.upcase(env)
+        "[env: #{env}=]"
+    end
+  end
+
   defp maybe_default(schema) do
     case schema[:default] do
       nil -> ""
diff --git a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/parser.ex b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/parser.ex
index feeb2c5..d65617d 100644
--- a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/parser.ex
+++ b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/parser.ex
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ defmodule CliOptions.Parser do
     {remaining_argv, extra} = split_extra(argv)
 
     with {:ok, opts, args} <- parse(remaining_argv, schema, [], []),
+         {:ok, opts} <- maybe_append_env_values(opts, schema),
          {:ok, opts} <- CliOptions.Schema.validate(opts, schema) do
       {:ok, {opts, args, extra}}
     end
@@ -167,4 +168,37 @@ defmodule CliOptions.Parser do
         {:error, "an option alias must be one character long, got: #{inspect(option_alias)}"}
     end
   end
+
+  defp maybe_append_env_values(opts, schema) do
+    args_from_env =
+      schema.schema
+      |> Enum.reject(fn {_key, opts} -> is_nil(opts[:env]) end)
+      |> Enum.reject(fn {key, _opts} -> Keyword.has_key?(opts, key) end)
+      |> Enum.map(fn {_key, opts} -> maybe_read_env(opts) end)
+      |> List.flatten()
+
+    with {:ok, env_opts, []} <- parse(args_from_env, schema, [], []) do
+      {:ok, Keyword.merge(opts, env_opts)}
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp maybe_read_env(opts) do
+    env = System.get_env(String.upcase(opts[:env]))
+
+    cond do
+      is_nil(env) ->
+        []
+
+      opts[:type] == :boolean and truthy?(env) ->
+        ["--" <> opts[:long]]
+
+      opts[:type] == :boolean ->
+        []
+
+      true ->
+        ["--" <> opts[:long], env]
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp truthy?(value), do: String.downcase(value) in ["1", "true"]
 end
diff --git a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/schema.ex b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/schema.ex
index 5db4f4c..8508ec1 100644
--- a/cli_options/lib/cli_options/schema.ex
+++ b/cli_options/lib/cli_options/schema.ex
@@ -158,6 +158,17 @@ defmodule CliOptions.Schema do
       Defines a message to indicate that the option is deprecated. The message will
       be displayed as a warning when passing the item.
       """
+    ],
+    env: [
+      type: :string,
+      doc: """
+      An environment variable to get this option from, if it is missing from the command
+      line arguments. If the option is provided by the user the environment variable
+      is ignored.
+
+      For boolean options, the flag is considered set if the environment variable has
+      a truthy value (`1`, `true`) and ignored in any other case.
+      """
     ]
   ]
 
diff --git a/cli_options/test/cli_options/docs_test.exs b/cli_options/test/cli_options/docs_test.exs
index 5dec3a6..1209aa9 100644
--- a/cli_options/test/cli_options/docs_test.exs
+++ b/cli_options/test/cli_options/docs_test.exs
@@ -166,5 +166,21 @@ defmodule CliOptions.DocsTest do
 
       assert CliOptions.docs(schema) == expected
     end
+
+    test "with env set" do
+      schema = [
+        var: [doc: "a var", aliases: ["var1", "var2"], short: "v", default: "foo", env: "my_env"],
+        another: [doc: "another var", type: :integer, env: "ANOTHER_ENV"]
+      ]
+
+      expected =
+        """
+        * `-v, --var` (`string`) - a var [env: MY_ENV=] [default: `foo`] [aliases: `--var1`, `--var2`]
+        * `--another` (`integer`) - another var [env: ANOTHER_ENV=]
+        """
+        |> String.trim()
+
+      assert CliOptions.docs(schema) == expected
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/cli_options/test/cli_options/schema_test.exs b/cli_options/test/cli_options/schema_test.exs
index e5c18ab..6ea48a1 100644
--- a/cli_options/test/cli_options/schema_test.exs
+++ b/cli_options/test/cli_options/schema_test.exs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ defmodule CliOptions.SchemaTest do
       message =
         "invalid schema for :foo, unknown options [:missing, :other], valid options are: " <>
           "[:type, :default, :long, :short, :aliases, :short_aliases, :doc, :doc_section, :required, :multiple, " <>
-          ":allowed, :deprecated]"
+          ":allowed, :deprecated, :env]"
 
       assert_raise ArgumentError, message, fn ->
         CliOptions.Schema.new!(schema)
diff --git a/cli_options/test/cli_options_test.exs b/cli_options/test/cli_options_test.exs
index c28cc5a..4866ae2 100644
--- a/cli_options/test/cli_options_test.exs
+++ b/cli_options/test/cli_options_test.exs
@@ -341,4 +341,73 @@ defmodule CliOptionsTest do
              end) == ""
     end
   end
+
+  describe ":env set" do
+    @env_schema [
+      name: [type: :string, env: "TEST_NAME", required: true],
+      age: [type: :integer, env: "TEST_AGE"],
+      enable: [type: :boolean, env: "TEST_ENABLE"]
+    ]
+
+    setup do
+      on_exit(fn ->
+        System.delete_env("TEST_NAME")
+        System.delete_env("TEST_AGE")
+        System.delete_env("TEST_ENABLE")
+      end)
+    end
+
+    test "env vars are ignored if user provides the cli args" do
+      System.put_env("TEST_NAME", "foo")
+      System.put_env("TEST_AGE", "13")
+
+      assert {opts, [], []} = CliOptions.parse!(["--name", "bar", "--age", "20"], @env_schema)
+      assert opts == [name: "bar", age: 20, enable: false]
+    end
+
+    test "env vars are used if not set in options" do
+      System.put_env("TEST_NAME", "foo")
+      System.put_env("TEST_AGE", "13")
+
+      assert {opts, [], []} = CliOptions.parse!(["--enable"], @env_schema)
+      assert opts == [name: "foo", age: 13, enable: true]
+    end
+
+    test "env vars types are validated" do
+      System.put_env("TEST_NAME", "foo")
+      System.put_env("TEST_AGE", "invalid")
+
+      assert CliOptions.parse(["--enable"], @env_schema) ==
+               {:error, ":age expected an integer argument, got: invalid"}
+    end
+
+    test "env vars truthy values" do
+      for value <- ["1", "true", "TRUE", "tRuE"] do
+        System.put_env("TEST_ENABLE", value)
+
+        assert {opts, [], []} = CliOptions.parse!(["--name", "foo"], @env_schema)
+        assert opts[:enable]
+      end
+
+      for value <- ["0", "false", "other"] do
+        System.put_env("TEST_ENABLE", value)
+
+        assert {opts, [], []} = CliOptions.parse!(["--name", "foo"], @env_schema)
+        refute opts[:enable]
+      end
+    end
+
+    test "env vars casing definition does not matter" do
+      System.put_env("TEST_NAME", "foo")
+
+      assert CliOptions.parse!([], name: [type: :string, env: "TEST_NAME"]) ==
+               {[name: "foo"], [], []}
+
+      assert CliOptions.parse!([], name: [type: :string, env: "test_name"]) ==
+               {[name: "foo"], [], []}
+
+      assert CliOptions.parse!([], name: [type: :string, env: "Test_NAMe"]) ==
+               {[name: "foo"], [], []}
+    end
+  end
 end