exenv

Interactive .env generator from example template files with comment guidance, type inference, shell inheritance, and merge safety.

Features

• Scans workspace breadth-first for .env.example, .env.sample, or similar templates.
• Respects .gitignore and ignores standard build directories.
• Prompts variable-by-variable with section grouping based on comment headers.
• Auto-detects booleans, dropdown options, and password fields.
• Auto-inherits matching environment variables from active shell session.
• Pre-fills values from existing .env files while preserving local custom variables.
• Generates layout-preserved .env with exact comments, spacing, and quotes.
• Non-interactive mode for CI/CD pipelines.

Installation

Via Go

go install github.com/kryft-dev/exenv@latest

Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-compiled binaries for Linux, macOS, and Windows from GitHub Releases.

Agent Skill

Install the official exenv skill for AI coding agents:

npx skills@latest add kryft-dev/exenv

Usage

Interactive Mode

Run in any directory containing a .env.example:

exenv

If multiple template candidates exist in subdirectories, an interactive selector will prompt you to pick one.

Specify Source and Output Files

# Positional arguments
exenv .env.example .env.local

# Explicit flags
exenv --source config/.env.template --out config/.env

Non-Interactive (CI/CD)

# Accept all defaults, fail if required variables lack defaults
exenv --defaults

# Dry run to stdout
exenv --defaults --dry-run

CLI Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
--source	-s	Path to source template file	Auto-discovered
--out	-o	Path to target output file	.env
--defaults	-d	Non-interactive mode using default values	false
--force	-f	Overwrite existing .env without pre-filling	false
--yes	-y	Skip review summary confirmation prompt	false
--dry-run		Output generated file to stdout	false
--no-env		Do not inherit shell environment variables	false
--no-ignore		Do not respect .gitignore when searching	false
--no-backup		Do not create .env.bak on overwrite	false
--show-secrets		Display secret values in plain text	false
--max-depth		Maximum directory search depth	5
--version	-v	Display version information

Template Annotations

exenv parses annotations in comments directly above variables:

# Application environment
# @options dev,staging,prod
# @required
APP_ENV=dev

# Stripe secret key
# @secret
STRIPE_API_KEY=

# Enable experimental features
# @bool
ENABLE_BETA=false

• @secret: Masks input with password field.
• @public: Disables secret auto-masking on sensitive key names.
• @required: Enforces non-empty values before allowing progression.
• @options val1,val2,val3: Renders an interactive select dropdown.
• @bool or @type bool: Renders a boolean toggle (true/false).

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.