cmd env

nself env

Multi-environment management: switch, list, diff, copy.

Synopsis

nself env <subcommand> [flags]

Description

nself env manages multiple environments (dev, staging, prod) on a single project. Each environment gets its own Docker project name, network, volume namespace, and port range, so they can coexist on one host without conflicts.

env use <name> switches the active environment. After switching, run nself build so the generated docker-compose.yml and nginx config reflect the new environment's .env.<name> cascade. env list shows all environments with the active one marked. env show prints the resolved config for the current environment with secrets redacted. env diff a b compares two environments side-by-side. env copy from to scaffolds a new environment from an existing one as the starting template. env explain [VAR] shows the effective .env cascade — see below.

The active environment is stored in a project-local marker (.env.active or equivalent) so subsequent commands like nself start, nself logs, and nself db all target the right stack.

Most env subcommands take no flags beyond positional arguments; env explain takes --reveal. Use --help on any subcommand to confirm.

env explain

nself env explain shows the .env cascade actually in effect for the current project (later file wins):

.env → .env.{dev|staging|prod} → .env.secrets → .env.local

.env is the shared, committed base. Exactly one of .env.dev/.env.staging/.env.prod loads, matching ENV. .env.secrets never ships in git. .env.local is your personal override and always wins. .env.ai no longer exists as a cascade layer — its content is folded into .env.secrets (see Config-Env-Vars).

With no argument, env explain lists every file in load order with whether it exists and which one wins ties. With a VAR argument, it lists every existing file that sets VAR, the value each one sets, and which file wins — values are redacted by default; pass --reveal to see them.

Setting NSELF_LEGACY_ENV_ORDER=1 restores the pre-CLI-R18 order (.env.dev → .env.{staging|prod} → .env.secrets → .env.local → .env → .env.ai) for exactly one minor version, printing a warning on every use. env explain reflects whichever order is active. Run nself migrate to move a project permanently off the escape hatch — it detects any variable whose effective value would change under the reorder and fixes it automatically wherever that's unambiguously safe, or flags it for manual review otherwise.

env target

Manage the multi-server inventory stored in .nself/control-plane.yaml.

Synopsis

nself env target <subcommand> [flags] [args]

Description

nself env target manages a fleet of servers across environments. The inventory is persisted in .nself/control-plane.yaml (mode 0600). Each server entry records its role, SSH target, SSH key reference (env-var name only — never an inline key), remote installation path, and whether it is the primary app server.

The probe subcommand runs SSH + Docker checks against live servers and classifies each as manage (full control), read-only (SSH reachable but Docker unavailable), or hidden (SSH unreachable). A 60-second on-disk cache avoids repeated probe latency; use --refresh to bypass it.

The migrate subcommand is a one-time helper for teams that previously configured deployments via NSELF_DEPLOY_HOST_* environment variables. It synthesizes a control-plane.yaml from those variables without overwriting any existing manual entries.

Subcommands

Name	Args	Description
list [env]	optional env name	List servers in the inventory; --json for machine-readable output; --all to include hidden servers
add <env> <name>	env name, server name	Add a server to an environment
remove <env> <name>	env name, server name	Remove a server from an environment
probe [env[:server]]	optional filter	Run SSH + Docker probes and print a capability matrix
migrate	none	Migrate legacy NSELF_DEPLOY_HOST_* env vars to control-plane.yaml

Flags — list

Flag	Default	Description
--json	false	Emit JSON output
--all	false	Include hidden servers (no host configured)

Flags — add

Flag	Default	Description
--host	—	SSH target in user@host form (required for remote servers)
--role	app	Server role: app, lb, observability, db, worker
--key-ref	—	Name of the env var that holds the SSH key path (never the key path itself)
--remote-path	/opt/nself	Absolute path on the remote host where nSelf is installed
--primary	false	Mark this server as the primary app server
--upstreams	—	Upstream app server names (LB role only, comma-separated)

Flags — probe

Flag	Default	Description
--json	false	Emit JSON output
--refresh	false	Bypass the 60-second probe cache

Security invariants

• --key-ref accepts an env-var name only (e.g. NSELF_SSH_KEY_STAGING). Supplying a file path or inline key material is rejected on input.
• SSH probes use BatchMode=yes StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new ForwardAgent=no. No interactive prompts, no agent forwarding.
• Secret values are never written to or read from the inventory file. list and probe output shows SSHKeyRef names, not values.
• All writes to control-plane.yaml use mode 0600.

Examples

# List all servers (table)
nself env target list

# List only staging servers, JSON output
nself env target list staging --json

# Add a primary app server to staging
nself env target add staging web1 \
  --host ubuntu@staging.example.com \
  --role app \
  --key-ref NSELF_SSH_KEY_STAGING \
  --remote-path /opt/nself \
  --primary

# Add an LB server that routes to web1 and web2
nself env target add staging lb1 \
  --host ubuntu@lb.example.com \
  --role lb \
  --key-ref NSELF_SSH_KEY_STAGING \
  --upstreams web1,web2

# Remove a server from staging
nself env target remove staging web1

# Probe all servers (capability matrix)
nself env target probe

# Probe only staging, JSON, bypassing cache
nself env target probe staging --json --refresh

# Probe one specific server
nself env target probe staging:web1

# Migrate legacy NSELF_DEPLOY_HOST_* env vars
nself env target migrate

Output format — probe table

ENV      SERVER  CAPABILITY  SSH  DOCKER  LATENCY  REASON
staging  web1    manage      ok   ok      42ms
staging  lb1     read-only   ok   -       38ms     docker socket permission denied
prod     db1     manage      ok   ok      91ms

Output format — probe JSON

[
  {
    "env": "staging",
    "server": "web1",
    "capability": "manage",
    "ssh_reachable": true,
    "docker_ok": true,
    "latency_ms": 42
  }
]

Capability values

Value	Meaning
manage	Full control: SSH reachable, Docker socket accessible
read-only	SSH reachable but Docker unavailable (permission or socket issue)
hidden	SSH unreachable; server excluded from deploy pipeline

Inventory file format

.nself/control-plane.yaml (mode 0600):

version: 1
environments:
  staging:
    name: staging
    kind: remote
    servers:
      - name: web1
        role: app
        host: ubuntu@staging.example.com
        ssh_key_ref: NSELF_SSH_KEY_STAGING
        remote_path: /opt/nself
        primary: true
  prod:
    name: prod
    kind: remote
    servers:
      - name: web1
        role: app
        host: deploy@prod.example.com
        ssh_key_ref: NSELF_SSH_KEY_PROD
        remote_path: /opt/nself
        primary: true

---

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--help, -h	—	Show help

Subcommands

Name	Description
copy	Scaffold a new environment from an existing one
diff	Compare two environment configs side-by-side
explain	Show the effective .env cascade and which file wins
list	List available environments
show	Show current environment config (secrets redacted)
target	Manage control-plane server targets
use	Switch active environment

Examples

# See which environments exist
nself env list

# Switch to staging and rebuild
nself env use staging
nself build

# Show the resolved config for the current environment
nself env show

# Compare dev and prod env configs
nself env diff dev prod

# Scaffold a new "qa" environment from staging
nself env copy staging qa
nself env use qa

# See the full cascade in effect
nself env explain

# See which file wins for one variable (redacted)
nself env explain POSTGRES_PASSWORD

# Reveal the actual winning value
nself env explain POSTGRES_PASSWORD --reveal

---

See Also

• cmd-build, regenerate compose for the active environment
• cmd-promote, promote one environment to another
• cmd-secrets, environment-scoped secrets
• cmd-migrate, move a project to the CLI-R18 cascade order
• Config-Env-Vars, full cascade reference and every supported variable
• Commands, full command index

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