Against .env.example
(or .env.sample, .env.template, .env.dist, <file>.example, or --example): missing variables, undocumented extras.
GitHub Packages · MIT · Node ≥ 18
dotenv-sentinel
Validate .env files against .env.example or a schema, catch weak and default secrets, and keep .env files out of git, including its history.
1 Point the
@mrlouiswrightscope at GitHub Packages in.npmrc@mrlouiswright:registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com2 Install
npm i -D @mrlouiswright/dotenv-sentinel
Installing from GitHub Packages needs a token
Published to GitHub Packages, not npmjs.com. GitHub Packages needs a GitHub token with read:packages to install, even for public packages: add //npm.pkg.github.com/:_authToken=${GITHUB_TOKEN} to .npmrc or run npm login --registry=https://npm.pkg.github.com.
$ npx dotenv-sentinel appdotenv-sentinel — 3 target(s) app/.env.example variables: 6 gitTracked: true gitIgnored: false CRITICAL app/.env.example:6 AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID looks like a real AWS access key (AKI…LE (20 chars)) in an example file [example-contains-secret] ↳ AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID ↳ fix: Rotate it and replace it with a placeholder. LOW app/.env.example:5 JWT_SECRET has an unquoted value with spaces; some loaders cut it off [unquoted-space] ↳ JWT_SECRET ↳ fix: Wrap the value in double quotes. ... 2 critical, 5 high, 5 medium, 9 low✖ Failing (fail-on: high).
Why it exists
dotenv-sentinel finds every .env, “.env.*” and “*.env” file in a project and checks three things: completeness (variables missing compared with .env.example or a JSON schema, empty required values, wrong types), secret hygiene (changeme, “<your-key>”, short secrets, debug mode in production files, real credentials left in example files) and git exposure (env files that are tracked, not covered by .gitignore, or present anywhere in history). Values are never printed: every secret is masked. CLI, library and GitHub Action. Node.js 18+, zero runtime dependencies (uses the git CLI when available).
Features
Against a schema
(--schema env.schema.json): required, empty, type (string, number, integer, boolean, url, email, port, json, enum), pattern, enum, minLength, secret.
Secrets
variables named like secrets (*_SECRET, *_TOKEN, *_PASSWORD, API_KEY, APP_KEY…) holding well-known defaults or placeholders, or shorter than --min-secret-length (16). Example files holding real-looking credentials (AWS, GitHub, Stripe, Slack, private keys, passwords in URLs, high-entropy values).
Production files
(*prod*): DEBUG=true, NODE_ENV=development, http:// URLs to remote services.
Syntax
invalid lines, unterminated quotes, duplicate keys, unquoted values with spaces, ${VAR} references to undefined variables.
Git
tracked env files with values (committed-env), env files not matched by .gitignore, and env files added in any commit of any branch (env-in-history; rotate those secrets).
Usage
# current directory, including git checks
npx dotenv-sentinel# Example
npx dotenv-sentinel apps/api --schema apps/api/env.schema.json# Example
npx dotenv-sentinel .env.production --example .env.example --fail-on mediumCI / GitHub Action
permissions:
contents: read
security-events: write # only for the SARIF upload
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@11d5960a326750d5838078e36cf38b85af677262 # v4
with: { persist-credentials: false }
- uses: MrLouisWright/dotenv-sentinel@v1
with:
targets: '.'
fail-on: high
sarif: dotenv-sentinel.sarif
- uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
if: always()
with: { sarif_file: dotenv-sentinel.sarif }Options & flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--example <file> | Compare every env file with this example |
--schema <file> | JSON schema: { "variables": { "PORT": { "type": "port" }, ... } } |
--min-secret-length <n> | Minimum length for secret variables (default 16) |
--no-git | Do not ask git about tracked/ignored files |
--no-history | Do not search git history for committed .env files |
| Policy and output | |
-c, --config <file> | JSON config (default .dotenv-sentinel.json if present) |
-f, --format <fmt> | text (default) | json | sarif | markdown |
--json/--sarif/--markdown <file> | Also write that format to a file |
--fail-on <sev> | critical | high | medium | low | info | none (default high) |
--list-rules | Print rules and default severities |
--no-color | Disable colours |
Full reference, config file format and API in the README.
Support this project
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