dotenv-local-first

Dotenv local first cli.

Installation

yarn add --dev @jswork/dotenv-local-first

Usage

This CLI tool loads environment variables from .env* files with the following priority (later files override earlier ones):

1. .env
2. .env.${NODE_ENV} (e.g., .env.development, .env.production)
3. .env.local
4. .env.${NODE_ENV}.local (e.g., .env.development.local)

Basic usage

# Just load and display environment variables
dotenv-local-first

# Run a script with loaded environment variables
dotenv-local-first your-script.js

# Run with verbose logging
dotenv-local-first -v your-script.js

Example

Create your environment files:

# .env (base configuration)
DATABASE_NAME=myapp_db
DATABASE_USER=root
DATABASE_PORT=3306
DATABASE_PASS=secret123

# .env.development (development overrides)
DATABASE_NAME=myapp_dev_db
DATABASE_PORT=3307
DATABASE_PASS=dev_secret

# .env.local (local overrides - should not be committed)
DATABASE_PASS=local_override_password
DATABASE_USER=local_user

Then run:

NODE_ENV=development dotenv-local-first

This will load variables with the priority: .env → .env.development → .env.local → .env.development.local

Development

bun create cli/dotenv-local-first --no-git --no-install