dotenv-utils

dotenv-utils is a simple and interactive CLI utility to help you manage your .env files.
It enables you to generate .env.example files by extracting keys from existing .env files, and also to create .env files interactively by filling in missing values based on .env.example.

Features

• Generate .env.example files by copying keys from your .env and stripping out the values to avoid leaking secrets.
• Create or update your .env file interactively by prompting for each variable defined in .env.example.
• Skip variables during configuration by pressing Ctrl+C.
• Clear informative messages and error handling for better developer experience.

Installation

You can install dotenv-utils globally via npm:

npm install -g dotenv-utils

Or use it directly via npx without global install:

npx dotenv-utils <command> [options]

Commands

gen-env-example

Generate a .env.example file by copying all keys from your .env file, replacing all values with empty strings.

dotenv-utils gen-env-example -i .env -o .env.example

Options

• -i, --input <file>: Path to the source .env file (default: .env)
• -o, --output <file>: Path where the generated .env.example file will be saved (default: .env.example)

configure-env

Create or update your .env file interactively by reading keys from a .env.example file and prompting you to enter their values.

dotenv-utils configure-env -i .env.example -o .env

Options

• -i, --input <file>: Path to the .env.example file to read keys from (default: .env.example)
• -o, --output <file>: Path where the resulting .env file will be saved (default: .env)

You will be prompted to enter a value for each environment variable defined in .env.example. If you want to skip a variable, press Ctrl+C to abort the process.

Usage Example

1. Generate an example file from your existing .env:

dotenv-utils gen-env-example

2. Commit .env.example to your repository to share environment variable keys without secrets.

3. When setting up a new environment, run:

dotenv-utils configure-env

and fill in the requested values interactively.

Development

Build

Install dependencies, then run:

npm run build

Run locally

Run your CLI directly from the built files:

node dist/index.js <command> [options]