ENV File Diff Viewer 🔍

Securely compare .env files locally without exposing sensitive data to online diff tools

A lightweight, privacy-focused desktop application built with Node.js. Keep your API keys, secrets, and credentials safe by comparing environment files entirely on your local machine.

Why ENV Diff Viewer? 🔒

Stop risking your sensitive data! Many developers use online diff tools to compare .env files, unknowingly exposing:

• API keys and tokens
• Database credentials
• Secret keys and passwords
• OAuth client secrets
• Private configuration values

ENV Diff Viewer runs 100% locally - your sensitive data never leaves your machine.

Features ✨

• 🔐 Privacy First: All comparisons happen locally on your machine
• ⚡ Quick Comparison: Paste two .env file contents and instantly see differences
• 🎨 Visual Highlighting: Color-coded diff showing added, removed, modified, and unchanged variables
• 📊 Statistics Dashboard: At-a-glance summary of changes
• ✨ Clean UI: Modern, responsive design with smooth interactions
• 🪶 Lightweight: Runs as a local web server, can be compiled to standalone executable
• 🚀 No Dependencies: Pure Deno 2 with built-in HTTP server
• 💻 Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows

Installation 📦

Install via npm

npm install -g env-diff-viewer

Manual Installation

Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/arancibiajav/env-diff-viewer.git
cd env-diff-viewer
npm install

Usage 💡

Quick Start

After installation, simply run:

env-diff

Or if installed locally:

npm start

Step-by-Step

1. Launch the application

   env-diff
   # or: npm start
   # or: node main.js

2. Open your browser to http://localhost:8080

3. Paste your .env files

   • Left panel: Your first environment file (e.g., .env.local)
   • Right panel: Your second environment file (e.g., .env.production)

4. Click "⚡ Compare Files" to see the diff

5. Review the results:

   • 🟢 Green (+): Variables added in the second file
   • 🔴 Red (-): Variables removed from the second file
   • 🟡 Yellow (~): Variables with modified values
   • ⚪ Gray (=): Variables unchanged between files

Security Note 🔒

Your data stays local! The comparison happens entirely in your browser. No data is sent to any server.

Example Use Cases 📝

Compare Local vs Production

# .env.local
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/dev_db
API_KEY=dev_key_abc123
DEBUG=true
PORT=3000

# .env.production
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://prod-server:5432/prod_db
API_KEY=prod_key_xyz789
DEBUG=false
PORT=8080
CACHE_ENABLED=true

Find Missing Environment Variables

Quickly identify which variables are missing when setting up a new environment.

Audit Configuration Changes

See exactly what changed between different versions of your configuration.

Building Standalone Executables 🔨

You can create standalone executables using pkg:

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build executables for all platforms
npm run pkg

# Executables will be in the dist/ folder:
# - dist/env-diff-linux
# - dist/env-diff-macos
# - dist/env-diff-win.exe

Running from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/arancibiajav/env-diff-viewer.git
cd env-diff-viewer

# Run directly
node main.js

# Or use npm
npm start

Project Structure 📁

├── main.ts         # Main application server with embedded HTML/CSS/JS
├── deno.json       # Deno configuration and tasks
├── package.json    # npm package configuration
├── check-deno.js   # Preinstall script to verify Deno installation
├── README.md       # This file
└── .gitignore      # Git ignore rules

Contributing 🤝

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Support 💬

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check existing issues for solutions

Security 🛡️

This tool is designed with security in mind:

• ✅ All data processing happens locally
• ✅ No external API calls
• ✅ No data collection or telemetry
• ✅ No network requests except localhost
• ✅ Open source - verify the code yourself

License 📄

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Author ✍️

Created by [email protected]

Remember: Your secrets are valuable. Keep them local, keep them safe. 🔐