venl

A modern, zero-dependency environment loader for Node.js, using .venl files instead of .env.

venl automatically loads environment files, validates them, casts values, lets you control modes with NODE_VENL, and even includes a CLI for running apps with configuration pre-loaded.

🚀 Features

• 🔄 Auto-loads .venl, .venl.local, and .venl.{development|production|test}
• 🌍 Controlled by NODE_VENL (not NODE_ENV)
• 🧩 Supports schema validation (string, number, boolean, optional fields)
• 🔢 Optional automatic type casting
• 🧪 TypeScript support out of the box
• ♻ Hot reloading (venl.reload())
• 🔥 CLI: venl run node app.js
• 📦 Zero dependencies
• 🧹 Clean, modern API

📦 Installation

npm install venl

📁 File Structure Used by venl

venl automatically loads files in this priority:

.venl
.venl.development     (if NODE_VENL=development)
.venl.production      (if NODE_VENL=production)
.venl.test            (if NODE_VENL=test)
.venl.local           (always loaded last)

Highest priority → .venl.local

🎉 Basic Usage

Create a .venl file:

PORT=3000
DEBUG=true
API_KEY="ABC123"

Load it:

import venl from "venl";

venl.load();

console.log(venl.PORT);
console.log(venl.DEBUG);
console.log(venl.API_KEY);

📦 Usage in CommonJS and ESM

venl works in both ES modules and CommonJS.

ES Modules (default)

import venl from "venl";

venl.load();

console.log(venl.PORT);
console.log(venl.DEBUG);
console.log(venl.API_KEY); 

CommonJS (require)

const venl = require("venl");

venl.load();

console.log(venl.PORT);
console.log(venl.DEBUG);
console.log(venl.API_KEY);

🌍 Using NODE_VENL Modes

Set the mode:

NODE_VENL=production node app.js

This loads:

.venl
.venl.production
.venl.local

🧩 Schema Validation

import venl from "venl";

venl.schema = {
  PORT: "number",
  SECRET_KEY: "string?",
  DEBUG: "boolean?"
};

venl.strict = true;
venl.load();

If a required variable is missing → throws an error.

🔢 Auto-Casting

venl.autoCast = true;
venl.load();

This converts:

"true"   → true
"false"  → false
"123"    → 123

📁 Custom File List

venl.envFiles = [".config.venl", ".secrets.venl"];
venl.load();

♻ Reloading

venl.reload();

🖥️ CLI Usage

Run any command with venl pre-loaded:

venl run node app.js

Example:

venl run nodemon server.js

🛠 package.json Configuration

To enable the CLI and ESM/CommonJS support, package.json includes:

{
  "type": "module",
  "main": "index.cjs",
  "exports": {
    "import": "./src/index.js",
    "require": "./index.cjs"
  },
  "bin": {
    "venl": "bin/venl.js"
  }
}

"bin"

Creates the terminal command venl.

"type": "module"

Enables ES module syntax (import/export).

"exports" and "main"

Allow both:

• import venl from "venl";

• const venl = require("venl");

📘 TypeScript Support

Included automatically:

import venl from "venl";

❤️ License

MIT