Automate .env.example
file generation by scanning existing .env
files in projects, masking sensitive information, and creating corresponding .env.example
files with placeholders. This efficiently maintains up-to-date example configurations while keeping actual values secure.
- Automatically generate a
.env.example
file based on the existing.env
file. - Support for multiple
.env.*
files (e.g..env.test
,.env.production
). The extension can generate corresponding.env.*.example
files. - Update
.env.example
each time the.env
file is saved. - Replace sensitive data with placeholders.
- Preserve comments from the
.env
file in the generated.env.example
file. - Minimize manual intervention by automating the updating process.
- Exclude specific
.env
files from being processed using a flag in the first line (e.g.,#noexample
). - Newly introduced configuration option to specify an inclusion flag,
#example
, for processing .env files. If this configuration is set, only the .env files with#example
on the first line will generate the respective .env.example files.
- Install the extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.
- Open a project that contains a
.env
file or multiple.env.*
files. - The extension automatically generates corresponding
.env.example
or.env.*.example
files when you open the project. You can also use the "Generate .env.example from .env" command from the Command Palette (pressCtrl+Shift+P
orCmd+Shift+P
on macOS) or simply save your.env
or.env.*
file to trigger an update of.env.example
or.env.*.example
files. - Comments in your
.env
or.env.*
files that follow a#
symbol on the same line as a variable assignment will be preserved in the generated.env.example
or.env.*.example
files. This provides context for each configuration item while keeping the actual values masked. - To exclude a specific
.env
file from being processed, simply add#noexample
as the first line in the file. The extension will ignore this file when generating the.env.example
files. - To set the new configuration option, go to the VS Code settings and search for "Env Auto Example". When the "Only Generate From Marked Files" option is checked (
true
), the extension will only process .env files with a#example
flag in the first line. In this case,.env.example
files will be created only for.env
files marked with#example
, and if the flag is removed, the corresponding.env.example
file will be deleted. When the option is unchecked (false
), the extension will generate.env.example
files for all.env
files, unless they are marked with#noexample
. If a.env
file is marked with#noexample
, it will be ignored and no corresponding.env.example
file will be created. This feature provides the option to decide whether the extension should automatically process all.env
files for generating corresponding.env.example
files, or only those specifically marked with a '#example' flag. This capability enables granular control over which.env
files should be processed, allowing for privacy of certain environment configurations while exposing others. It is particularly useful in larger projects where multiple environment configurations exist, or when certain sensitive configurations are best left without a corresponding example file.