env-manager_skill

Overview

This skill provides environment variable validation, security scanning, and management focused on Next.js, Vite, React, Node.js, and Python apps. It prevents missing variables, accidental client-side secret exposure, and inconsistent .env files across environments. Designed for local development, CI/CD gates, and deployment platforms with no external dependencies.

How this skill works

The skill parses .env files and validates key=value structure, naming conventions, duplicates, and empty values. It applies framework-aware rules to detect client-exposed prefixes (NEXT_PUBLIC_, VITE_, REACT_APP_) and flags likely secrets. It can compare against .env.example, generate sanitized examples, and emit JSON for CI/CD with clear exit codes.

When to use it

• Validate .env before pushing or deploying to catch missing or malformed variables
• Run in CI/CD as a quality gate with --strict to treat warnings as errors
• Scan for secrets accidentally placed in client-exposed variables (Next.js, Vite, CRA)
• Generate .env.example to document required environment variables safely
• Compare team .env files to .env.example during onboarding to ensure consistency

Best practices

• Never commit .env files with secrets; use .env.example for documentation
• Run validation in CI/CD pipelines to catch regressions before deploy
• Use platform secret managers (Vercel, Railway, Heroku) for production secrets
• Keep client-exposed variables strictly public/publishable and move secrets to server-side vars
• Review generated .env.example and adjust placeholders if overly conservative

Example use cases

• New developer onboarding: validate .env against .env.example and fill missing values
• Pre-deployment check: run framework-specific validation (e.g., Next.js) with --strict
• Security audit: scan .env.local to find secrets in NEXT_PUBLIC_ or VITE_ variables
• CI quality gate: produce JSON output and fail pipeline if validation fails
• Documentation: regenerate .env.example after adding new variables and commit it