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Akash Gupta
Akash Gupta

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dotenv-audit v1.1.0 — now with .env.example auto-sync

#javascript #node #development #opensource

This is a follow-up to my previous article: I built a CLI tool that auto-detects missing environment variables — no schema needed

Quick update on dotenv-audit — the CLI tool that scans your code and finds missing environment variables.

What's new in v1.1.0

1. sync command — keep .env.example in sync with your code

The most common problem with .env.example files? They go outdated. Someone adds a new process.env.STRIPE_KEY in code but forgets to update .env.example. New developers clone the repo, miss the variable, and waste time debugging.

Now just run:

npx dotenv-audit sync
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It will:

Scan your code for every process.env usage
Compare with your existing .env.example
Add missing variables with smart placeholder values
Warn about unused variables that should be removed

# .env.example
PORT=3000
DATABASE_URL=
JWT_SECRET=
OLD_UNUSED_VAR=something
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After running npx dotenv-audit sync:

  dotenv-audit sync
  Scanned 12 files

  + 2 variable(s) missing from .env.example:
    + API_KEY        app.js:3
    + STRIPE_KEY     payments.ts:22

  - 1 variable(s) in .env.example but not used in code:
    - OLD_UNUSED_VAR

  ✓ Added 2 variable(s) to .env.example
  ! 1 unused variable(s) found — review and remove manually
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Your .env.example now has:

PORT=3000
DATABASE_URL=
JWT_SECRET=
OLD_UNUSED_VAR=something

# ── Added by dotenv-audit sync ──────────────
# Other
API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Stripe
STRIPE_KEY=sk_test_your_stripe_secret_key_here
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  1. Local .env file reading (bug fix in v1.0.3) Previously the tool only checked process.env at runtime — so if you had variables in your .env file, they were still showing as "missing". Fixed. Now it reads .env and .env.local before validating.

All commands

npx dotenv-audit              # Scan and show missing vars
npx dotenv-audit --ask        # Interactive mode (generate .env + ENV_SETUP.md)
npx dotenv-audit sync         # Sync .env.example with code
npx dotenv-audit audit        # List all detected variables
npx dotenv-audit gen          # Generate .env.example from scratch
npx dotenv-audit --json --ci  # CI mode with JSON output
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Try it
npx dotenv-audit sync
npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/dotenv-audit

400+ downloads in the first 2 days. Would love your feedback — what would you want next?

Thanks for reading! If you missed the first article, check it out here: How I built dotenv-audit

If you find it useful, drop a ❤️ and share it with your team!

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