The latest articles on DEV Community by Atyah (@atyah). https://dev.to/atyah https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3779807%2F886a391c-17e9-4771-a0ff-26b1d78a0da7.png https://dev.to/atyah en Atyah Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:49:45 +0000 https://dev.to/atyah/i-built-a-cli-tool-to-stop-env-file-chaos-across-environments-4o4f https://dev.to/atyah/i-built-a-cli-tool-to-stop-env-file-chaos-across-environments-4o4f <p>Every team I've worked with has had the same problem — someone adds a new env var, forgets to tell the team, and suddenly staging is broken because <code>DATABASE_URL</code> is missing.</p> <p>So I built <strong>env-doctor</strong> — a zero-dependency CLI that:</p> <ul> <li> <strong><code>check</code></strong> — validates your <code>.env</code> against a <code>.env.example</code> or a schema file (missing vars, type mismatches, bad formats)</li> <li> <strong><code>diff</code></strong> — compares two <code>.env</code> files side by side (spot what's missing, extra, or changed)</li> <li> <strong><code>mask</code></strong> — outputs your <code>.env</code> with values hidden (safe for sharing in Slack/PRs)</li> <li> <strong><code>init</code></strong> — generates a <code>.env.example</code> from your existing <code>.env</code> automatically</li> </ul> <p>It also supports a <code>.env.schema</code> format where you can define types, patterns, required fields, enums, min/max — so validation actually catches real issues before deploy.<br> </p> <div class="highlight js-code-highlight"> <pre class="highlight shell"><code>npx @atyahassis/env-doctor check </code></pre> </div> <p>Zero dependencies. Node 18+. MIT licensed.</p> <p>GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/AtyahsLab/env-doctor" rel="noopener noreferrer">github.com/AtyahsLab/env-doctor</a></p> <p>Would love feedback — what's missing? What would make this actually useful for your workflow?</p> node opensource showdev