I built a free VS Code extension that catches leaked secrets before you commit them

The problem

Last year I nearly committed a Stripe live key to a public repo.

Caught it manually at the last second. But it made me think —
why doesn't VS Code warn me about this automatically?

So I built EnvGuard.

What it does

EnvGuard is a free VS Code extension that adds 6 things your
.env files have always needed:

• 🔐 Secret Scanner — detects 30+ patterns (AWS keys, GitHub tokens, Stripe keys, JWT tokens) with red underlines before you commit
• ✅ Schema Validation — define a .env.schema file, get instant errors for missing/wrong keys
• 🔄 Environment Switcher — save dev/staging/prod profiles, switch with one click
• 🔍 Diff Viewer — compare any two .env files side by side
• 📋 Example Generator — auto-generate .env.example from your real .env
• 🖥️ Dashboard — visual overview of all keys, security score, profiles

How the secret scanner works

Add this to your .env:
JWT_SECRET=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

EnvGuard immediately shows a red wavy underline and adds to
Problems panel: "Potential JWT Token detected — remove before committing"

Works for 30+ secret types including AWS, GitHub, Stripe, Google,
Slack, SendGrid, Firebase, and more.

The schema format

Create a .env.schema file:

DATABASE_URL=required|url|description:PostgreSQL connection string
PORT=required|number|default:3000
NODE_ENV=required|enum:development,staging,production
API_KEY=required|string|secret:true
DEBUG=optional|boolean|default:false

EnvGuard validates your .env against this in real time.

Install free

VS Code Marketplace:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GayathriS.envguard-pro

GitHub (open source):
https://github.com/GayathriCodes2/EnvGuard.Extenstion

Honest request

This is my first published VS Code extension. If you try it
and find bugs, please open an issue on GitHub — I respond fast.

If it's useful, a ⭐ on GitHub genuinely helps.