Auto-generate .env.example from your codebase — across 7 languages.
Env Sync scans your entire codebase and auto-generates a complete .env.example file — so new developers know exactly what environment variables your project needs. Stop shipping broken deploys because of missing config.
⚡ Zero runtime dependencies. Privacy-first — all scanning happens locally.
✨ Features
- ✅ Generate
.env.example— Scans your workspace and outputs every environment variable your code references, grouped, sorted, and annotated with file locations - ✅ Validate
.envagainst.env.example— Instantly see which variables are missing or extra - ✅ Diff Code vs. Documentation — Compare what your code actually uses against what's documented — catch drift before it breaks a deploy
- ✅ Scan Current File — Quickly check the active file for all environment variable references
- ✅ 7-Language Support — JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, Ruby, Rust, Go, and Shell
📸 Screenshots
📥 Installation
- Open VS Code
- Go to the Extensions view (
Ctrl+Shift+X/Cmd+Shift+X) - Search for Env Sync
- Click Install
Or install from the command line:
code --install-extension devforge.env-sync
🚀 Usage
Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and run:
| Command | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Env Sync: Generate .env.example | Ctrl+Alt+G / Cmd+Alt+G |
Scan workspace and generate/sync the file |
| Env Sync: Validate .env against .env.example | Ctrl+Alt+V / Cmd+Alt+V |
Check for missing/extra variables |
| Env Sync: Show Missing/Extra Variables | Ctrl+Alt+E / Cmd+Alt+E |
Compare code usage against documented vars |
| Env Sync: Scan Current File | Ctrl+Alt+C / Cmd+Alt+C |
List env vars in the active editor |
🌐 Supported Languages
| Language | Patterns Detected |
|---|---|
| JavaScript / TypeScript | process.env.NAME, process.env['NAME'] |
| Python | os.environ.get('NAME'), os.getenv('NAME'), os.environ['NAME'] |
| Java | System.getenv("NAME") |
| Ruby | ENV['NAME'] |
| Rust | env::var("NAME") |
| Go | os.LookupEnv("NAME") |
| Shell | (pattern matching on uppercase variables) |
⚙️ Configuration
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
envsync.outputFile |
.env.example |
Output file for generated environment variable documentation |
envsync.includeComments |
true |
Include file-location comments next to each variable |
envsync.excludeDirs |
["node_modules", ".git", "vendor", "dist", ...] |
Directories to exclude from scanning |
envsync.scanExtensions |
[".js", ".ts", ".py", ".go", ".rs", ...] |
File extensions to scan |
📋 Why Env Sync?
- 👋 Onboarding — New team members get a complete
.env.example. No more "what env vars do I need?" Slack messages. - 🚀 Deploy safety — Never deploy without a required environment variable again.
- 🌐 Multi-language — Works across your polyglot codebase — Node, Python, Go, Rust, and more.
- 🔒 Privacy-first — All scanning happens locally in your editor. No data leaves your machine.
💎 Pro Features
Upgrade to Pro for advanced environment management:
- 🏷️ Variable descriptions — Auto-document each variable with inferred types, defaults, and descriptions
- 🔗 CI/CD integration — Export validation results for pipelines and pre-commit hooks
- 📊 Variable usage heatmap — Visual map showing where each variable is used across your codebase
- 🔄 Auto-sync on save — Automatically regenerate
.env.examplewhenever you save a file - 📤 Multi-format export — Export to JSON, YAML, or TOML for infrastructure-as-code tools
Upgrade to Pro for auto-documentation, CI/CD integration, usage heatmaps, and multi-format export — $5/month (or $15/month for teams). Visit https://devforge.dev to get your license key.
📄 License
MIT — free for personal and commercial use.
Built by DevForge — developer tools that solve real daily pain.