Quickstart Guide

Quick Start

Welcome to env-sentinel — a lightweight tool for analyzing and validating .env files. This guide will help you set up env-sentinel, lint your environment variables, generate a schema, and validate them in just a few steps.

1. Installation

You can run env-sentinel directly with npx (no installation required):

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npx env-sentinel lint --file .env

Or install it locally in your project:

npm install --save-dev env-sentinel

2. Lint Your .env

Linting checks for formatting errors, unsafe characters, and common pitfalls.

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npx env-sentinel lint

👉 Learn more about Linting

3. Generate a Schema

Schemas describe the expected environment variables and their rules (required, number, boolean, etc.).

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npx env-sentinel init

This will create a .env-sentinel schema file based on your current .env.

4. Validate Environment Variables

Once you have a schema, validate your .env against it:

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npx env-sentinel validate

👉 Learn more about Validation

5. Document Your Config

You can also use env-sentinel to document environment variables for your team.

👉 See Documenting

Next Steps

• Explore the Linting rules and best practices.
• Understand Validation with schema-based checks.
• Learn how to Document your configuration for better team workflows.

With env-sentinel, your .env files stay consistent, safe, and production-ready.