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⚡ The Problem: dotenv-safe Is Not Safe

Most tools (dotenv-safe, envalid, zod) only verify that a variable exists:

# Passes dotenv-safe with flying colors:
JWT_SECRET=changeme
API_KEY=your-secret-here

In production, a weak secret is worse than a missing secret. Undersized JWT secrets (< 32 characters) allow attackers to forge tokens with HS256 brute-force dictionaries in seconds.

dotvet does what other linters don't:

1. 🔍 Zero config: Auto-scans your codebase (process.env.X, os.environ.get('X'), os.getenv('X'), import.meta.env.X, etc.) to find every environment variable you actually reference.
2. 🚫 Placeholder eradication: Detects and bans dummy defaults like "changeme", "your-secret-here", "dummy", "admin", or "123456".
3. 🔐 JWT-aware strictness: Any secret matching JWT or JWT_SECRET must be at least 32 characters (256-bit) or dotvet halts the build.
4. 🎲 Entropy calculation: Audits sensitive keys using Shannon entropy to catch repetitive and trivial strings.
5. 📜 Schema generation: Generates .env.schema.json and .env.example in a single command.
6. 🌐 Dual-ecosystem & zero dependencies: Works natively across Node.js (npx dotvet) and Python (pip install dotvet) with zero third-party dependencies.

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🚀 Quickstart

In Node.js / TypeScript Projects

Run immediately without installing:

npx dotvet

Or install as a dev dependency:

npm install --save-dev dotvet
# or
pnpm add -D dotvet
# or
yarn add -D dotvet

In Python Projects

pip install dotvet
dotvet

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💻 CLI Commands

1. dotvet / dotvet check (Default)

Audits .env against variables referenced in your code:

npx dotvet
# or
dotvet check --env .env.production

Example Output:

dotvet v0.1.1 — Auditing environment variables in /projects/my-app
Environment file: .env (found) | Found 4 vars in code

 WARN  .env (GITIGNORE_MISSING)
  .env is present but not explicitly listed in .gitignore. Risk of committing secrets to Git!
  Fix: Add ".env" to your .gitignore file.

 FAIL  JWT_SECRET (JWT_UNDERSIZED)
  JWT secret JWT_SECRET length is only 18 chars (minimum 32 characters required for HMAC-SHA256). Weak JWT secrets can be forged in seconds!
  Referenced at:
    • src/auth.ts:12 → const token = jwt.sign(payload, process.env.JWT_SECRET);
  Fix: Generate a 32+ char secret: "openssl rand -base64 32"

 FAIL  DATABASE_URL (PLACEHOLDER_SECRET)
  Variable DATABASE_URL is set to placeholder "changeme". This is dangerous for production!
  Referenced at:
    • src/db.ts:4 → const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });
  Fix: Replace the placeholder with a secure, generated value.

PASSED CHECKS (2):
  ✔ PORT
  ✔ REDIS_URL

 FAILURE  Found 2 errors and 1 warning.

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2. dotvet scan

Inspects your entire codebase and maps out where every environment variable is used:

npx dotvet scan

Output:

dotvet scan — Discovered 3 environment variables:

  DATABASE_URL (2 usages)
    ↳ src/db.ts:4
    ↳ src/migrate.ts:10
  JWT_SECRET (1 usage)
    ↳ src/auth.ts:12
  PORT (1 usage)
    ↳ src/server.ts:8

---

3. dotvet generate

Automatically generates a .env.example file and .env.schema.json contract based on variables discovered across your codebase:

npx dotvet generate

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🛡️ Security Rules

Rule	Severity	Description
MISSING_ENV_VAR	FAIL	Variable referenced in code is absent from .env and environment.
EMPTY_ENV_VAR	FAIL	Variable is defined in .env but has an empty string value.
PLACEHOLDER_SECRET	FAIL	Value matches known placeholder strings ("changeme", "your-secret-here", "dummy").
JWT_UNDERSIZED	FAIL	JWT secret is under 32 characters (violates minimum 256-bit requirement for HS256).
LOW_ENTROPY_SECRET	WARN / FAIL	Sensitive key has Shannon entropy < 2.5 bits/char (repeating or sequential keys).
GITIGNORE_MISSING	WARN	.env exists in directory but is not tracked in .gitignore.

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⚙️ Options & Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--env <path>	.env	Path to environment file to audit
--strict	false	Treat warnings as hard errors (non-zero exit)
--ci	false	Emits GitHub Actions annotations (::error file=...)
--json	false	Emits machine-readable JSON output
-h, --help		Show usage help
-v, --version		Display version

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🤖 CI / CD Integration (GitHub Actions)

Add dotvet as a gate in your pull request workflow:

name: Security & Env Quality Gate

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  env-audit:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      
      # Runs zero-config audit; fails PR if secrets are weak, missing, or placeholders
      - name: Run dotvet
        run: npx dotvet --ci --strict
        env:
          # Provide your mock test secrets
          JWT_SECRET: "ci_valid_32_character_long_secret_key_12345"
          DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://ci:ci@localhost:5432/test"
          PORT: "3000"

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📦 Publishing Tonight

Publish to npm

npm publish --access public

Publish to PyPI

python3 -m pip install --upgrade build twine
python3 -m build
python3 -m twine upload dist/*

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🔒 Why Zero Dependencies?

Recent attacks on the open-source supply chain (such as the ChainDrop worm) demonstrated how deeply nested dependencies can introduce backdoors into developer tooling.

dotvet is designed from the ground up with 0 runtime dependencies in both Node.js and Python. It runs exclusively using native language standard libraries, guaranteeing:

• Sub-200ms cold startup in CI.
• Zero transitive supply chain attack surface.
• Immunity to package manager lifecycle hook breaking changes (e.g. npm v12).

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🏢 Created by EthicCode Technologies

dotvet is an open-source initiative designed, built, and maintained by EthicCode Technologies.

• Website: ethiccode.in/dotvet
• Contact: contact@ethiccode.in

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📄 License

MIT © 2026 EthicCode Technologies