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⚡ Why dotvet? (The Comparison)

Most environment linters (dotenv-safe, envalid) only check if a key exists. They don't care if its value is "changeme" or a 6-character toy secret that can be cracked in 2 seconds.

Capability	dotvet 🛡️	dotenv-safe	dotenvx	gitleaks / trufflehog
Code-aware Scanning (derives required vars from AST/regex)	✅ Zero-config	❌ (Manual .env.example)	❌	❌
Bans Dummy Placeholders (changeme, dummy, test)	✅ Yes	❌ (Passes them)	❌	❌
Enforces JWT Minimum Strength (>= 32 chars / 256-bit)	✅ Hard Fail	❌	❌	❌
Detects Unconfigured Template URLs (postgres://localhost...)	✅ Hard Fail	❌	❌	❌
Entropy & Repeating Pattern Detector (abcdefgh*4)	✅ Yes	❌	❌	✅ (Git history only)
Auto-Heals Secrets & .gitignore (dotvet fix)	✅ Yes	❌	❌	❌
Passive Git History Leak Reconnaissance	✅ Yes (Instant)	❌	❌	✅ (Git commits only)
Dual Git Hooks (pre-commit & pre-push)	✅ Yes	❌	❌	⚠️ (Manual hook)
Generates Machine-Readable .env.schema.json Contract	✅ Yes	❌	❌	❌
Native GitHub Action (uses: EthicCodeTech/dotvet@v1)	✅ Yes	❌	⚠️	⚠️
Runtime Dependencies	0	Multiple	Multiple	Go binary

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🛡️ Repository Security Badge

Show your team and users that your repository is protected from insecure environment variables. Add this badge to your README:

[![dotvet: secure](https://ethiccode.in/dotvet/badge.svg)](https://ethiccode.in/dotvet)

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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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📜 Your Team's Env Contract (.env.schema.json)

Onboarding new engineers shouldn't require sending unencrypted .env files over Slack.

Run dotvet generate once:

npx dotvet generate

This derives your project's canonical environment contract:

1. .env.example: Clean documentation of all required variables without exposing production secrets.
2. .env.schema.json: Strict JSON Schema defining types (integer, string, secret), constraints, and descriptions.

Commit .env.schema.json to Git. Whenever a teammate pulls the repository or runs dotvet check, they immediately know which variables their branch depends on and why.

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💻 CLI Commands

1. dotvet / dotvet check (Default)

Audits .env against variables referenced in your code:

npx dotvet
# or target a specific subfolder / monorepo package
npx dotvet check backend/
# or specify an alternate env file
dotvet check --env .env.production

Example Output:

dotvet v0.1.8 — 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 init

Initializes dotvet in your project by scaffolding a clean .dotvetignore template and verifying .gitignore safely excludes .env:

npx dotvet init

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3. 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

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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.
HISTORICAL_ENV_LEAK	WARN / FAIL	A .env file was committed in past Git history (even if deleted now, it is stored in Git objects).
TEMPLATE_URL_UNCONFIGURED	FAIL	Unconfigured mock connection URL (postgresql://user:password@localhost...).
VENDOR_SECRET_EXPOSED	WARN	Live production API key pattern detected (e.g. Stripe sk_live).

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⚙️ Options & Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--env <path>	.env	Path to environment file to audit
--dir, -d <path>	.	Target directory to scan (or pass positional path: npx dotvet check backend/)
--ignore, -i <vars>		Ignore specific variables or rules (comma-separated, e.g. -i LEGACY_KEY,API_KEY:WEAK_SECRET_LENGTH)
--include-cgi	false	Include standard CGI/PHP web server variables (RFC 3875) in scan
--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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🛡️ Ignoring Variables & Configuration

Need to exempt a legacy variable or specific rule without compromising the entire security check? dotvet supports multiple flexible ways:

1. .dotvetignore file (Repo root)

Run dotvet init to generate .dotvetignore:

# Exempt an entire variable from all checks
LEGACY_CLIENT_TOKEN

# Exempt a variable from a specific rule only
CUSTOM_KEY:WEAK_SECRET_LENGTH

2. Configuration file (dotvet.config.json or .dotvetrc.json)

You can configure global rules and ignores in dotvet.config.json or package.json:

{
  "ignore": [
    "LEGACY_API_KEY",
    "CUSTOM_TOKEN:WEAK_SECRET_LENGTH"
  ],
  "rules": {
    "JWT_UNDERSIZED": { "severity": "warn" }
  }
}

3. Inline # dotvet-ignore comments in .env

# Ignore all checks for this line
LEGACY_KEY=short # dotvet-ignore

# Or ignore a specific rule
DEV_SECRET=short # dotvet-ignore:WEAK_SECRET_LENGTH

4. CLI flag (--ignore, -i)

npx dotvet check --strict --ignore "LEGACY_KEY,DEV_KEY:WEAK_SECRET_LENGTH"

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🤖 CI / CD Integration: GitHub Action

The fastest way to guard pull requests in GitHub Actions is the official dotvet action (3 lines):

name: Env Security Gate

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  audit:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Verify Environment Variable Security
        uses: EthicCodeTech/dotvet@main
        with:
          strict: 'true'
        env:
          JWT_SECRET: "ci_valid_32_character_long_secret_key_12345"
          DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://ci:ci@localhost:5432/test"
          PORT: "3000"

🔒 Why Zero Dependencies?

Recent attacks on the open-source supply chain 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 standard libraries, guaranteeing:

• Sub-200ms cold startup in CI.
• Zero transitive supply chain attack surface.
• Full immunity to third-party package vulnerabilities.

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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: hi@ethiccode.in

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📄 License

MIT © 2026 EthicCode Technologies