envgap 0.1.1

Find the gaps in your Python environment config.

envgap

Find the gaps in your Python environment config.

envgap is a diagnostic CLI for Python projects that use .env files, .env.example, shell variables, and os.environ / os.getenv in code. It does not load your config. It shows the gaps between what your app expects, what your project documents, and what your environment actually provides.

30-Second Demo

Given a project with:

# .env
DB_URL=postgres://localhost/app
OPENAI_API_KEY=changeme

# app.py
import os

DATABASE_URL = os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]

Run:

$ DATABASE_URL=postgres://shell/app envgap check examples/basic

envgap check
===============

Checked:
  shell environment: available (1/4 expected key(s) found)
  .env: found (3 key(s))
  .env.example: found (3 key(s))
  Python code: 3 env usage(s)

Diagnosis:
  DATABASE_URL
    ! Missing value: DATABASE_URL is missing from .env (app.py:3)
      It is present in your shell environment, so local commands may work while CI or Docker still fails.
      Suggested fix: Add DATABASE_URL=... to .env or document how CI/Docker should provide it.

  DB_URL
    ~ Possible typo: DB_URL may be a typo for DATABASE_URL (.env:1)
      Suggested fix: Rename DB_URL to DATABASE_URL if they represent the same setting.

Why

Environment config bugs are boring until they eat an afternoon.

Common examples:

• The app expects DATABASE_URL, but .env contains DB_URL.
• .env.example says a key exists, but local .env never got it.
• A secret is still set to changeme.
• A variable works locally only because it is exported in your shell.
• CI, Docker, or another developer's machine fails because the real required variables are not documented.

envgap is for that moment when you want the project to explain itself.

Install

pip install envgap

From a local checkout:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Quick Start

Run a check in the current project:

envgap check

Try the included broken example:

envgap check examples/basic

Show machine-readable output:

envgap check --json

Ignore shell variables for deterministic CI checks:

envgap check --no-shell

Fail on warnings as well as errors:

envgap check --strict

--ci is supported as a CI-friendly alias for --strict:

envgap check --ci

Use custom dotenv filenames:

envgap check --env-file .env.local --example-file .env.example

What It Checks Today

envgap check currently inspects:

• current shell environment
• .env
• .env.example
• Python files using common environment variable APIs

It detects:

• missing keys
• undocumented extra keys
• duplicate keys
• empty values
• placeholder values like your-key-here, changeme, todo, and replace-me
• likely typo pairs like DB_URL vs DATABASE_URL
• required env vars used in Python code but missing from .env.example
• missing .env
• missing .env.example

It scans Python code for:

os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]
os.getenv("DATABASE_URL")
os.getenv("DATABASE_URL", "sqlite:///local.db")
os.environ.get("DATABASE_URL", "sqlite:///local.db")

Required vs optional behavior:

• os.environ["KEY"] is required
• os.getenv("KEY") is required
• os.getenv("KEY", default) is optional
• os.environ.get("KEY", default) is optional

Exit Codes

Command	Exit code behavior
envgap check	exits 1 when errors are present
envgap check --strict	exits 1 when errors or warnings are present
envgap check --ci	same as --strict
envgap check --json	same pass/fail behavior, JSON output
envgap check --no-shell	ignores current shell variables when diagnosing missing keys

Warnings do not fail a normal check unless --strict or --ci is used.

CI

name: envgap

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  envgap:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install envgap
      - run: envgap check --ci

Example Diagnosis

Given:

# .env
DB_URL=postgres://localhost/app
OPENAI_API_KEY=changeme

# .env.example
DATABASE_URL=
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key-here

# app.py
import os

DATABASE_URL = os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]
DEBUG = os.getenv("DEBUG", "false")

envgap can report:

• DATABASE_URL is required in code but missing from .env
• DB_URL may be a typo for DATABASE_URL
• OPENAI_API_KEY still looks like a placeholder
• DEBUG is optional because it has a default

Why Not Just python-dotenv?

python-dotenv loads environment variables.

envgap explains whether the environment variables your app expects match the variables your project defines and documents.

The useful question is not only:

Did .env load?

It is:

What does my app expect, where should it come from, and why is it missing or wrong here?

Current Scope

This is intentionally a small diagnostic tool, not a config framework.

In scope now:

• .env
• .env.example
• shell environment
• Python os.environ / os.getenv scanning
• terminal and JSON reports
• CI-friendly exit codes

Not in scope yet:

• loading or mutating your environment
• validating every framework-specific settings pattern
• Docker Compose parsing
• GitHub Actions secrets parsing
• Pydantic BaseSettings extraction

Roadmap

• Pydantic BaseSettings support
• Django settings helper detection
• Docker Compose env detection
• GitHub Actions env/secrets detection
• precedence explanations for shell vs .env vs framework defaults
• GitHub Actions annotations
• richer JSON schema for editor and CI integrations

Development

python -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest

Run the example locally:

envgap check examples/basic

Run the shell-aware example:

DATABASE_URL=postgres://shell/app envgap check examples/basic

License

MIT