Browser tool · Private · No server
ENV example generator
Paste your .env file and get a clean .env.example with smart placeholders — safe to commit. Your secrets stay in your browser.
Your .env content is processed entirely in your browser — it never leaves your device.
Generated .env.example will appear hereFrequently asked questions
Is it safe to paste my real .env file into this tool?
Yes. The ENV example generator processes your file entirely in your browser using JavaScript — nothing is sent to any server. The page does not have any analytics or tracking that captures form inputs. That said, if you are working on a shared computer, clear the textarea after use.
How does the tool decide which values to redact?
The generator uses the variable name to decide what to redact. Any key containing words like KEY, SECRET, TOKEN, PASSWORD, URL, DSN, CERT, or PRIVATE gets its value replaced with a descriptive placeholder like your-api-key-here. Safe values — port numbers, NODE_ENV, DEBUG flags, boolean values — are preserved as-is because they are not sensitive and are useful context for other developers.
What format does the output use?
The output is a standard .env.example file where secret values are replaced with placeholder strings that describe what goes there. For example, DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:pass@host:5432/db becomes DATABASE_URL=your-postgres-connection-url. Developers cloning the project can read the example file to understand what environment variables are needed without exposing real credentials.
What should I do with the generated .env.example?
Commit it to your repository alongside your .gitignore (which should list .env and any .env.local files). This gives new team members a template to copy and fill in with their own credentials. Update the .env.example whenever you add a new environment variable to the project — treat it as part of the codebase documentation.
Why .env.example matters
A .env.example file is the template developers use when setting up a project locally. It lists every environment variable the app needs, with placeholder values instead of real secrets — so it's safe to commit to Git.
Without it, new developers have no way of knowing which environment variables to set, leading to silent failures, missing feature flags, or broken builds. Every project should have a .env.example.
Smart placeholders: this tool recognises common patterns like DATABASE_URL, API_KEY, JWT_SECRET, and more — and replaces them with descriptive placeholder strings rather than generic text.
Non-sensitive values like PORT, NODE_ENV, and boolean flags are kept as-is, since they're safe to share.
Need DevOps help or secure environment management for your product?
Talk to Codalyst about DevOps and infrastructure