RunEnv — VS Code Extension

Inject secrets into all terminals at runtime — zero-disk secret management.

RunEnv eliminates .env files. Secrets are fetched from the server and injected directly into your terminal's environment — they never touch the filesystem.

Release Readiness

Verified on March 13, 2026.

• Status: pre-publish / release-candidate for 0.1.0
• Automated validation passed: npm test (111 tests), python3 ../run_vscode_dist.py, and VSIX internal validation
• Final hardening completed in this pass:
  • disabled persistent env caching so stale secrets do not survive reloads without a valid login/project
  • restored auto-refresh after Init Project and Switch Environment
  • switched Flutter debug tasks and script wrapping to safer command generation
  • added JSONC parsing for .vscode/tasks.json and .vscode/launch.json
  • aligned file-writing commands with the workspace that owns .runenv.json in multi-root setups
• Remaining before publish: clean-profile install, update-install, and manual smoke verification from RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md

Features

How It Works

1. First time setup (once per workspace):

   • Open RunEnv > Home in the sidebar first
   • Use RunEnv: Quick Start only if you want guided setup or recovery
   • Sign in in the browser, then choose the project and environment for this folder
   • Watch Home > Progress to see which setup step is done and what comes next

2. Every time after (automatic):

   • Open VS Code → secrets auto-load on startup
   • Open any terminal → npm run dev just works
   • Debug, tasks, integrated terminal — all have secrets injected

Tree View Sidebar

The RunEnv panel appears in the activity bar (cloud icon). It includes two native VS Code views:

• Home — current status, setup progress, recommended actions, selected advanced actions, detected files, advanced tools
• Secrets — read-only secret keys with masked values

Inside these views you can:

• See the current project, environment, and sync state
• See a step-by-step setup checklist for login, init, secret loading, and import readiness
• Use Home as the main entry point for setup, daily actions, files, and troubleshooting
• Use Quick Start only when you want RunEnv to guide setup or recovery
• Use Workspace Actions when you want a compact command-palette menu of common actions
• Use Secrets only after setup when you want to inspect masked secret values
• Expect Home > Actions to show only the current next step, core daily actions, and a few selected advanced tools
• Use Home > Advanced for settings, docs, dashboard links, and the full operations toolbox
• See the current server URL, signed-in account, and whether secrets are actually active
• Detect existing .env files, package scripts, and the current .runenv.json
• Open .runenv.json or jump straight into importing a detected .env file
• Open .env or .runenv.json and use the editor title actions for import, doctor, preset fixes, and load
• Use native welcome actions in the Secrets view before login, before project setup, and before the first load
• Recover faster with direct actions like Open Dashboard and Open Settings
• Open Doctor Report for a one-page health summary of the current workspace
• See .runenv.json validation details and env-file preset guidance inside Doctor Report
• Get inline .runenv.json diagnostics when project, env, or preset values are invalid
• Apply a recommended env-file preset directly from Home, Doctor Report, or the status bar
• Open Smoke Test Checklist before packaging a VSIX or testing a release build
• Use the status bar tooltip for quick links to Home, Workspace Actions, Doctor Report, and recovery actions
• Check Home > Recent to open the last action summary and re-run it if needed
• Run common actions like Load Secrets, Switch Environment, Import .env File, and Generate .env File
• Review import diffs before upload and choose whether changed keys should overwrite existing RunEnv values
• Read a result summary after Import .env File and Generate .env File before choosing the next action
• Browse secret keys with masked values (KEY = abcd••••efgh)
• Use the Refresh button in the title bar to re-fetch from server

Status Bar

The status bar (bottom-left) shows the current state:

Click the status bar to open RunEnv > Home. Use the tooltip links for Workspace Actions and recovery commands.

Commands

Flutter / React Native Support

For frameworks that need a .env file as a bundled asset:

1. Auto-detect: If your workspace has pubspec.yaml with .env in assets, the extension auto-writes .env when secrets load.
2. Manual: Cmd+Shift+P → RunEnv: Generate .env File to write secrets from memory.
3. F5 setup: Cmd+Shift+P → RunEnv: Setup Flutter Debug (F5) to create:
   • preLaunchTask: writes .env before debug starts
   • postDebugTask: deletes .env after debugging stops

🛡️ .env is always added to .gitignore automatically.

Localization

All user-facing strings use vscode.l10n.t(). The extension ships with translation bundles for English plus 8 translated locales:

VS Code automatically picks the matching bundle based on the user's display language setting. If no matching bundle is found, English is used as the fallback.

Settings

Security

• Secrets are injected via VS Code's EnvironmentVariableCollection API — never written to disk
• Each VS Code window has its own isolated set of secrets (no cross-project leakage)
• Auth tokens expire after 4 hours
• Secrets auto-refresh from the server to stay current
• 401 responses trigger automatic re-login prompt
• Logout clears both token and all injected secrets
• API requests have a 10-second timeout

Install

code --install-extension runenv-0.1.0.vsix

Local Development

python3 ../run_vscode_dev.py

Use --workspace /path/to/project if you want the Extension Development Host to open a different test folder.

VSIX Packaging

python3 ../run_vscode_dist.py

This packaging flow now validates the generated VSIX contents automatically, including required commands, views, walkthroughs, and packaged files.

Useful options:

python3 ../run_vscode_dist.py --dry-run
python3 ../run_vscode_dist.py --skip-tests
python3 ../run_vscode_dist.py --out /tmp/runenv.vsix

Use RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md for clean-install, update-install, and final release verification.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85+
• A RunEnv account with at least one project