ENV Blocker 🔒

Protect your sensitive environment variables from accidental exposure.

ENV Blocker is a VS Code extension that prevents .env files from being opened without explicit confirmation. Perfect for protecting API keys, passwords, and other sensitive credentials from accidental screen sharing or unauthorized access.

✨ Features

• 🛡️ Automatic Blocking: All .env files are blocked and require confirmation before opening
• 🎯 Smart Detection: Automatically detects .env, .env.local, .env.production, and any .env.* variants
• ✅ Exception Support: .env.example files open freely without confirmation
• 🔄 Session Memory: Files you've confirmed stay open during your VS Code session
• 🎨 Beautiful UI: Modern, animated confirmation dialog with keyboard shortcuts
• ⚡ Status Bar Control: Quick toggle on/off directly from the status bar
• 💾 Persistent Settings: Your enable/disable preference is saved across sessions
• 🚀 Zero Configuration: Works out of the box, no setup required

📸 Screenshots

Confirmation Dialog

When you try to open a .env file, a beautiful dialog appears asking for confirmation:

• Yes, Open - Opens the file and remembers your choice for this session
• Cancel - Closes the file and keeps it protected

Status Bar

Quick access to toggle the extension on/off from the status bar.

🚀 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on macOS)
3. Type: ext install env-blocker
4. Press Enter

Manual Installation

1. Download the .vsix file from Releases
2. Open VS Code
3. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
4. Click ... (More Actions) → Install from VSIX...
5. Select the downloaded .vsix file

📖 Usage

Basic Usage

1. Try to open any .env file

   • A confirmation dialog will appear automatically
   • Choose "Yes, Open" to view the file
   • Choose "Cancel" to keep it closed

2. Session Memory

   • Once you confirm a file, it stays accessible during your current VS Code session
   • Close and reopen VS Code to reset permissions (for security)

3. Status Bar Control

   • Click the status bar item (🔒 ENV Blocker: ON/OFF) to toggle protection
   • Green = Protection active
   • Orange = Protection disabled

Keyboard Shortcuts (in Dialog)

• Enter - Confirm and open file
• Escape - Cancel and close file

🎮 Commands

Access these commands via Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS):

⚙️ How It Works

Protected Files

ENV Blocker will block these files:

• ✅ .env
• ✅ .env.local
• ✅ .env.development
• ✅ .env.production
• ✅ .env.staging
• ✅ .env.test
• ✅ Any .env.* variant

Exempted Files

These files open normally without confirmation:

• ❌ .env.example
• ❌ Any file not matching .env pattern

Security Features

1. Immediate Close: When a .env file is detected, it's immediately closed before the content is rendered
2. Session-based Memory: Allowed files are forgotten when VS Code restarts
3. Multiple File Protection: If you try to open multiple .env files while a dialog is open, new files are closed and you're redirected to complete the current confirmation
4. Startup Protection: Files already open when VS Code starts are also protected

🔧 Configuration

ENV Blocker works out of the box with no configuration needed. All settings are managed through commands.

Default Behavior

• Protection is enabled by default
• File permissions reset on VS Code restart
• Status bar item is always visible

Customization

Currently, ENV Blocker doesn't support custom patterns or exceptions beyond .env.example. If you need additional customization, please open an issue on GitHub.

🤔 Why ENV Blocker?

Common Scenarios

Screen Sharing Accidents

• Accidentally showing API keys during presentations
• Streaming/recording with sensitive data visible
• Pair programming with external developers

Security Best Practices

• Extra layer of protection for sensitive files
• Conscious decision before viewing credentials
• Reduces accidental git commits (by making you think twice)

Team Environments

• Junior developers learning about security
• Shared workspaces or computers
• Training environments

🆚 Comparison

🐛 Troubleshooting

Extension Not Working?

1. Check if enabled

   • Look at the status bar: should show 🔒 ENV Blocker: ON
   • Run command: ENV Blocker: Show Status

2. File still opens without dialog?

   • Make sure the file ends with .env or .env.*
   • Check if the file was previously allowed (reset with ENV Blocker: Reset Permissions)

3. Dialog appears twice?

   • This shouldn't happen. Please report as a bug with reproduction steps

Known Limitations

• Cannot prevent file viewing if opened via command line (e.g., code .env)
• Cannot prevent file viewing in diff/compare mode
• Preview pane may briefly show content before closing (unavoidable VS Code limitation)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Bug Reports

• Open an issue on GitHub Issues
• Include VS Code version, extension version, and reproduction steps

Feature Requests

• Check existing issues first
• Describe the use case and expected behavior

Pull Requests

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/marifsiddiqi/env-blocker.git
cd env-blocker

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Open in VS Code
code .

# Press F5 to run extension in debug mode

📝 Changelog

[0.0.1 - 0.0.3] - 2025-10-26

Added

• Initial release
• Basic .env file blocking functionality
• Confirmation dialog with modern UI
• Status bar integration
• Enable/Disable commands
• Reset permissions command
• Session-based file memory
• Startup file protection
• .env.example exemption
• Keyboard shortcuts (Enter/Escape)

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by the need for better security practices in development
• Built with ❤️ for the VS Code community
• Thanks to all contributors and users

📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Email: marifsiddiqi81@gmail.com

⭐ Show Your Support

If ENV Blocker helps protect your sensitive data, please consider:

• ⭐ Starring the repository on GitHub
• 📝 Writing a review on the VS Code Marketplace
• 🐦 Sharing with your developer friends

Made with 🔒 by marifsiddiqi

GitHub • Marketplace • Report Bug • Request Feature