Nifty Env

Load .env files into terminals, tasks and debug sessions, switch between .env profiles, hide secret values on screen, and check .env against .env.example.

Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.

Features

A .env file with its secrets blurred, the staging profile picked from the status bar, and a new terminal echoing the staging values

A .env file with the database URL, Stripe key and session secret blurred, and a hover showing API_URL expanded

The staging profile selected in the status bar, and a new terminal that already has its values

Show Loaded Variables: every variable of the staging profile, secrets masked

Your .env in every terminal. New integrated terminals, task terminals and debug sessions get the variables from your .env files, with no source .env, no envFile in every launch configuration and no extra packages. Values set in launch.json still win.
Profiles. Keep .env.development, .env.staging and .env.production side by side and switch with one click in the status bar. .env.local and .env.<profile>.local overrides are loaded too, in the order Next.js, Vite and dotenv-flow use.
References are expanded: URL=http://localhost:${PORT}/api, ${PORT:-3000} defaults, and PATH=$PATH:./bin, after all files are merged, so a profile's PORT flows into URLs defined in .env.
Safe to screen-share. Values of keys that look secret (*_TOKEN, *_PASSWORD, API_KEY, DATABASE_URL…) are blurred in the editor. The line you're on is shown so you can still edit it. Toggle with the eye button, or blur every value.
Never miss a new variable. If .env.example has a key your .env doesn't, you get a hint and a quick fix to add it. Create .env.example writes one from your .env with the secrets left blank.
A proper .env editor. Syntax highlighting, hovers that show the expanded value, and warnings for duplicate keys, unclosed quotes and lines that aren't KEY=value. Multi-line quoted values (like private keys) work.
1Password references. Put op://vault/item/field in your .env instead of the secret and Nifty Env resolves it with the 1Password CLI when loading, so secrets never sit in files on disk. Turn on nifty.env.resolve1Password. If a reference can't be read, you're told which one and why.

Commands

Command	What it does
`Nifty Env: Select .env Profile…`	Switch profile (also in the status bar)
`Nifty Env: Reload .env Files`	Reload now (files are also watched)
`Nifty Env: Show Loaded Variables`	See what's loaded; pick one to copy its value
`Nifty Env: Create .env.example from This File`	Write `.env.example` without secret values
`Nifty Env: Show/Hide Secret Values`	Toggle blurring

Settings

Setting	Default	What it does
`nifty.env.files`	`.env`, `.env.local`, `.env.${profile}`, `.env.${profile}.local`	Files to load, later ones win
`nifty.env.loadIntoTerminals`	`true`	Add variables to new terminals and tasks
`nifty.env.loadIntoDebug`	`true`	Add variables to debug sessions
`nifty.env.mask`	`secrets`	Blur `secrets`, `all` values, or `off`
`nifty.env.checkAgainstExample`	`true`	Point out keys missing compared to `.env.example`
`nifty.env.exampleKeepsSafeValues`	`true`	Keep non-secret values in a generated `.env.example`
`nifty.env.showInStatusBar`	`true`	Show the active profile
`nifty.env.resolve1Password`	`false`	Resolve `op://` references with the 1Password CLI
`nifty.env.opPath`		Path to the 1Password CLI, if `op` isn't on your PATH

Terminals that were already open keep their old environment; VS Code shows a relaunch indicator on them when the variables change.

Install

VS Code: search for "Nifty Env" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.

Privacy

This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.

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Nifty Env: .env Files, Profiles & Secrets

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