EnvSync-LE: Zero Hassle .env Sync

Effortlessly detect, compare, and synchronize .env files across your workspace.
Featuring visual diffs, automatic, manual, and template-based comparison modes.
Designed for enterprise environments and large monorepos.

Tested on Ubuntu, macOS, and Windows for maximum compatibility.

🙏 Thank You!

Thank you for using EnvSync-LE! If this extension has been helpful in managing your environment files, please consider leaving a rating on VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX. Your feedback helps other developers discover this tool and motivates continued development.

⭐ Enjoying EnvSync-LE? Leave a rating and help others find it too!

✅ Why EnvSync‑LE

• Simple sync detection: Instantly see if your environment files are in sync.
• One‑click details: Click the status bar to open a comprehensive visual diff report showing which files are out of sync and which keys are missing.
• Clear signals: Status bar indicators for in-sync, missing/extra keys, and parse errors.
• Flexible modes: Auto scan, manual selection, or compare all files to a template.
• Noise control: Ignore comments, toggle case sensitivity, and debounce checks.
• Granular scope: Include/exclude file patterns and temporarily ignore specific files.

🚀 More from the LE Family

• String-LE - Extract user-visible strings for i18n and validation • VS Code Marketplace
• Numbers-LE - Extract and analyze numeric data with statistics • VS Code Marketplace
• Paths-LE - Extract file paths from imports and dependencies • VS Code Marketplace
• Regex-LE - Test and validate regex patterns with live feedback • VS Code Marketplace
• Secrets-LE - Detect and sanitize secrets before you commit • VS Code Marketplace
• Scrape-LE - Validate scraper targets before debugging • VS Code Marketplace
• Colors-LE - Extract and analyze colors from stylesheets • VS Code Marketplace
• URLs-LE - Extract URLs from any codebase with precision • VS Code Marketplace
• Dates-LE - Extract temporal data from logs and APIs • VS Code Marketplace

Each tool follows the same philosophy: Zero Hassle, Maximum Productivity.

💡 Use Cases & Examples

Monorepo Environment Management

Keep environment variables synchronized across multiple services:

project/
├── frontend/.env.local
├── backend/.env.local
├── database/.env.local
└── shared/.env.template

Development Team Coordination

Ensure all team members have consistent environment configurations:

# .env.development (template)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000

# .env.local (individual)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
API_BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000
DEBUG_MODE=true

CI/CD Pipeline Validation

Validate environment files before deployment:

# .env.production
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://prod-db:5432/myapp
REDIS_URL=redis://prod-redis:6379
API_BASE_URL=https://api.myapp.com

# .env.staging
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://staging-db:5432/myapp
REDIS_URL=redis://staging-redis:6379
API_BASE_URL=https://staging-api.myapp.com

Configuration Drift Detection

Monitor for configuration changes across different environments and alert when inconsistencies are detected.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install from VS Code Marketplace or Open VSX
   • VS Code Marketplace: Install here
   • Open VSX (Cursor, VSCodium): Install here
2. Open a workspace containing one or more .env* files.
3. Watch the status bar for sync status, or run commands:
   • Compare Selected .env Files
   • Set/Clear Template
   • Ignore/Stop Ignoring/Clear All Ignored
   • Open DotSync‑LE Settings

🔁 Comparison Modes

• Auto: Discover and compare all .env* files automatically.
• Manual: You pick which files to compare.
• Template: Treat one file as the source of truth and compare others to it.

📣 Status Bar & Notifications

• In‑sync: Green check with tooltip summary.
• Out‑of‑sync: Warning with number of affected files; click to open a detailed sync report.
• Parse errors: Error state with guidance to fix.
• Notification levels: all, important, or silent.

🧾 Sync Details Report

• Open via status bar click or the command: DotSync‑LE: Show Sync Details.
• Summarizes checked files, overall status, and issues.
• Lists missing keys per file and the reference file used for comparison.
• Includes parse/read errors, when present.

🧭 Commands

• EnvSync‑LE: Show Sync Details (envsync-le.showIssues)
• EnvSync‑LE: Open Settings (envsync-le.openSettings)
• EnvSync‑LE: Compare Selected .env Files (envsync-le.compareSelected)
• EnvSync‑LE: Set Template File (envsync-le.setTemplate)
• EnvSync‑LE: Clear Template File (envsync-le.clearTemplate)
• EnvSync‑LE: Ignore File (envsync-le.ignoreFile)
• EnvSync‑LE: Stop Ignoring File (envsync-le.stopIgnoring)
• EnvSync‑LE: Clear All Ignored Files (envsync-le.clearAllIgnored)

⚙️ Configuration

Basic Settings

• envsync-le.enabled – Enable or disable the extension
• envsync-le.watchPatterns – Glob patterns for files to watch (default: **/.env*)
• envsync-le.excludePatterns – Globs to exclude from watching
• envsync-le.notificationLevel – all | important | silent
• envsync-le.statusBar.enabled – Toggle status bar indicator

Advanced Options

• envsync-le.debounceMs – Debounce time (ms) before checking sync
• envsync-le.ignoreComments – Ignore # commented lines when parsing
• envsync-le.caseSensitive – Case‑sensitive key comparison
• envsync-le.comparisonMode – auto | manual | template
• envsync-le.compareOnlyFiles – Explicit files list for manual mode
• envsync-le.templateFile – Template path for template mode
• envsync-le.temporaryIgnore – Files temporarily excluded from checks

Real-World Configuration Examples

Monorepo Setup

{
  "envsync-le.enabled": true,
  "envsync-le.watchPatterns": ["**/.env*", "**/config/.env*"],
  "envsync-le.excludePatterns": ["**/node_modules/**", "**/dist/**"],
  "envsync-le.comparisonMode": "template",
  "envsync-le.templateFile": ".env.template",
  "envsync-le.notificationLevel": "important"
}

Development Team

{
  "envsync-le.enabled": true,
  "envsync-le.watchPatterns": ["**/.env*"],
  "envsync-le.ignoreComments": true,
  "envsync-le.caseSensitive": false,
  "envsync-le.debounceMs": 1000,
  "envsync-le.notificationLevel": "all"
}

CI/CD Pipeline

{
  "envsync-le.enabled": true,
  "envsync-le.comparisonMode": "manual",
  "envsync-le.compareOnlyFiles": [".env.production", ".env.staging"],
  "envsync-le.notificationLevel": "silent",
  "envsync-le.statusBar.enabled": false
}

🌍 English + 12 translations

• Chinese (Simplified), Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese (Brazil)
• Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Indonesian

🧩 System Requirements

• VS Code: 1.70.0 or higher
• Node.js: Not required (extension runs in VS Code's built-in runtime)
• Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Memory: 30MB minimum, 100MB recommended for large workspaces
• Storage: 10MB for extension files

🧩 Compatibility

• Works in standard workspaces.
• Limited support in virtual/untrusted workspaces (no file watching in some cases).

⚡ Performance

EnvSync-LE is optimized for workspace monitoring. For detailed information, see Performance Monitoring.

Performance Notes

• Memory Usage: ~30MB base + 1MB per 100 .env files monitored
• File Watching: Debounced to prevent excessive processing (configurable)
• Large Workspaces: Monitors up to 10,000 .env files efficiently
• Real-time Updates: Status bar updates within 50ms of file changes
• Hardware Requirements: Minimum 2GB RAM, recommended 4GB+ for large workspaces

🔒 Privacy & Telemetry

• Runs locally; no data is sent off your machine.
• Optional local‑only logs can be enabled with envsync-le.telemetryEnabled.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Status bar not showing sync status

• Ensure workspace contains .env* files
• Check that envsync-le.statusBar.enabled is set to true
• Verify envsync-le.enabled is true in settings
• Try reloading VS Code window (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + P → "Developer: Reload Window")

Files not being detected

• Check envsync-le.watchPatterns includes your file patterns (default: **/.env*)
• Ensure files are not excluded by envsync-le.excludePatterns
• Verify files are not in envsync-le.temporaryIgnore list

Sync comparison issues

• Check envsync-le.caseSensitive setting matches your environment
• Ensure envsync-le.ignoreComments is appropriate for your files
• Verify comparison mode (auto, manual, template) is correctly configured

Performance issues

• Increase envsync-le.debounceMs for large workspaces
• Use envsync-le.temporaryIgnore for files you don't need to monitor
• Consider reducing envsync-le.notificationLevel to important or silent

Parse errors in .env files

• Check for malformed key-value pairs
• Ensure quotes are properly closed
• Verify no special characters in keys without proper escaping

Extension crashes or freezes

• Check VS Code version compatibility (requires 1.70.0+)
• Disable other environment-related extensions temporarily
• Check Output panel → "EnvSync-LE" for error messages

Getting Help

• Check the Issues page for known problems
• Enable telemetry logging: envsync-le.telemetryEnabled: true
• Review logs in Output panel → "EnvSync-LE"

❓ FAQ

Q: What file patterns are watched by default? A: EnvSync-LE watches **/.env* files by default, which includes .env, .env.local, .env.production, etc. You can customize this with envsync-le.watchPatterns.

Q: How do I ignore specific files? A: Use envsync-le.temporaryIgnore to temporarily ignore files, or envsync-le.excludePatterns for permanent exclusions using glob patterns.

Q: What's the difference between comparison modes? A: Auto discovers and compares all .env files automatically. Manual lets you pick which files to compare. Template treats one file as the source of truth.

Q: Can I make comparisons case-sensitive? A: Yes, enable envsync-le.caseSensitive: true to make key comparisons case-sensitive. This is useful when your environment variables have specific casing requirements.

Q: How do I handle comments in .env files? A: Enable envsync-le.ignoreComments: true to ignore lines starting with # when parsing .env files for comparison.

Q: What's the largest workspace supported? A: EnvSync-LE can monitor up to 10,000 .env files efficiently. For larger workspaces, consider using exclude patterns to limit the scope.

📊 Testing

45 unit tests • 97.65% function coverage, 95.08% line coverage
Powered by Vitest • Run with bun run test:coverage

Core Principle

No broken or failed tests are allowed in commits. All tests must pass before code can be committed or merged.

Test Coverage

• 45 passing unit tests across 5 test suites
• Tests powered by Vitest with V8 coverage
• Runs quickly and locally: bun test or bun test --coverage
• Coverage reports output to coverage/ (HTML summary at coverage/index.html)
• Core logic is designed for unit testing; additional suites will expand over time

For detailed testing guidelines, see Testing Guidelines.

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