Shush
A thedevlabs-io VS Code extension that opens
secret files — .env, Cloudflare .dev.vars, JSON configs like firebase.json
— in a redacted editor: keys stay visible, values are masked as ••••••••
until you choose to reveal them. Secrets never render on screen, so an accidental
open during a call, screen share, or with someone next to you leaks nothing.
How it works
Shush registers a custom editor and makes it the default for its built-in
patterns, so VS Code hands the file to the extension instead of the plain text
editor — there's no flash of the raw file. You see:
API_KEY •••••••••••••• 👁
DATABASE_URL •••••••••••••• 👁
- 👁 per row — reveal/hide a single value.
- Reveal all / Hide all — toggle every value at once.
- Open as text — reopen in the normal text editor when you need to.
Values are editable in place; edits are written back to the file. JSON files are
parsed and every leaf value is masked under its key path (e.g.
hosting.public). Env comment (#) and blank lines are ignored.
Built-in patterns
**/.env, **/.env.*, **/*.env, **/.dev.vars, **/.dev.vars.*
These open redacted by default, with no flash.
Adding your own files
Some teams keep secrets in other files (firebase.json, *.secrets.json, …).
Add them two ways:
- Command palette → Shush: Protect this file (add to .shushrc.json) while
the file is open. It writes the pattern to a project config file you commit.
- Settings →
shush.patterns (array of globs). Workspace or user scoped.
.shushrc.json — shared, committed config
{
"patterns": ["**/firebase.json", "**/*.secrets.json"]
}
Commit this to the repo. When a teammate opens the project, Shush reads it on
startup (and watches it for changes) and protects those files automatically.
Note: built-in patterns open with zero flash. Files added via
.shushrc.json / settings are swapped into the redacted editor when opened,
so there is a brief moment where VS Code may paint the raw file before the swap.
This is a VS Code limitation — custom-editor file associations can't be changed
at runtime. Keep true secrets in .env / .dev.vars where possible.
Develop / run locally
npm install
npm run build # bundle to dist/extension.js
Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host.
Package & install
npm run package # produces shush-<version>.vsix
code --install-extension shush-0.2.0.vsix
Or Extensions view → … → Install from VSIX….
License
MIT © thedevlabs-io
