home / skills / ehtbanton / claudeskillsrepo / env-file-generator

env-file-generator skill

This skill generates complete .env files and examples with structured sections, placeholders, and clear guidance for secrets across environments.

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---
name: env-file-generator
description: Generate properly structured .env environment files with common variables, documentation comments, and secure placeholder patterns. Triggers on "create .env file", "generate environment variables", "env file for", "dotenv template".
---

# Environment File Generator

Generate properly structured `.env` files with documented variables, secure placeholders, and environment-specific configurations.

## Output Requirements

**File Output:** `.env`, `.env.example`, `.env.local`, `.env.production`
**Naming Convention:** `.env.{environment}` for specific environments
**Format:** KEY=value pairs, one per line

## When Invoked

Immediately generate a complete `.env.example` file (safe to commit) with placeholder values and documentation. Note which values need real secrets.

## Env File Syntax Rules

### Basic Format
```bash
# Comment explaining the variable
VARIABLE_NAME=value
```

### Conventions
- SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for variable names
- No spaces around `=`
- Quote values with spaces: `APP_NAME="My Application"`
- No quotes needed for simple values: `PORT=3000`
- Comments with `#` at start of line
- Group related variables with blank lines and section headers

### Value Types
```bash
# Strings (quote if contains spaces or special chars)
APP_NAME="My App Name"
SIMPLE_STRING=myvalue

# Numbers (no quotes needed)
PORT=3000
TIMEOUT=30

# Booleans (lowercase strings)
DEBUG=true
ENABLE_FEATURE=false

# URLs (quote recommended)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/db"
API_ENDPOINT="https://api.example.com/v1"

# Secrets (use placeholder in .env.example)
API_KEY=your_api_key_here
SECRET_KEY=generate_a_secure_key_here
```

## Standard Templates

### Web Application (Node.js/React)
```bash
# ===========================================
# Application Configuration
# ===========================================

# Application
NODE_ENV=development
APP_NAME="My Application"
APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
PORT=3000

# Debug & Logging
DEBUG=true
LOG_LEVEL=debug

# ===========================================
# Database Configuration
# ===========================================

# PostgreSQL
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/myapp_dev"
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=myapp_dev
DB_USER=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=postgres

# Connection Pool
DB_POOL_MIN=2
DB_POOL_MAX=10

# ===========================================
# Redis / Cache
# ===========================================

REDIS_URL="redis://localhost:6379"
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_PASSWORD=

CACHE_TTL=3600

# ===========================================
# Authentication
# ===========================================

# JWT
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_here_min_32_chars
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=7d
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRES_IN=30d

# Session
SESSION_SECRET=your_session_secret_here

# ===========================================
# External Services
# ===========================================

# AWS
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_aws_access_key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_aws_secret_key
AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_S3_BUCKET=my-app-bucket

# Email (SMTP)
SMTP_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your_smtp_user
SMTP_PASSWORD=your_smtp_password
EMAIL_FROM="[email protected]"

# ===========================================
# Third-Party APIs
# ===========================================

# Stripe
STRIPE_PUBLIC_KEY=pk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxx
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_xxxxxxxxxxxx
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_xxxxxxxxxxxx

# OAuth Providers
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secret
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your_github_client_id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your_github_client_secret

# ===========================================
# Feature Flags
# ===========================================

FEATURE_NEW_UI=false
FEATURE_BETA_FEATURES=false
```

### Python/Django Application
```bash
# ===========================================
# Django Configuration
# ===========================================

# Core Settings
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here-make-it-long
DEBUG=True
ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1

# Application
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=config.settings.development
WSGI_APPLICATION=config.wsgi.application

# ===========================================
# Database
# ===========================================

DATABASE_URL="postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/django_dev"

# Or individual settings
DB_ENGINE=django.db.backends.postgresql
DB_NAME=django_dev
DB_USER=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=postgres
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432

# ===========================================
# Cache & Sessions
# ===========================================

REDIS_URL="redis://localhost:6379/0"
CACHE_BACKEND=django.core.cache.backends.redis.RedisCache

SESSION_ENGINE=django.contrib.sessions.backends.cache

# ===========================================
# Email
# ===========================================

EMAIL_BACKEND=django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.mailtrap.io
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USE_TLS=True
EMAIL_HOST_USER=your_username
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your_password
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL="[email protected]"

# ===========================================
# Static & Media Files
# ===========================================

STATIC_URL=/static/
MEDIA_URL=/media/

# AWS S3 (for production)
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_access_key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret_key
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME=my-bucket
AWS_S3_REGION_NAME=us-east-1

# ===========================================
# Security
# ===========================================

CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS="http://localhost:3000,http://127.0.0.1:3000"
CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS="http://localhost:3000"

# ===========================================
# Celery
# ===========================================

CELERY_BROKER_URL="redis://localhost:6379/1"
CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND="redis://localhost:6379/2"
```

### Docker / Microservices
```bash
# ===========================================
# Container Configuration
# ===========================================

# Docker
COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME=myproject
DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1

# Registry
REGISTRY_URL=ghcr.io
IMAGE_TAG=latest

# ===========================================
# Service Ports
# ===========================================

API_PORT=8080
WEB_PORT=3000
DB_PORT=5432
REDIS_PORT=6379
RABBITMQ_PORT=5672
RABBITMQ_MANAGEMENT_PORT=15672

# ===========================================
# Service Configuration
# ===========================================

# API Service
API_HOST=0.0.0.0
API_WORKERS=4
API_TIMEOUT=30

# Database
POSTGRES_DB=appdb
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres_password_here

# Redis
REDIS_PASSWORD=

# RabbitMQ
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_USER=rabbit
RABBITMQ_DEFAULT_PASS=rabbit_password_here

# ===========================================
# Observability
# ===========================================

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info
LOG_FORMAT=json

# Metrics
PROMETHEUS_PORT=9090
GRAFANA_PORT=3001

# Tracing
JAEGER_AGENT_HOST=jaeger
JAEGER_AGENT_PORT=6831
```

## Security Guidelines

### In .env.example (safe to commit)
```bash
# Use placeholder values that are clearly not real
API_KEY=your_api_key_here
SECRET_KEY=replace_with_secure_random_string
DATABASE_PASSWORD=change_this_password
```

### Never Commit
```bash
# Real secrets - add to .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
```

### Secret Generation Notes
Include comments for generating secrets:
```bash
# Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_here

# Generate with: python -c "from django.core.management.utils import get_random_secret_key; print(get_random_secret_key())"
DJANGO_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_here
```

## Validation Checklist

Before outputting, verify:
- [ ] All variable names are SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE
- [ ] No real secrets in .env.example
- [ ] Placeholder values are obvious (contain "your_", "_here", etc.)
- [ ] Related variables are grouped with section headers
- [ ] Comments explain non-obvious variables
- [ ] URLs are properly quoted
- [ ] Boolean values are lowercase strings

## Example Invocations

**Prompt:** "Create .env.example for a Next.js app with Prisma and Stripe"
**Output:** Complete `.env.example` with database, auth, and Stripe sections.

**Prompt:** "Generate env file for Django REST API"
**Output:** Complete `.env.example` with Django-specific settings and security config.

**Prompt:** "Environment variables for docker-compose microservices setup"
**Output:** Complete `.env` with service ports, database credentials, and container config.

Overview

This skill generates properly structured .env files, including .env.example, .env.local, and environment-specific .env.{environment} variants. It produces safe-to-commit examples with obvious placeholders, grouped sections, and documentation comments. The output follows common conventions (SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE, quoted URLs, lowercase boolean strings) and highlights which values require real secrets.

How this skill works

When triggered by prompts like "create .env file" or "env file for <stack>", the skill emits a complete .env.example template tailored to the target stack (Node.js, Django, Docker, etc.). It inserts documented variables, secure placeholder patterns for secrets, environment-specific files, and comments with secret-generation tips. The generator validates naming conventions, groups related variables with headers, and flags values that must be replaced with real secrets.

When to use it

Bootstrapping a new project and needing a ready-to-use .env.example
Creating environment-specific config files for local, staging, and production
Preparing secure placeholder values and documentation for team onboarding
Generating dotenv templates for Node.js, Django, or microservice stacks
Producing .env variants for docker-compose and CI environments

Best practices

Keep .env.example safe to commit: use obvious placeholders like your_ or _here
Use SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE for all variable names and no spaces around =
Quote values with spaces or URLs; leave simple numbers and booleans unquoted
Group related variables with section headers and blank lines for readability
Never commit real secrets—add .env and *.local to .gitignore and use secret stores

Example use cases

Create .env.example for a Next.js app with Prisma and Stripe (DB, auth, Stripe keys)
Generate Django REST API environment template with SECRET_KEY, DB, Celery, and Redis
Produce docker-compose .env with service ports, image tags, and registry credentials
Output .env.local for development and .env.production with production placeholders
Provide comments showing how to generate secrets (openssl, Django utilities)

FAQ

Will the example contain real secrets?

No. .env.example uses clear placeholder values and guidance; real secrets are never included.

How are boolean and numeric values formatted?

Numbers are unquoted (PORT=3000). Booleans are lowercase strings (DEBUG=true).

Can I request a template for a specific stack?

Yes. Request templates like "Next.js with Prisma", "Django REST API", or "docker-compose microservices" and the generator will tailor sections accordingly.