.env.example Generator

The shared template file .env.example is how a team communicates its configuration contract without leaking its credentials. Generating one by hand is exactly the chore that gets skipped — and a skipped template is how launch-day config disappears. The .env.example Generator does it in one click.

It parses your .env, keeps every key and comment, strips every value whose key name suggests a secret, and can keep safe defaults like PORT=8080 visible so the example still teaches the format. Rules can be tightened until the output is exactly the template you would have written.

Because the output is meant for version control, the generator also suppresses value content entirely when you choose “strip all values”, guaranteeing nothing sensitive reaches the repo.

• Key-only template: keys and comments survive.
• Secret stripping: by key-name rules.
• Safe defaults kept: PORT and APP_NAME stay.
• Strip-all mode: fully blank values.
• Order preserved: file layout intact.
• Instructions header: optional guide text.
• Copy or download: ready for .env.example.
• Private: nothing uploaded.

1. Paste your .env into the input, or load the sample.
2. Choose rules: keep safe defaults, strip all, add header.
3. Click Generate. The .env.example output appears.
4. Copy it into your repo as .env.example.

Example 1 — First time open-sourcing. A repo goes public; the generator produces a .env.example in seconds that the team can commit today.

Example 2 — Onboarding contract. A new service ships with a generated template, so teammates on a fresh clone know exactly what to fill in.

Example 3 — CI template gate. The generated example is diffed against .env.example in CI to warn when real keys leak into the committed template.

Example 4 — Rename a config. After restructuring variables, regeneration keeps the template in sync without retyping.

Example 5 — Student/classroom. A course ships an example with safe defaults so students can run the app immediately after copying the file.

• Instant: template in one click, no retyping.
• Commit-safe: secrets stripped by rule.
• Contract-preserving: every variable documented.
• Teach-by-example: safe defaults stay visible.
• Private: fully client-side.
• Free: use on every service.