# Env Keeper for Raycast

URL: https://www.raycast.com/Mr-MJ/env-keeper

> Manage all your projects' .env files and global shell config, right from Raycast. Local-only, keyboard-first, free.

- Install: raycast://extensions/Mr-MJ/env-keeper
- Author: [Mr MJ](https://www.raycast.com/Mr-MJ)
- Installs: 16
- Platforms: macOS
- Categories: Developer Tools, Productivity
- Updated: 2026-11-11
- Source: https://github.com/raycast/extensions/tree/ebc6660dd359d62915350abb679c3b070184662d/extensions/env-keeper/

## Commands

- **Manage Envs**: Open a project's .env file and manage its variables, environments, and snapshots.
- **Search Env Vars**: Quickly search environment variables across all registered projects.
- **Jump to**: Open a project, env file, profile or shell snippet by name.

## README

### Env Keeper

Manage every project's `.env` files and your global shell config from Raycast. **Local-only, free, keyboard-first.**

> The name comes from "butler": your `.env` files belong to you. The extension fetches, registers and guards them. Your project `.env` files stay the source of truth; Env Keeper only keeps local plaintext history copies (snapshots and presets) on your machine — see [Security boundaries](#security-boundaries-please-read).

#### What it solves

`.env` files are scattered across projects, and global environment variables hide in `~/.zshrc`. To find which project uses a given key, temporarily disable a variable, or generate a `.env.example` for your team, you end up opening files by hand. Env Keeper puts all of that into one keyboard-driven panel.

#### Three highlights

- **Secrets are masked by default** — lists show `••••••••`; reveal with one shortcut. Copying a secret keeps it out of clipboard history.
- **A snapshot before every write** — full history for `.env` even though it never enters git; roll back anytime.
- **`.env.example` in one step** — generated as a **merge**, so hand-written notes in the template survive.

#### Commands

| Command             | What it does                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Manage Envs**     | Projects: register a project, manage variables per environment, snapshots and restore, generate `.env.example`.<br>Shell: manage global variables / aliases / snippets and generate `~/.env-keeper/shell.sh`. |
| **Search Env Vars** | Search variable names or values across all projects, profiles and the shell config.                                                                                                                           |
| **Jump to**         | Open a project, env file, profile or shell snippet by name; snippets can be toggled in place.                                                                                                                 |

#### Core design: files are the source of truth

Project environments are edited directly in the `.env` files under the project directory. The live values are never moved elsewhere, so the extension coexists naturally with git, teammates, Vite and Docker.

Alongside that, Env Keeper keeps **local history copies** for rollback and reuse (details in [Security boundaries](#security-boundaries-please-read)): automatic snapshots of each `.env` file, and presets you save. These are extra copies of your environment content, not a replacement for the files.

The file's fingerprint is recorded on open and checked again before save: if something else changed the file in between, you get to decide instead of a silent overwrite.

Everything the extension owns lives in `~/.env-keeper/`, fully transparent:

```
~/.env-keeper/
├── registry.json       # registered projects
├── presets.json        # saved presets (full env content, plaintext)
├── shell.json          # shell snippets
├── shell.sh            # generated from shell.json, sourced by .zshrc
├── snapshots/          # history of each project's .env files (full contents, plaintext)
├── config-history/     # history of the config files above, including presets.json
└── backups/            # backups taken before touching .zshrc
```

**Moving to a new machine = copying this directory.** Note that it holds plaintext secrets (see below), so transfer it over a channel you trust.

#### Security boundaries (please read)

- **Local plaintext copies of your environment content.** Your project `.env` files remain the source of truth, but Env Keeper also stores copies for history and reuse:
  - each automatic snapshot contains the full previous contents of a `.env` file;
  - each preset stores full environment content in `~/.env-keeper/presets.json`, and earlier versions of that file are kept in `config-history/`.

  These copies are plain text and may contain secrets, **including values that have since been removed or rotated in the original file**. If you no longer want old values retained, delete the snapshot history and the presets (and their history) from inside the extension, or delete the matching files under `~/.env-keeper/`. Keep the directory out of git, cloud sync and backups you don't trust.
- Masking **affects display only**. `.env` and `shell.sh` must stay in plain text or your programs and shell can't read them. It protects against someone glancing at your screen, not against the file being read.
- The extension **does not encrypt**. For encryption use [dotenvx](https://dotenvx.com); Env Keeper recognizes the `encrypted:` prefix and stops you from editing those values by accident.
- The extension **never reads or modifies `.envrc`**. If one is present, it only tells you that direnv is in play.

#### Compatibility

- macOS with zsh or bash as the login shell (the real login shell is detected to decide between `~/.zshrc` and `~/.bash_profile`).
- With fish or another shell, syntax validation is skipped automatically and never blocks saving.
- Inline comments in `.env` are parsed the same way `dotenv` does, so the value shown in the UI equals the value your program gets.