Env Audit

zuvo:env-audit

Audit environment variable management for completeness, safety, and consistency across development, staging, and production environments. Single-pass execution.

When to use: After adding new env vars, before production deploy, when debugging config-related incidents, onboarding new environments, periodic check. When NOT to use: Secret scanning in source code (/security-audit), CI pipeline config (zuvo:ci-audit), infrastructure (/security-audit).

Mandatory File Loading

Read every file below before starting. Print the checklist.

CORE FILES LOADED:
  1. ../../shared/includes/codesift-setup.md   -- [READ | MISSING -> STOP]
  2. ../../shared/includes/env-compat.md        -- [READ | MISSING -> STOP]
  3. ../../shared/includes/run-logger.md        -- [READ | MISSING -> STOP]
  4. ../../shared/includes/retrospective.md        -- [READ | MISSING -> STOP]

If any file is MISSING, STOP. Do not proceed from memory.

Argument Parsing

Safety Gates

GATE 1 -- Read-Only

This audit is read-only. The only write target is zuvo/audits/.

FORBIDDEN:

• Modifying any .env, config, or source file
• Creating or deleting environment variables
• Accessing external secret managers (analyze config references only)

GATE 2 -- PII and Secret Censorship

When including env var values in the report:

• Replace actual values with ***
• Show only variable names, never values
• Exception: .env.example placeholder values can be shown as-is

MANDATORY TOOL CALLS — Env Audit Validity Gate

INVALID if any tool below is skipped. "DEFERRED", "N/A", "--secrets-only" NOT valid reasons.

Forbidden: scan_secrets: skipped, codesift: unavailable (when deferred), retrospective: skipped — all REJECTED.

POSTAMBLE: report on disk → retro appended → ~/.zuvo/append-runlog exit 0. Every ENV finding needs path/to/file.ext:LINE (verify-audit gate).

Mandatory-tools-acknowledgment: I will run scan_secrets + search_text + search_patterns + find_references + audit_scan for this env audit. Every ENV finding will cite a `path/to/file.ext:LINE` resolving in the current tree.

Use the deterministic preload helper FIRST. Run ~/.zuvo/compute-preload env-audit "$PWD". Copy [CodeSift matching trace] verbatim, issue printed ToolSearch(query="select:..."). Math gate enforced.

Phase 0: Detect and Scope

0.1 Target Resolution

Set TARGET_ROOT from arguments. All subsequent commands use this path.

0.2 Stack Detection

Detect which env access patterns to search for:

0.3 Variable Name Extraction

Build a comprehensive inventory by scanning code for all env access patterns detected in 0.2. Collect unique variable names (not values).

0.4 Inventory

Cross-reference all sources:

1. Variables defined in .env* files (names only)
2. Variables accessed in code (from extraction)
3. Variables in Docker Compose, CI config, or cloud deployment files

Print:

ENV VAR INVENTORY
------------------------------------
Target:          [TARGET_ROOT]
Config sources:  [.env, .env.example, .env.local, ...]
Stack:           [Node.js / Python / Vite / Next.js]
Vars defined:    [N]
Vars used in code: [N]
------------------------------------

Phase 1: Dimension Analysis (ENV1-ENV8)

Single-pass inline execution. No sub-agents required.

ENV1: Variable Completeness -- Weight 15, Max 15, Critical Gate

Are all required env vars defined and documented?

Detection approach: Compare the set of variables found in code against the set defined in .env.example. Report both directions: used-but-undocumented and documented-but-unused.

Critical gate: no .env.example OR multiple critical vars undocumented → triggers FAIL. The gate fires on that FINDING; an ENV1 score of 0 also fires it but is not required.

ENV2: Unused Variables -- Weight 5, Max 5

Detection approach: Check each var in .env.example against code access patterns. A var referenced only in comments or documentation counts as unused.

ENV3: Startup Validation -- Weight 15, Max 15, Critical Gate

Does the app fail fast on missing or invalid configuration?

What to search for:

• Validation libraries: z.object, Joi.object, BaseSettings, envalid, envsafe, convict, cleanEnv, ConfigModule, @IsString
• Fail-fast patterns: throw with env/config message, process.exit on missing env
• Raw usage: process.env.VAR without validation wrapper
• NestJS: ConfigModule.forRoot() with validationSchema

Critical gate: no validation anywhere → triggers FAIL. The gate fires on that FINDING; an ENV3 score of 0 also fires it but is not required.

ENV4: Secret Exposure -- Weight 15, Max 15, Critical Gate

Detection approach:

• Check .gitignore for .env patterns
• git ls-files for committed .env files
• Search for NEXT_PUBLIC_*KEY, NEXT_PUBLIC_*SECRET, VITE_*KEY etc.
• Search for hardcoded secrets: (api_key|secret|password|token)\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"{}$] excluding test/mock/example files
• Check .dockerignore for .env

Critical gate: secrets committed or API keys in client-side vars → triggers FAIL. The gate fires on that FINDING; an ENV4 score of 0 also fires it but is not required.

ENV5: Environment Parity -- Weight 10, Max 10

Are dev/staging/production environments consistent?

Detection approach: Compare variable sets across all .env* files found at the target root. Check Docker Compose environment: sections against the .env.example inventory.

ENV6: Type Safety -- Weight 8, Max 8

Detection approach: Count per-file occurrences of raw env access. Search for boolean truthy gotchas (if (process.env.VAR)). Check for number conversion patterns.

ENV7: Default Values -- Weight 7, Max 7

Detection approach:

• Search for ?? and || operators after env access (Node.js)
• Search for os.getenv('VAR', 'default') patterns (Python)
• Flag any default on SECRET/KEY/PASSWORD/TOKEN variables

ENV8: Documentation -- Weight 5, Max 5

Phase 2: Scoring

ENV1 = [0-15]   Variable Completeness    (critical gate)
ENV2 = [0-5]    Unused Variables
ENV3 = [0-15]   Startup Validation       (critical gate)
ENV4 = [0-15]   Secret Exposure          (critical gate)
ENV5 = [0-10]   Environment Parity
ENV6 = [0-8]    Type Safety
ENV7 = [0-7]    Default Values
ENV8 = [0-5]    Documentation

Score = sum / 80 x 100

Critical gates — any ONE of these findings triggers FAIL, whatever the numeric score:

These gates fire on the FINDING, not on an aggregate score of zero. Read as "the dimension scored 0" they are nearly unreachable, because every one of them spreads several checks over its weight: ENV4 carries five checks across 15 points, so a repo with a committed .env but a correct .gitignore, no client-side leak and no hardcoded key still scores about 12/15 — and the committed secret never blocks the audit. The named condition in each parenthesis IS the trigger — a dimension score of 0 remains sufficient to fire the gate, it is simply not necessary.

Phase 3: Report

Save to: zuvo/audits/env-audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].md — at the project root (zuvo/ resolves via git rev-parse --show-toplevel; override $ZUVO_OUTPUT_DIR. See ../../shared/includes/report-output-location.md).

Report Structure

# Environment & Configuration Audit Report

## Metadata
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Project | [name] |
| Date | [YYYY-MM-DD] |
| Scope | [TARGET_ROOT or full project] |
| Stack | [Node.js / Python / Vite / Next.js] |
| Config sources | [.env, .env.example, config.ts, ...] |
| Vars defined | [N] |
| Vars used in code | [N] |

## Executive Summary

**Score: [N] / 100** -- [HEALTHY / NEEDS ATTENTION / AT RISK / CRITICAL]

| Metric | Count |
|--------|-------|
| CRITICAL findings | N |
| HIGH findings | N |
| MEDIUM findings | N |

[2-3 sentence summary]

## Dimension Scores

| # | Dimension | Score | Max | Notes |
|---|-----------|-------|-----|-------|
| ENV1 | Variable Completeness | [N] | 15 | |
| ENV2 | Unused Variables | [N] | 5 | |
| ENV3 | Startup Validation | [N] | 15 | |
| ENV4 | Secret Exposure | [N] | 15 | |
| ENV5 | Environment Parity | [N] | 10 | |
| ENV6 | Type Safety | [N] | 8 | |
| ENV7 | Default Values | [N] | 7 | |
| ENV8 | Documentation | [N] | 5 | |
| **Total** | | **[N]** | **80** | |

## Variable Coverage Matrix

| Variable | .env.example | Code Usage | Validated | Type | Default | Secret? |
|----------|-------------|------------|-----------|------|---------|---------|
| DATABASE_URL | Y | Y (3 files) | Y (Zod) | string | none (required) | Y |
| PORT | Y | Y (1 file) | N (raw) | number | 3000 | N |
| ... | | | | | | |

## Findings (sorted by severity)
[Per finding: dimension, severity, file:line, description, fix]

## Remediation Roadmap

### Quick Wins (< 1 hour)
### Short-term (1 day)
### Medium-term (1 week)

Report Validation

After writing, verify:

• Dimension scores sum to total
• Finding counts match Executive Summary
• Variable Coverage Matrix includes all discovered vars
• No actual secret values appear anywhere in the report (Gate 2)

Phase 4: Next-Step Routing

RECOMMENDED NEXT ACTION
------------------------------------
ENV4 CRITICAL (secrets exposed)  -> /security-audit --static
ENV3 = 0 (no validation)        -> add config schema (Zod/Joi/Pydantic)
ENV1 = 0 (no .env.example)      -> create .env.example from code usage
ENV7 secret defaults             -> remove default values from secret vars
Score < 60%                      -> fix critical gates, re-audit
Score >= 80%                     -> schedule next audit in 3 months
------------------------------------

ENV-AUDIT COMPLETE

Score: [N] / 100 -- [grade] Stack: [Node.js / Python / Vite / Next.js] Dimensions: [N scored] | Critical gates: [PASS/FAIL] Findings: [N critical] / [N total]

Validity Gate (REQUIRED — print BEFORE Run line, AFTER retro append + append-runlog)

VALIDITY GATE
  triggers_held: language=<X> framework=<X>
  required_tool_calls:
    scan_secrets: [<N> hits | NOT_CALLED — VIOLATES_TRIGGER]
    search_text: [<N> env-var refs | NOT_CALLED — VIOLATES_TRIGGER]
    search_patterns: [<N> hits | NOT_CALLED — VIOLATES_TRIGGER]
    find_references: [<N> ref-checks | NOT_CALLED — VIOLATES_TRIGGER]
    audit_scan: [<N> findings | NOT_CALLED — VIOLATES_TRIGGER]
  postamble:
    retros_log_appended: [yes(bytes_added=N) | NOT_APPENDED]
    retros_md_appended: [yes(entry_count=N) | NOT_APPENDED]
    verify_audit_pass: [yes(<verified>/<total>) | NOT_RUN | REJECTED]
  gate_status: [PASS | FAIL — <which gates missing>]

If gate_status = FAIL → VERDICT = INCOMPLETE.

Append the Run line via the retro-gated wrapper (NOT direct >> runs.log):

printf '%b\n' "$RUN_LINE" | ~/.zuvo/append-runlog

Run: env-audit - -dimensions

Retrospective (REQUIRED)

Follow the retrospective protocol from retrospective.md. Gate check → structured questions → TSV emit → markdown append. If gate check skips: print "RETRO: skipped (trivial session)" and proceed.

After printing this block, append the Run: line value (without the Run: prefix) to the log file path resolved per run-logger.md.

VERDICT: PASS (0 critical findings), WARN (1-3 critical), FAIL (4+ critical).

Execution Notes

• Single-pass inline execution, no sub-agents required
• All commands use the resolved TARGET_ROOT from argument parsing
• Stack detection auto-selects the correct env access patterns (Node.js, Python, Vite, Next.js)
• NestJS projects: check ConfigModule.forRoot() and ConfigService usage patterns specifically
• Docker Compose: check both environment: and env_file: directives
• Monorepos: use [path] argument to scope to a specific package
• CodeSift is minimally used in this skill (env patterns are best found via grep), but codesift-setup.md is loaded for consistency
• The boolean truthy gotcha (if (process.env.FLAG) -- always true for any non-empty string) is a common source of production bugs; flag it prominently