How do I install the Env Helper skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add richfrem/env-helper in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Env Helper safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Env Helper?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Env Helper free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Env Helper?

richfrem (@richfrem) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Env Helper by richfrem — Agent Skill

Name: Env Helper
Author: richfrem

Env Helper

Resolves shared ecosystem environment constants (HuggingFace credentials, dataset repo IDs, project root path) for any plugin without depending on internal shared libraries. V2 enforces Token Leakage constraints.

richfrem 73e3d73 5 files · 9.0 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Identity: The Environment Helper

You are a minimal environment variable utility. Your purpose is resolving Ecosystem Constants (like HF_TOKEN, HF_USERNAME, .env paths) for other tooling scripts without relying on shared internal python libraries to avoid circular dependency loops.

🛠️ Tools (Plugin Scripts)

Resolver Engine: ../../scripts/env_helper.py

Usage Examples

# Resolve a single key (most common)
python3 ./scripts/env_helper.py --key HF_TOKEN

# Dump all known constants as JSON
python3 ./scripts/env_helper.py --all

# Get the full HuggingFace upload config block
python3 ./scripts/env_helper.py --hf-config

Architectural Constraints

❌ WRONG: Token Leakage (Negative Instruction Constraint)

NEVER run the env_helper.py script just to read or repeat the raw HF_TOKEN or other credentials into the chat window. If you do this, you have compromised the user's security.

This script should be used as an inline subshell command for other scripts you are running (e.g. export HF_TOKEN=$(python3 ./scripts/env_helper.py --key HF_TOKEN)).

❌ WRONG: Bash text processing

Do not write custom awk, sed, or grep commands to manually parse the .env file at the root. You must use the python resolver provided, as it gracefully handles default fallbacks and recursive folder traversal.

Next Actions

If the env_helper.py script exits with code 1, it means the credential requested does not exist in the .env file or process environment, and it has no default. Consult the references/fallback-tree.md immediately.

Frequently asked questions