Env Setup

Environment Setup

Detect Requirements

!ls package.json requirements.txt pyproject.toml go.mod Cargo.toml *.csproj Gemfile composer.json mix.exs 2>/dev/null !ls .env .env.example .env.sample .env.template 2>/dev/null !ls Dockerfile docker-compose* Makefile Procfile 2>/dev/null

Current Environment

!node --version 2>/dev/null || echo "Node.js: not installed" !python3 --version 2>/dev/null || echo "Python: not installed" !go version 2>/dev/null || echo "Go: not installed" !rustc --version 2>/dev/null || echo "Rust: not installed" !docker --version 2>/dev/null || echo "Docker: not installed" !git --version 2>/dev/null

Setup Process

Step 1: Identify Requirements

Scan project files to determine:

• Runtime(s) and version(s) needed
• Package manager(s)
• Database(s)
• Cache (Redis, Memcached)
• External services (S3, email, payment, etc.)
• Build tools
• Required CLI tools

Step 2: Generate .env.example

Scan the codebase for environment variable references:

grep -rn "process\.env\." --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | ...
grep -rn "os\.environ\|os\.getenv" --include="*.py" | ...
grep -rn "os\.Getenv" --include="*.go" | ...

Generate .env.example with:

# Application
APP_PORT=3000
APP_ENV=development
APP_SECRET=change-me-to-a-random-string

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname

# External Services
# API_KEY=your-api-key-here

Include:

• Comments explaining each variable
• Safe defaults for development
• Placeholder values for secrets (never real values)
• Grouped by category

Step 3: Check Prerequisites

Verify each requirement is met:

Step 4: Generate Setup Instructions

Create or update setup documentation:

1. Prerequisites to install
2. Clone and install steps
3. Environment configuration
4. Database setup (create, migrate, seed)
5. Start development server
6. Verify everything works

Step 5: Verify

Run a series of checks:

• All required runtimes installed at correct versions
• Dependencies installed successfully
• Environment variables configured
• Database accessible (if applicable)
• Dev server starts without errors
• Tests pass

Rules

• Never put real secrets in .env.example
• Use descriptive comments for every variable
• Group variables by service/purpose
• Include both required and optional variables
• Document which variables have safe defaults