generator

Generator Example

This example demonstrates all metadata annotations supported by the zenv generate command.

Structure

generator/
├── .env.example    # Annotated environment variables
└── README.md

Run the Generator

# Preview without writing (dry run)
./target/release/zenv generate --dry-run examples/generator

# Non-interactive mode (for CI/CD)
./target/release/zenv generate --dry-run --non-interactive examples/generator

# Actually generate the .env file
./target/release/zenv generate examples/generator

# Force overwrite existing .env
./target/release/zenv generate --force examples/generator

Metadata Annotations

The .env.example file demonstrates all available annotations:

@required (default)

Variable must have a value. This is the default behavior.

# @required
LOG_LEVEL=info

@optional

Variable can be skipped during generation.

# @optional
ANALYTICS_ID=

@prompt "description"

Prompts the user to enter a value interactively.

# @required @prompt "PostgreSQL connection string"
DATABASE_URL=

@generate <length>

Auto-generates a cryptographically secure base64 secret.

# @required @generate 32
JWT_SECRET=

# @optional @generate 64
ENCRYPTION_KEY=

Combining Annotations

Annotations can be combined:

# @optional @generate 32
WEBHOOK_SECRET=

# @required @prompt "Enter your Stripe secret key"
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=

Default Values

Variables without annotations use their default value if provided:

PORT=3000
DEBUG=false

Non-Interactive Mode

In CI/CD environments, use --non-interactive:

• Variables with @generate will be auto-generated
• Variables with @prompt will be skipped (with a warning)
• Variables with default values will use those defaults
• Optional variables without values will be skipped