Validate and Mask Environment Variables in Node.js and TypeScript

Configuring environment variables seems simple, but it frequently leads to two common issues in production-grade applications: Missing Variables: A developer adds a new variable locally but forgets to update the .env.example file. Other team members pull the changes, and their local environments crash. Leaked Credentials: A debug log like console.log(process.env) prints database connection strings or API tokens to the terminal, leaving them visible in plaintext logs. To solve this, we created @novaedgedigitallabs/envkit . It is a zero-dependency (other than Zod) utility that validates, loads, and masks environment variables, and keeps your example configurations updated automatically. Key Features Schema Validation: Define your environment variables with Zod to enforce types and formats. Log Masking: Automatically redact sensitive credentials in console output. Example Syncing: Automatically append missing variables to your .env.example file without overwriting comments or values. Module Support: Runs in ESM and CommonJS. Getting Started Install the package and Zod: npm install @novaedgedigitallabs/envkit zod Initialize your configuration in a file like env.ts : import { createEnv } from ' @novaedgedigitallabs/envkit ' ; import { z } from ' zod ' ; export const env = createEnv ({ schema : { DATABASE_URL : z . string (). url (), JWT_SECRET : z . string (). min ( 32 ), PORT : z . coerce . number (). default ( 3000 ), NODE_ENV : z . enum ([ ' development ' , ' production ' , ' test ' ]). default ( ' development ' ), }, secrets : [ ' JWT_SECRET ' , ' DATABASE_URL ' ], generateExample : true , // Appends new keys to .env.example at runtime }); Because the variables are validated using Zod, your editor will provide full TypeScript autocomplete and type safety: env . PORT ; // Resolved as a number env . JWT_SECRET ; // Resolved as a string Preventing Secret Leaks in Logs Logging environment configs is a common debugging habit. With envkit, any variables listed in the secre