Skip to content
varlock 🔐 🧙‍♂️

Installation

varlock makes your environment variables validated and secure. It is based on the env-spec standard.

There are two ways to install varlock:

  1. Install as a dependency in javascript/typescript projects
  2. Install as a binary in other languages

As a js/ts dependency

Section titled “As a js/ts dependency”

Requires:

  • OSX or Linux (WSL supported)
  • Node.js version 22 or higher

Installation

Section titled “Installation”

To install varlock in your project, run:

Terminal window
npx varlock init

This will install varlock as a dependency and scan your project for .env files and create a .env.schema file in the root of your project. It will optionally:

  • Remove your existing .env.example file
  • Add decorators to your .env.schema file to specify the type of each environment variable
  • Install the varlock CLI binary
  • Install the desktop app
  • Encrypt secrets in your .env file

As a binary

Section titled “As a binary”

To install Varlock as a binary, run:

Terminal window
brew install varlock

This will install the varlock CLI binary and the desktop app.

Desktop App

Section titled “Desktop App”

The varlock CLI also includes a desktop app that hooks into system level APIs to encrypt and decrypt environment variables. This means that you never have secrets sitting in plaintext on your system.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”