direnv

Direnv Skill

This skill provides direnv configuration patterns and best practices for automatic environment management.

Basic .envrc Structure

# .envrc - Auto-loaded when entering directory

# Environment variables
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev"
export API_KEY="dev-key-only"
export DEBUG=true

# PATH modifications
PATH_add bin
PATH_add scripts

# Source additional files
source_env_if_exists .envrc.local

Security Best Practices

Never Commit Secrets

# .envrc - Committed to repo (safe defaults only)
export DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL:-postgresql://localhost:5432/dev}"
export LOG_LEVEL="${LOG_LEVEL:-debug}"

# Load local overrides with real secrets
source_env_if_exists .envrc.local

# .envrc.local - NEVER commit (add to .gitignore)
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:real_password@prod-db:5432/prod"
export API_KEY="sk-real-production-key"

.gitignore Entry

# Always ignore local environment overrides
.envrc.local
.envrc.private

Built-in Functions

Path Management

# Add to PATH (prepends)
PATH_add bin
PATH_add node_modules/.bin
PATH_add .venv/bin

# Add to PATH only if directory exists
path_add bin 2>/dev/null || true

Environment Loading

# Source another envrc if it exists
source_env_if_exists ../.envrc
source_env_if_exists .envrc.local

# Load from .env file
dotenv
dotenv_if_exists .env.local

# Source a file (error if missing)
source_env .envrc.shared

Layout Functions

# Python virtual environment
layout python
layout python3
layout pyenv 3.11.0

# Node.js
layout node

# Ruby
layout ruby

# Go
layout go

Language-Specific Patterns

Python Projects

# .envrc for Python with uv/pip
layout python3

# Or with specific version via pyenv
layout pyenv 3.11

# Environment variables
export PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1
export PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1

# Django settings
export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE="config.settings.local"
export DJANGO_DEBUG=true

# Database
export DATABASE_URL="${DATABASE_URL:-postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp_dev}"

# Load secrets from local file
source_env_if_exists .envrc.local