envctl for VS Code

P2P secrets management with post-quantum encryption, directly in VS Code.

Features

Status Bar Integration

The status bar shows your current environment and sync status at a glance:

• Environment name with color coding (green for dev, yellow for staging, red for prod)
• Lock status indicating whether secrets are currently decrypted
• Sync indicator showing peer connection status
• Click to quickly switch environments

Command Palette

Access all features via the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P):

Command	Description
envctl: Switch Environment	Quick picker to switch between environments
envctl: List Variables	View variables in current environment (redacted)
envctl: Copy Variable	Copy a variable value to clipboard
envctl: Refresh Status	Manually refresh sync status
envctl: Open Terminal with Secrets	Open integrated terminal with secrets loaded
envctl: Start Daemon	Start the envctl daemon if not running
envctl: Show Logs	View envctl extension logs

Sidebar Tree View

The ENVCTL panel in the Explorer sidebar shows:

• Current project name
• Available environments (click to switch)
• Daemon and peer connection status
• Lock status and variable count

Terminal Integration

When opening a new terminal in an envctl project, the extension can:

• Prompt to load secrets for the current environment
• Auto-inject secrets without prompting (configurable)
• Create named terminals showing which environment is loaded

Requirements

• envctl CLI installed and in PATH
• envctl daemon running (envctl daemon start)
• Project linked to envctl (envctl project link <name>)

Extension Settings

Setting	Default	Description
envctl.autoInjectTerminal	false	Auto-inject secrets into new terminals
envctl.showStatusBar	true	Show/hide status bar item
envctl.environmentColors	See below	Color mapping for environments
envctl.envctlPath	""	Path to envctl binary (empty = find in PATH)
envctl.pollIntervalMs	5000	Status polling interval in milliseconds

Default Environment Colors

{
  "dev": "#4ade80",
  "development": "#4ade80",
  "staging": "#facc15",
  "stage": "#facc15",
  "prod": "#f87171",
  "production": "#f87171"
}

Debug/Launch Configuration

You can use envctl with VS Code's debugger by setting up a pre-launch task:

tasks.json

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "envctl: use prod",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "envctl",
      "args": ["env", "use", "prod"],
      "problemMatcher": []
    }
  ]
}

launch.json

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "node",
      "request": "launch",
      "name": "Debug with secrets",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/src/index.js",
      "envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
      "preLaunchTask": "envctl: use prod"
    }
  ]
}

User Flows

Opening a Project

1. Open a folder containing .envctl/ directory
2. Extension activates automatically
3. Status bar shows current environment (e.g., "envctl: dev")
4. If daemon isn't running, you'll see a warning

Switching Environments

1. Click the status bar item or run envctl: Switch Environment
2. Select the desired environment from the quick picker
3. Status bar updates to show new environment
4. Secrets are decrypted for the new environment

Working with Secrets in Terminal

1. Run envctl: Open Terminal with Secrets
2. A new terminal opens with secrets loaded
3. Terminal tab shows which environment is active
4. Run your commands with access to all secrets

Security

• Secrets are never stored in plain text by the extension
• All cryptographic operations are handled by the envctl CLI
• Uses ML-KEM-768 (post-quantum) encryption
• Secrets are loaded into terminal environment, not written to disk

Links

• envctl Documentation
• GitHub Repository
• Report Issues

License

MIT