One place for all your .env files

Envarsa keeps a copy of each project’s .env file on your computer. You can find a value months later, see which projects share a key, and write a working .env.local for a fresh checkout. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.

Free and open source, for Windows 10/11 and Linux.

Envarsa's main window: a list of three projects on the left, and the lumen-api project open on the right with its keys grouped under comments and every value hidden.

# the problem

.env files aren’t in git, so nothing backs them up

Every project has its own, on every machine you’ve used. Delete the folder and the values are gone. The same database URL ends up in several projects, and when you change it in one, the others go stale without anything telling you.

# what it does

What Envarsa does

Every project’s variables, in one library

Add a project by picking its .env file, pasting it, or dropping it on the window. Envarsa keeps the file exactly as it was, comments included. Each time you add it again, the old version is kept, so you can look back or restore it.

The lumen-api project showing an older snapshot, with a banner reading 'Viewing history' and buttons to bring it back as latest or return to the latest.

See where a key is shared, and whether it matches

When the same key appears in more than one project, Envarsa marks it and tells you whether the values match. If you rotate a database password in one project, you can see which others still have the old one.

A popover on the SENTRY_DSN key listing two other projects: lumen-web with the same value, and tooling-scripts with a different value.

Set up a fresh checkout from its .env.example

Point Envarsa at a project’s .env.example and it writes a .env.local beside it, filling in every value it has and leaving the rest blank for you. You see a preview first. It never writes to the example file itself.

The Write .env.local dialog on its 'From a .env.example' tab, previewing which keys will be filled in and which will be left blank.

# privacy

Your values stay on your computer

Nothing is uploaded

There’s no account and no server. Envarsa works entirely offline.

The only network request it can make is a check for new versions, and only the Windows installer has it. It runs when you click Check for updates in Settings, or by itself if you turn that on there. It asks GitHub (api.github.com) for the latest version number and sends nothing else, and nothing downloads or installs itself. The Microsoft Store and Flatpak versions make no network requests at all.

Values stay hidden on screen

You see the keys. Each value stays hidden until you choose to show it.

You show values one by one, and each hides again after 30 seconds or when the window loses focus. Every value is hidden, even ones that look harmless like PORT, because Envarsa doesn’t guess which ones are secret. Copying a single value sends it to the clipboard without showing it.

Copied values clear themselves

The clipboard is wiped 30 seconds after you copy a value.

On Windows, copies also skip clipboard history (Win+V) and the cloud clipboard. Linux has no equivalent, so a clipboard manager such as Klipper or CopyQ keeps its own copy; clear it after copying a secret.

Your library is one file you can read

Plain JSON on your disk, with an optional passphrase.

The file lives in the app’s data folder: %APPDATA%\com.envarsa.app\ on Windows, ~/.var/app/dev.envarsa.Envarsa/data/ in the Flatpak. Every save writes a temporary file and swaps it in, keeping the previous version as a .bak. If the file is ever damaged, Envarsa offers the backup when it starts.

You can protect it with a passphrase in the standard age format, which the age command-line tool can also open. A lost passphrase can’t be recovered, which is why it’s optional.

# faq

Questions

Does Envarsa change files in my projects?

Only when you ask it to write a .env.local, and only after showing you the file’s path and a preview. It can merge values into an existing file or replace it. It never writes to example files (.env.example, .sample, .template, .dist) and never sets environment variables for running programs.

Can I use it without a .env file?

Yes. Create a project by hand and type keys, values and # comments into the editor. Editing a project saves a new version and keeps the old one.

How do I move my library to another machine?

In Settings, export a copy, optionally protected with a passphrase, and import it on the other machine. Its projects are added to the library there; if a name already exists, you choose to replace, rename or skip it.

Is it free?

Yes. Envarsa is MIT-licensed and the source is on GitHub. It’s built with Rust and Tauri 2.

# download

Download Envarsa

Windows 10/11

The Microsoft Store version is signed and updates itself. The installer needs no admin rights but doesn’t update itself; turn on the update check in Settings to hear about new versions.

Linux

Download the bundle, then install it from the folder you saved it to. Updates must be installed manually.

flatpak install --user ./Envarsa_x.y.z_x86_64.flatpak

Warning: Always remember to export a copy of your library before uninstalling the program.