env2json

🔄 Convert .env files to JSON format for easy import into AWS Secrets Manager and other secrets management services.

Features

• 🎯 Simple: Just run env2json in any directory with a .env file
• 📋 Clipboard: Automatically copies JSON to clipboard for easy pasting
• 🔒 Secure: Automatically masks sensitive values in preview output
• 🌍 Cross-platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows WSL
• 📁 Flexible: Specify custom input files with --input flag
• 💾 Output options: Print to stdout (with clipboard) or save to file
• ⚡ Fast: Single binary with no dependencies

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

# One-line install script (macOS/Linux) - configures PATH automatically
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gbretas/env2json/main/install.sh | bash

# After installation, you can use immediately:
env2json -help

Download Pre-built Binaries

Download the appropriate binary for your platform from the releases page:

# macOS (Apple Silicon) - instala em ~/bin (padrão macOS)
curl -L -o env2json https://github.com/gbretas/env2json/releases/latest/download/env2json-darwin-arm64
chmod +x env2json && mkdir -p ~/bin && mv env2json ~/bin/

# macOS (Intel) - instala em ~/bin (padrão macOS)
curl -L -o env2json https://github.com/gbretas/env2json/releases/latest/download/env2json-darwin-amd64
chmod +x env2json && mkdir -p ~/bin && mv env2json ~/bin/

# Linux (x64) - instala em ~/.local/bin (padrão XDG)
curl -L -o env2json https://github.com/gbretas/env2json/releases/latest/download/env2json-linux-amd64
chmod +x env2json && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv env2json ~/.local/bin/

# Linux (ARM64) - instala em ~/.local/bin (padrão XDG)
curl -L -o env2json https://github.com/gbretas/env2json/releases/latest/download/env2json-linux-arm64
chmod +x env2json && mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv env2json ~/.local/bin/

# Windows WSL
curl -L -o env2json.exe https://github.com/gbretas/env2json/releases/latest/download/env2json-windows-amd64.exe

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/gbretas/env2json.git
cd env2json
make build

Install Globally

# Build and install (uses OS-specific standard directory)
make build && make install

# macOS: instala em ~/bin
# Linux: instala em ~/.local/bin
# Siga as instruções para adicionar ao PATH se necessário

Usage

Basic Usage

# Convert .env in current directory (JSON to stdout + clipboard)
env2json

# Convert specific .env file  
env2json -input .env.production
env2json -input /path/to/.env

# Save output to file (no clipboard)
env2json -output secrets.json
env2json -input .env.prod -output prod-secrets.json

Examples

Convert local .env file (output to console + clipboard)

$ env2json
{
  "API_KEY": "abc123def456",
  "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb",
  "NODE_ENV": "development",
  "PORT": "3000",
  "DEBUG": "true"
}
# ↑ JSON automatically copied to clipboard!

Convert specific .env file

$ env2json -input .env.production
{
  "API_SECRET": "prod_secret_key",
  "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://prod-server:5432/app",
  "ENVIRONMENT": "production"
}

Save to file instead of clipboard

$ env2json -output secrets.json
Saved to secrets.json (5 variables)

$ cat secrets.json
{
  "API_KEY": "abc123def456",
  "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb",
  "NODE_ENV": "development",
  "PORT": "3000",
  "DEBUG": "true"
}

Error handling examples

$ env2json
No .env file found in current directory.
Use --input flag to specify a different .env file:
  env2json --input /path/to/.env
  env2json --input .env.production

$ env2json -input nonexistent.env  
File not found: nonexistent.env

AWS Secrets Manager Integration

Method 1: File-based import (recommended)

# Generate secrets file
env2json -output secrets.json

# Import to AWS Secrets Manager
aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name "my-app-secrets" \
  --secret-string file://secrets.json

Method 2: Direct clipboard paste

# Convert .env and copy to clipboard
env2json

# Then paste directly in AWS Console Secrets Manager
# Or use AWS CLI with clipboard:
aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name "my-app-secrets" \
  --secret-string "$(pbpaste)"  # macOS
  # --secret-string "$(xclip -o)"  # Linux

Other Cloud Services

Kubernetes Secrets

# Convert and create k8s secret
env2json | kubectl create secret generic my-app-secrets --from-file=/dev/stdin

# Or save to file first
env2json -output secrets.json
kubectl create secret generic my-app-secrets --from-file=secrets.json

Azure Key Vault

env2json -output secrets.json
az keyvault secret set --vault-name MyKeyVault --name app-secrets --file secrets.json

Troubleshooting

PATH Issues

If env2json command is not found after installation:

# Check if binary exists
ls -la ~/.local/bin/env2json  # Linux
ls -la ~/bin/env2json         # macOS

# Add to PATH manually
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc  # Linux
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc         # macOS

# Reload shell
source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Clipboard Issues

If clipboard doesn't work:

• macOS: Should work out of the box
• Linux: Install xclip or xsel: sudo apt install xclip
• Windows WSL: Install clip (usually pre-installed)

Common Issues

# Empty .env file
$ env2json
The .env file is empty or contains no valid environment variables.

# Permission denied
$ env2json -input /etc/secrets.env
Error reading .env file: open /etc/secrets.env: permission denied

Development

Build Commands

# Build for current platform
make build

# Build for all platforms  
make build-all

# Run tests
make test

# Install locally (OS-specific directory)
make install

# Clean build files
make clean

# Run locally
make run ARGS="-help"
make run ARGS="-input .env.test"

Project Structure

env2json/
├── main.go              # Main CLI application
├── main_test.go         # Unit tests  
├── go.mod              # Go module definition
├── Makefile            # Build automation
├── install.sh          # Installation script
├── LICENSE             # MIT license
├── README.md           # This file
├── .github/workflows/  # GitHub Actions CI/CD
└── build/              # Generated binaries

Security

• Clean output: Only outputs JSON, no sensitive data leaked in logs
• No network calls: Purely local processing
• No data storage: Doesn't save or cache any environment data
• Clipboard only: Sensitive data only goes to clipboard (user controlled)

Supported .env Format

The tool supports standard .env file format with robust parsing:

# Comments are ignored
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb

# Quoted values (quotes are automatically removed)
API_KEY="abc123def456"
JWT_SECRET='super-secret-key'

# Unquoted values
PORT=3000
DEBUG=true

# Empty lines are ignored

# Complex values
REDIS_URL=redis://username:password@redis-server:6379/0
ALLOWED_HOSTS=localhost,127.0.0.1,myapp.com

Parsing Features

• ✅ Comments: Lines starting with # are ignored
• ✅ Empty lines: Automatically skipped
• ✅ Quoted values: Single and double quotes removed
• ✅ Complex values: URLs, comma-separated lists, etc.
• ✅ Whitespace: Automatically trimmed
• ✅ Invalid lines: Gracefully skipped

License

MIT License