envibe

envibe

The missing permission layer between AI agents and your .env

The Problem

AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot) need your environment variables to run and test code. But they can see everything—API keys, database passwords, payment secrets.

It's all-or-nothing. Until now.

The Solution

envibe gives you per-variable access control with 5 levels:

Level	AI Can See	AI Can Modify	Example
full	Actual value	Yes	NODE_ENV, PORT, DEBUG
read-only	Actual value	No	DATABASE_URL
placeholder	<VAR_NAME>	No	API_KEY
schema-only	Format only	No	Complex configs
hidden	Nothing	No	STRIPE_SECRET_KEY

Quick Start

Add envibe as an MCP server to your AI tool:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

On first use, envibe automatically:

• Creates .env.manifest.yaml from your .env.example
• Generates .env.ai (filtered view for AI)
• Blocks direct .env file access

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your .env (secrets)                                        │
│  ├── STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_xxx    ← hidden from AI      │
│  ├── DATABASE_URL=postgres://...       ← AI can read        │
│  └── DEBUG=true                        ← AI can read/write  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                           │
                           ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  .env.manifest.yaml (access rules)                          │
│  variables:                                                 │
│    STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: { access: hidden }                    │
│    DATABASE_URL: { access: read-only }                      │
│    DEBUG: { access: full }                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                           │
                           ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  .env.ai (what AI sees)                                     │
│  DEBUG=true                    # [full]                     │
│  DATABASE_URL=postgres://...   # [read-only]                │
│  # STRIPE_SECRET_KEY hidden                                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Example Manifest

# .env.manifest.yaml
version: 1
variables:
  NODE_ENV:
    access: full
    description: "Environment mode"

  DATABASE_URL:
    access: read-only
    description: "Database connection string"

  OPENAI_API_KEY:
    access: placeholder
    description: "OpenAI API key"

  STRIPE_SECRET_KEY:
    access: hidden
    description: "Payment processing - never expose"

CLI Commands

Command	Description
envibe setup	Full setup (recommended)
envibe setup -i	Interactive mode - choose access levels
envibe generate	Regenerate .env.ai
envibe view	Display variables with access levels
envibe mcp	Start MCP server

Installation

Claude Code

claude mcp add envibe npx envibe-mcp

Or add to .claude/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

VS Code (Copilot/Continue)

Add to your VS Code settings.json:

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to Cursor MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "envibe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["envibe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

CLI (standalone)

# Install globally
npm install -g envibe

# Run setup
envibe setup

MCP Tools

Tool	Description
env_list	List visible variables with access levels
env_get	Get a variable's value (respects permissions)
env_set	Set a variable (only full access)
env_describe	Get detailed info including format and example
env_check_required	Check which required variables are missing

v0.2.0 Features

• Better error messages - When access is denied, get helpful guidance
• Format hints - Know what format a variable should be (url, key, number, etc.)
• Required var checking - Use env_check_required to guide users through setup

Why envibe?

Approach	Problem
dotenvx	Encrypts files, but AI still needs the decryption key
permissions.deny	Blocks all .env access—no granular control
Just ignore .env	AI can't run or test code that needs env vars
envibe	Per-variable access control. AI sees what you allow.

File Structure

your-project/
├── .env                  # Real secrets (gitignored)
├── .env.example          # Template for devs (committed)
├── .env.manifest.yaml    # Access rules (committed)
├── .env.ai               # AI-safe view (gitignored)
└── .claude/
    └── settings.json     # Claude Code config (committed)

Security

• .env files are gitignored and blocked from AI
• .env.manifest.yaml contains rules only, not values—safe to commit
• .env.ai is regenerated from .env + manifest—gitignore it
• Unknown variables default to placeholder (fail-safe)
• Bash workarounds blocked (cat .env, head .env, etc.)

License

MIT

Built for the AI coding era. Stop leaking secrets.