Environment variable converter

About this tool

Keep the original .env ↔ JSON converter, or compare a before and an after environment file locally. Comparison separates added, removed, changed, unchanged and ambiguous keys, including missing, empty and whitespace-only values. Values start hidden; generate a placeholder-only .env.example or deliberately opt into a JSON report containing values.

Executable conversion and comparison examples

APP_NAME=EveryTools
DEBUG=true
export API_URL="https://example.test"

{
  "APP_NAME": "EveryTools",
  "DEBUG": "true",
  "API_URL": "https://example.test"
}

{"APP_NAME":"EveryTools","EMPTY":"","FLAGS":["a","b"],"DEBUG":true}

APP_NAME=EveryTools
EMPTY=""
FLAGS="[\"a\",\"b\"]"
DEBUG=true

before:
APP=demo
PORT=3000
OLD=retire

after:
APP=demo
PORT=4000
NEW=added

[{"key":"APP","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"NEW","status":"added","before":"missing","after":"value"},{"key":"OLD","status":"removed","before":"value","after":"missing"},{"key":"PORT","status":"changed","before":"value","after":"value"}]

before:
EMPTY=
SPACE=" "
GONE=

after:
EMPTY=""
SPACE=
ADDED=" "

[{"key":"ADDED","status":"added","before":"missing","after":"whitespace"},{"key":"EMPTY","status":"unchanged","before":"empty","after":"empty"},{"key":"GONE","status":"removed","before":"empty","after":"missing"},{"key":"SPACE","status":"changed","before":"whitespace","after":"empty"}]

before:
export HASH="a#b" # comment
LINE="a\nb"
REF=${HOME}
COMMAND="$(whoami)"
PATH='C:\temp'

after:
HASH=a#b
LINE="a\u000ab"
REF='${HOME}'
COMMAND='$(whoami)'
PATH="C:\\temp"

[{"key":"COMMAND","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"HASH","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"LINE","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"PATH","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"REF","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"}]

before:
TOKEN=first
TOKEN=second
SAME=demo

after:
TOKEN=second
SAME=demo

[{"key":"SAME","status":"unchanged","before":"value","after":"value"},{"key":"TOKEN","status":"ambiguous","before":"ambiguous","after":"value"}]

before:
__proto__=synthetic-before
constructor=synthetic-constructor
OLD=retired
# internal comment
DUP=first
DUP=second

after:
__proto__=synthetic-after
constructor=synthetic-constructor
NEW=synthetic-added
DUP=only

NEW=REPLACE_ME
OLD=REPLACE_ME
__proto__=REPLACE_ME
constructor=REPLACE_ME

before:
GOOD=ok
BAD-NAME=synthetic

after:
GOOD=ok

{"valid":false,"rows":[],"beforeIssues":[{"code":"invalidKey","line":2}],"afterIssues":[]}

Common .env mistakes and disclosure risks

• Treating an unquoted # after a space as part of a value: quote values that intentionally contain such text.
• Pasting a shell script or a multiline secret: this comparison parser accepts only its documented single-line subset and never executes it.
• Assuming duplicate keys use the last value: ambiguous keys require review even when the repeated values look identical.
• Sharing a raw-value report or screen after revealing values: it may disclose credentials; key names in masked reports and examples can also be sensitive.
• Using REPLACE_ME as a production default: generated examples list names for review and contain no usable configuration values.

Limits and notes

• —Comparison uses a documented custom single-line subset, not full dotenv or shell compatibility. Keys are case-sensitive ASCII [A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*, including __proto__ and constructor. An initial BOM, LF/CRLF, optional export and ASCII space/tab around assignments are supported. Double quotes use JSON escapes; single quotes decode only escaped quotes and escaped backslashes, keeping other backslashes literal. Quoted spaces are preserved. Bare values trim ASCII space/tab; # begins a comment at value start or after space/tab, while a#b remains literal. A quoted value may be followed only by space/tab and a comment.
• —Multiline values, bare CR, raw control characters other than horizontal tab, Unicode line separators, invalid names, unfinished quotes and ambiguous bare shell syntax are rejected. Bare embedded quotes, backticks, backslashes and ; | & < > require supported quoting. ${HOME} and $(whoami) are data only: no variable expansion, command substitution or evaluation occurs.
• —Any malformed line blocks the whole comparison and both report/template exports, rather than treating ignored lines as removed keys. Duplicate keys remain visible as ambiguous with source lines and no selected value; there is no last-wins rule. Union examples omit a key duplicated on either side; side-specific examples require it to be unique on the selected side.
• —Each comparison input is limited to 200,000 UTF-16 code units and 5,000 physical lines; exports are limited to 1 MB (1,000,000 UTF-8 bytes). A final line terminator does not add an extra physical line. Limits fail explicitly without truncated exports. The retained converter accepts 200,000 characters and at most 5,000 lines or JSON properties, with its own conversion rules.
• —Processing stays in the browser with no input upload, network lookup or persistent storage. Hiding values is a display/export choice, not encryption. Raw-value JSON may expose secrets; even masked reports and .env.example reveal key names and structure. Example values are always REPLACE_ME, never guessed defaults; original values, comments and invalid lines are never copied.

Frequently asked questions

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