loadenv/README.md

# loadenv

Loads environment files before running a command without polluting your environment

## Source code

You can find the source code here: [git.milar.in](https://git.tordarus.net/tordarus/loadenv)

## Installation

If you have Go installed, you can simply go install the program: `go install git.tordarus.net/tordarus/loadenv@latest`

## License

Distributed under the MIT License. See [LICENSE.md](https://git.tordarus.net/tordarus/loadenv/src/branch/main/LICENSE.md)

## Usage

`loadenv` loads the environment file provided via `-f` into the environment and runs the command provided after the arguments.
If no file is provided, `.env` is used by default.
If no command is provided, `loadenv` prints all environment variables to stdout.

---

The variables will only be available to the given command. They will be deleted after the command exits.
`loadenv` can be useful when working with programs which heavily use environment variables.

```sh
$ cat .env
# production server configuration
DATABASE_HOST=prod-server.com
DATABASE_USER=my-username
DATABASE_PASS=my-super-secure-password

$ # show the 3 last added env variables
$ loadenv | tail -n 3
DATABASE_HOST=prod-server.com
DATABASE_USER=my-username
DATABASE_PASS=my-super-secure-password

$ cat dev.env
# development server configuration
DATABASE_HOST=dev-server.com
DATABASE_USER=my-username
DATABASE_PASS=my-super-secure-password

$ # load dev.env into environment and run the command env. show last 3 lines
$ loadenv -f dev.env env | tail -n 3
DATABASE_HOST=dev-my-username
DATABASE_PASS=my-super-secure-password
```

### Variable expansions

By default, environment variables in the env file will NOT be expanded:

```sh
$ env | grep USER # current value of $USER
USER=my-username

$ cat .env
# expand $USER variable
USERNAME=$USER

$ loadenv | tail -n 1
USERNAME=$USER # contains literal "$USER" instead of "my-username"
```

Use `-r` to expand variables in such cases:

```sh
$ env | grep USER # current value of $USER
USER=my-username

$ cat .env
# expand $USER variable
USERNAME=$USER

$ loadenv | tail -n 1
USERNAME=my-username # contains original value of $USER variable
```