Config manager

Config Manager

Audits and improves configuration management — detects hardcoded secrets, generates .env templates with documentation, validates all required environment variables on startup, and optionally sets up feature flag patterns for progressive rollout.

When to Use

• User asks to "manage configuration", "audit for hardcoded secrets", or "set up env vars"
• A code review flagged hardcoded credentials or connection strings
• A new deployment environment needs its configuration documented
• The application crashes on missing config with unhelpful errors
• User wants to implement feature flags for progressive feature rollout
• Secrets have been accidentally committed and need to be cleaned up

Process

1. Scan for hardcoded secrets and configuration:

   • Search for patterns matching:
     • API keys: sk-, pk-, AKIA (AWS), ghp_, glpat-
     • Connection strings: postgres://, mongodb+srv://, redis:// with credentials
     • JWT secrets: secret: "...", jwtSecret =
     • Passwords: password = "...", db_pass =
     • Tokens: long hex/base64 strings assigned to variables named *token*, *key*, *secret*
   • Flag file:line for each finding with severity (Critical if committed to git history)

2. Inventory all configuration the application reads:

   • Search for process.env.*, os.environ[*], os.getenv(*), viper.Get*, config.*
   • Collect all variable names, their usage context, and whether they have defaults
   • Classify: required (no default, app won't function), optional (has default), feature flag (boolean)

3. Generate .env.example (a template — never the actual .env):

   • List every discovered variable
   • Add a descriptive comment for each explaining what it's for, acceptable values, and format
   • Provide safe placeholder values (not real secrets)
   • Group variables by concern (database, auth, external services, features, etc.)
   • Mark required variables clearly with a comment: # REQUIRED

4. Generate a config validation module that runs at startup:

   • Read all required variables
   • Validate format where applicable (URL format, integer range, enum values)
   • Fail fast on startup with a clear error message listing every missing/invalid variable
   • Never crash mid-request due to missing config

5. Generate feature flag patterns if requested:

   • Simple env-based flags: FEATURE_NEW_DASHBOARD=true
   • Percentage rollout: FEATURE_ROLLOUT_PERCENTAGE=20
   • Per-user targeting: integrate with LaunchDarkly, Unleash, or Flagsmith
   • Provide a isFeatureEnabled(flag, userId?) utility function

6. Provide git remediation guidance if secrets are found in git history:

   • Advise rotating the exposed secret immediately
   • Provide BFG Repo-Cleaner or git filter-repo commands to purge from history
   • Note that force-push is required and all collaborators must re-clone

Output Format

Secret Scan Results

## Configuration Audit

### 🔴 Hardcoded Secrets Found

| File | Line | Type | Action Required |
|------|------|------|----------------|
| src/db/connection.ts | 12 | PostgreSQL connection string with password | Rotate & move to env var |
| config/auth.js | 34 | JWT secret (hardcoded string) | Rotate & move to env var |

**Immediate action:** These may be in git history. Rotate both secrets NOW, then
remove from source using `git filter-repo`.

.env.example

# =============================================================================
# Database Configuration
# =============================================================================
# REQUIRED — PostgreSQL connection string
# Format: postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DBNAME
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://app:changeme@localhost:5432/myapp_dev

# =============================================================================
# Authentication
# =============================================================================
# REQUIRED — JWT signing secret (min 32 chars)
# Generate: openssl rand -hex 32
JWT_SECRET=replace_with_a_secure_random_value_at_least_32_chars

# =============================================================================
# Feature Flags
# =============================================================================
# Optional — Enable new dashboard UI (default: false)
FEATURE_NEW_DASHBOARD=false

Config Validation Module (TypeScript)

// src/config/index.ts
import { z } from 'zod';

const ConfigSchema = z.object({
  DATABASE_URL: z.string().url('DATABASE_URL must be a valid URL'),
  JWT_SECRET: z.string().min(32, 'JWT_SECRET must be at least 32 characters'),
  PORT: z.coerce.number().int().min(1).max(65535).default(3000),
  NODE_ENV: z.enum(['development', 'test', 'production']).default('development'),
  FEATURE_NEW_DASHBOARD: z.enum(['true', 'false']).transform(v => v === 'true').default('false'),
});

const result = ConfigSchema.safeParse(process.env);
if (!result.success) {
  console.error('❌ Invalid configuration:\n', result.error.flatten().fieldErrors);
  process.exit(1);
}

export const config = result.data;

Examples

Example Input

# config.py
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://admin:[email protected]/mydb"
API_KEY = "sk-live-abc123xyz"
DEBUG = True

Example Output

🔴 Critical: 2 hardcoded secrets found.

1. DATABASE_URL contains credentials (line 2) — rotate database password immediately
2. API_KEY contains a live API key (line 3) — revoke and regenerate

Recommended refactor:
```python
# config.py
import os

DATABASE_URL = os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]  # required
API_KEY = os.environ["API_KEY"]            # required
DEBUG = os.environ.get("DEBUG", "false").lower() == "true"  # optional, default false

Add to .env.example: DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/myapp_dev API_KEY=your_api_key_here DEBUG=false

## Boundaries

- Do NOT create or populate `.env` files — only `.env.example` with placeholder values.
- Do NOT display discovered secret values in output — mask after the first 4 characters (e.g., `sk-li...`).
- Do NOT attempt to rotate secrets — only advise that rotation is required and provide instructions.
- Do NOT recommend committing secrets to the repository in any form, including "encrypted in the repo".
- If secrets are found in git history, note that deleting the file is insufficient — history must be rewritten.
- Always recommend using a secrets manager (AWS Secrets Manager, Vault, GCP Secret Manager) for production rather than plain environment variables for highly sensitive values.