envyconf

Environment variable zero-config configuration in Node.js and Browser

Motivation

Configuration is tedious. Worrying about file locations, data formats and reacting to change is complex in Node. It gets even harder when developing code shared between Node and Browser.

envyconf is a simplistic approach:

• Use only environment variables for configuration. Browser-side, use window, in Node use process.env.
• To avoid naming conflicts, use a unique prefix for variable names. Export a
• single method that can optionally pass defaults to be set unless already specified.
• Receive all key-value pairs with the unique prefix, sans the prefix.

Example

In the browser, envyConf is available in window after loading the script. In Node.JS/Webpack, it can be loaded as a CommonJS or es6 module.

const {envyConf} = require('envyconf')
// or
import {envyConf} from 'envyconf'

Running this in Node.JS:

MYAPP_BAR='metasyntax' node -e "console.log(envyConf('MYAPP', {FOO: '42'}))"
# {FOO: 42, BAR: 'metasyntax'}

The same in Browser:

window.MYAPP_BAR='metasyntax'
console.log(envyConf('MYAPP', {FOO: '42'}))
// {FOO: 42, BAR: 'metasyntax'}