envstack

envstack is an environment variable composition and activation layer for tools and processes.

It is built for cases where environments are hierarchical, shared, and context-dependent, and where a flat .env file stops being enough.

export ENVPATH=studio/base:show/foo:tool/nuke/14
envstack -- nuke

Why envstack

envstack is a lightweight CLI and Python library for composing, tracing, exporting, and reproducing environment variables using a PATH-like model called ENVPATH.

Compose

• Hierarchical environment layers
• Ordered precedence and overrides
• Cross-platform environment activation

Explain

• Trace variable origins
• Inspect unresolved values
• Debug stack ordering and overrides

Export

• Bake resolved environments
• Export to shell formats
• Reproduce environments deterministically

ENVPATH

ENVPATH defines where environment fragments are discovered and in what order they apply, similar to PATH, but for full environments.

export ENVPATH=prod/base:prod/show/foo:prod/tools/nuke14
envstack -- nuke

Later entries can layer on top of earlier ones through includes, hierarchy, and explicit precedence rules.

envstack is not

• A dependency solver
• A package manager
• A virtualenv replacement
• A build system

It is intentionally boring: explicit inputs, deterministic outputs, and tooling that tells you what it did.

Install

pip install envstack

Quickstart

Inspect the unresolved environment:

envstack -u

Resolve a specific variable:

envstack -r DEPLOY_ROOT

Run a command inside the active stack:

envstack -- echo {DEPLOY_ROOT}

Trace where a variable comes from:

envstack -t PATH

Learn More

• Design: mental model, hierarchy, and precedence
• Examples: common patterns and stack layouts
• Secrets: encrypted values and key handling
• Comparison: how envstack differs from adjacent tools
• FAQ: operational details and gotchas
• API: Python and CLI reference material
• Roadmap: planned improvements and future work