- name: Validate required environment variables
  run: |
    REQUIRED_VARS=(
      "DATABASE_URL"
      "API_KEY"
      "AWS_REGION"
      "STRIPE_SECRET_KEY"
    )

    MISSING=()
    for var in "${REQUIRED_VARS[@]}"; do
      if [ -z "${!var}" ]; then
        MISSING+=("$var")
      fi
    done

    if [ ${#MISSING[@]} -ne 0 ]; then
      echo "❌ Missing required environment variables:"
      printf '%s\n' "${MISSING[@]}"
      exit 1
    fi

    echo "✅ All required environment variables are set"
  env:
    DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
    API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
    AWS_REGION: ${{ secrets.AWS_REGION }}
    STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY }}


## Secret Masking

```yaml
- name: Mask sensitive values
  run: |
    # Automatically masked in GitHub Actions
    echo "::add-mask::${{ secrets.API_KEY }}"
    echo "::add-mask::${{ secrets.DATABASE_PASSWORD }}"

    # Safe to use in commands
    curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}" https://api.example.com

Leak Prevention

- name: Check for leaked secrets
  uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main
  with:
    path: ./
    base: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}
    head: HEAD

- name: Detect hardcoded secrets
  uses: reviewdog/action-detect-secrets@master
  with:
    github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    reporter: github-pr-review

Environment-specific Secrets

deploy:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  environment:
    name: ${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}
  steps:
    - name: Deploy
      run: |
        # Environment-specific secrets are automatically scoped
        echo "Deploying to ${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}"
      env:
        DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
        API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}

Secret Validation Script

// scripts/validate-env.ts
import * as fs from "fs";

interface EnvConfig {
  required: string[];
  optional: string[];
}

const config: EnvConfig = {
  required: ["DATABASE_URL", "JWT_SECRET", "STRIPE_SECRET_KEY"],
  optional: ["SENTRY_DSN", "LOG_LEVEL"],
};

function validateEnv(): boolean {
  const missing: string[] = [];

  config.required.forEach((key) => {
    if (!process.env[key]) {
      missing.push(key);
    }
  });

  if (missing.length > 0) {
    console.error("❌ Missing required environment variables:");
    missing.forEach((key) => console.error(`  - ${key}`));
    return false;
  }

  console.log("✅ All required environment variables are set");
  return true;
}

if (!validateEnv()) {
  process.exit(1);
}

.env.example Template

# .env.example - Check into git
# Copy to .env and fill in values

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb

# Authentication
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-here
JWT_EXPIRY=24h

# External APIs
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG....

# AWS
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
AWS_REGION=us-east-1

# Optional
SENTRY_DSN=https://...
LOG_LEVEL=info

Documentation Template

# Environment Variables

## Required Variables

### DATABASE_URL

**Description:** PostgreSQL connection string
**Format:** `postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database`
**Example:** `postgresql://app:secret@localhost:5432/myapp`
**Where to get:** Create database on Heroku/RDS

### STRIPE_SECRET_KEY

**Description:** Stripe API secret key
**Format:** `sk_test_...` or `sk_live_...`
**Example:** `sk_test_51abc123...`
**Where to get:** Stripe Dashboard → Developers → API Keys
**⚠️ Never commit to git**

## Optional Variables

### LOG_LEVEL

**Description:** Logging verbosity
**Format:** `error | warn | info | debug`
**Default:** `info`

Fail-Fast Validation

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Validate secrets exist
        run: |
          if [ -z "${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}" ]; then
            echo "::error::DATABASE_URL secret not set"
            exit 1
          fi

          if [ -z "${{ secrets.API_KEY }}" ]; then
            echo "::error::API_KEY secret not set"
            exit 1
          fi

  deploy:
    needs: validate
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy
        run: echo "Deploying..."

Best Practices

Never log secrets: Always mask sensitive values
Validate early: Check secrets before deployment
Use GitHub Secrets: Never hardcode in workflows
Environment separation: Dev/staging/prod secrets
Rotate regularly: Update secrets periodically
Principle of least privilege: Minimal permissions
Document clearly: Where to get each secret
Scan for leaks: Automated detection

Leak Prevention

Environment-specific Secrets

Secret Validation Script

.env.example Template

Documentation Template

Fail-Fast Validation

Best Practices

Output Checklist

secrets-env-manager

Secrets & Env Manager

Environment Variable Validation