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Managing Environment Configurations

DevOps & Security
managing-environment-configurations

Managing Environment Configurations is an Agent Skill for devops & security published in the jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills repository on GitHub: a SKILL.md instruction file an AI agent can load to do this task.

Implement environment and configuration management with comprehensive guidance and automation. Use when you need to work with environment configuration. Trigger with phrases like "manage environments", "configure environments", or "sync configurations".

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How to use this skill

Bring this guide into your coding agent with a prompt tailored to the tool you use.

  1. Open your project in Codex.
  2. Copy and paste the prompt below.
  3. Review files and risks before approving any action.
Prompt to paste
Inspect the Agent Skill at https://github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills/blob/HEAD/plugins/devops/environment-config-manager/skills/managing-environment-configurations/SKILL.md and all supporting files. Report provenance, permissions, scripts, dependencies, and security risks. Propose an exact installation into .agents/skills/managing-environment-configurations, but wait for my approval before writing files or running scripts.

Copying this prompt does not install or run the skill. Review third-party files before use.

Managing Environment Configurations

Overview

Manage application configurations across development, staging, and production environments using .env files, Kubernetes ConfigMaps/Secrets, SSM Parameter Store, and cloud-native configuration services. Enforce consistency, prevent configuration drift, and implement safe promotion workflows between environments.

Prerequisites

  • Access to all target environments (dev, staging, production)
  • Configuration management tool or pattern identified (dotenv, ConfigMaps, SSM, Consul)
  • Version control for configuration files (separate repo or encrypted in application repo)
  • Encryption tool for sensitive values (sops, age, sealed-secrets, or cloud KMS)
  • Understanding of which values differ between environments vs. which are shared

Instructions

  1. Audit existing configuration: scan for .env files, config/ directories, Kubernetes ConfigMaps, and hardcoded values in source code
  2. Classify each configuration value: public (non-sensitive, varies per env), secret (credentials, API keys), and static (same across all envs)
  3. Extract hardcoded values into externalized configuration with a clear naming convention (APP_DATABASE_HOST, APP_REDIS_URL)
  4. Create environment-specific configuration files: .env.development, .env.staging, .env.production
  5. Encrypt sensitive values using sops with cloud KMS or sealed-secrets for Kubernetes
  6. Generate Kubernetes ConfigMaps and Secrets from environment files for cluster-based deployments
  7. Set up configuration validation: schema checks to ensure all required variables are present before deployment
  8. Implement promotion workflow: changes go to dev first, then promote to staging after testing, then to production with approval
  9. Add configuration drift detection: compare running environment against source-of-truth on a schedule

Output

  • Environment-specific configuration files (.env.*, config/*.yaml)
  • Kubernetes ConfigMap and Secret manifests per environment
  • Configuration schema/validation script to catch missing variables
  • SOPS-encrypted secret files with .sops.yaml rules
  • CI/CD pipeline steps for configuration validation and deployment

Error Handling

ErrorCauseSolution
Missing required environment variableVariable defined in schema but absent from .env fileAdd the variable to the environment file; run validation script before deploy
SOPS decryption failedWrong KMS key or expired credentialsVerify KMS key ARN in .sops.yaml; refresh cloud credentials
ConfigMap too largeKubernetes 1MB ConfigMap size limit exceededSplit into multiple ConfigMaps or mount as files from a volume
Configuration drift detectedManual changes made directly to running environmentRe-apply configuration from source-of-truth; block direct environment edits
Secret exposed in logsApplication logging sensitive config values at startupMask secrets in logging output; audit code for accidental secret printing

Examples

  • "Create an environment configuration system using .env files for a Node.js app with SOPS encryption for secrets and validation that all required vars are set."
  • "Generate Kubernetes ConfigMaps and Secrets from environment files for dev, staging, and production namespaces."
  • "Set up a configuration promotion workflow: edit in dev, validate in CI, promote to staging via PR, deploy to production with approval gate."

Resources