/configuring

name: configuring
description: Universal environment variable loader for AI agent environments. Loads secrets and config from Claude.ai, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Jules, and standard .env files.
metadata:
  version: 2.0.0
  replaces: api-credentials, getting-env

Configuring

Unified configuration management across AI coding environments. Load environment variables, secrets, and other opinionated configuration setups from any AI coding platform.

Quick Start

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, '/path/to/claude-skills')  # or wherever skills are installed
from configuring import get_env, detect_environment

# Get a variable (searches all sources automatically)
token = get_env("TURSO_TOKEN", required=True)

# With default
port = get_env("PORT", default="8080")

# What environment are we in?
env = detect_environment()  # "claude.ai", "claude-code-desktop", "codex", "jules", etc.

Supported Environments

| Environment | Config Sources | |-------------|----------------| | **Claude.ai Projects** | `/mnt/project/*.env`, `/mnt/project/*-token.txt` | | **Claude Code** | `~/.claude/settings.json` (`env` block), `.claude/settings.json` | | **OpenAI Codex** | `~/.codex/config.toml`, setup script → `~/.bashrc`, `shell_snapshots/*.sh` | | **Jules** | Environment settings UI, `.env` in repo | | **Universal** | `os.environ`, `.env`, `.env.local` |

API Reference

# Core
get_env(key, default=None, *, required=False, validator=None) -> str | None
load_env(path) -> dict[str, str]           # Load specific file
load_all(force_reload=False) -> dict       # Load all sources

# Utilities
detect_environment() -> str                 # Current platform
mask_secret(value, show_chars=4) -> str    # Safe logging
debug_info() -> dict                        # Troubleshooting
get_loaded_sources() -> list[str]          # What was checked

Credential File Formats

**`.env` files** (KEY=value):

TURSO_TOKEN=eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSI...
EMBEDDING_API_KEY=sk-svcacct-...

**Single-value files** (`*-token.txt`, `*-key.txt`):

eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSI...

Filename becomes key: `turso-token.txt` → `TURSO_TOKEN`

**Claude Code settings.json**:

{
  "env": {
    "TURSO_TOKEN": "eyJhbGciOiJFZERTQSI..."
  }
}

Priority Order

Later sources override earlier: 1. OS environment variables 2. Platform-specific sources (detected automatically) 3. `.env` files in cwd 4. OS environment variables (again - explicit exports always win)

Debugging

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, '/path/to/claude-skills')
from configuring import debug_info
print(debug_info())
# {'environment': 'claude.ai', 'sources': ['os.environ', 'claude.ai:/mnt/project/'], ...}

CLI:

cd /path/to/claude-skills/configuring
python scripts/getting_env.py                    # Show debug info
python scripts/getting_env.py TURSO_TOKEN        # Get specific key

Migration from api-credentials / getting-env

Replace:

# Old (api-credentials)
from credentials import get_anthropic_api_key
key = get_anthropic_api_key()

# Old (getting-env)
from getting_env import get_env
key = get_env("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY")

# New (configuring)
import sys
sys.path.insert(0, '/path/to/claude-skills')
from configuring import get_env
key = get_env("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", required=True)