Sangeetha-Grantha

Metadata	Value
Status	Completed
Version	1.0.0
Last Updated	2026-02-06
Author	Sangeetha Grantha Team

TRACK-037: Environment Variables & Config Standardisation

1. Goal

Standardise how environment variables and local configuration are defined, loaded, and documented so that secrets stay out of the repo and a single source of truth (e.g. tools.yaml, config/README.md) guides developers and tooling (Goose, IDE, CLI).

2. Context

• Problem: Committed .env.development and scattered env usage risk leaking secrets and cause inconsistent behaviour across IDEs, Goose, and CLI.
• Approach: Externalisable env vars and a Postgres source are defined in repo-root tools.yaml; actual values are set outside the repo (system env or a single gitignored config/local.env). Backend loads config/development.env then config/local.env; system env overrides.
• Docs: Canonical config docs in application_documentation/08-operations/config.md; local context in config/README.md.

3. Implementation Plan

• Remove committed config/.env.development; ensure env files are gitignored (development.env, local.env, etc.).
• Define variable list and Postgres source in repo-root tools.yaml.
• Backend: load env from config/development.env then config/local.env; system env overrides (ApiEnvironmentLoader, ApiEnvironment.kt).
• Use config/development.env (and optional local.env) as single dev env source; document in config/README.md.
• Add config/README.md documenting config directory, file roles, and single-source workflow.
• Provide template tools/bootstrap-assets/env/development.env.example for bootstrap/copy.
• Update application_documentation/08-operations/config.md with tools.yaml reference and local.env workflow.
• Align DAL/database config loading with same env source (DatabaseConfigLoader.kt).
• Update quick-reference and runbooks (e.g. steel-thread, auth) to point to config docs and tools.yaml.
• Align Vite/frontend envDir pointing at config/.

4. Progress Log

• 2026-02-06: Track created. Completed: removal of committed .env.development; gitignore for config/development.env, config/local.env; tools.yaml for variable list; ApiEnvironmentLoader loading from config/development.env then config/local.env with system override; config/README.md; development.env.example template; ops config doc updates.
• 2026-02-07: Completed DAL alignment in DatabaseConfigLoader.kt using dotenv-kotlin. Aligned Vite configuration in vite.config.ts. Updated runbooks and quick-references to point to canonical configuration documentation.