envcheck

The ultimate "Works on my machine" detector for modern software teams.

envcheck is a zero-config, ultra-fast CLI tool that detects configuration drift between a developer's local environment and the project's expected environment. It validates global runtimes, databases, package managers, and local project dependencies against a single, unified contract.

The Problem

Configuration drift is one of the most common causes of broken builds and API failures.

Developer A is running Node 18 and PostgreSQL 14, while Developer B is running Node 22 and PostgreSQL 17.

envcheck ensures that before a developer commits code or starts a server, their machine matches the exact specifications required by the project.

Quick Start

You can run envcheck instantly in any project directory without installing it globally:

npx envcheck

Configuration

envcheck uses a cascading configuration system. It requires zero setup to get started, but scales to support complex full-stack environments.

1. Zero-Config (package.json)

By default, envcheck automatically reads the engines field from your existing package.json.

For example:

{
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=20.0.0",
    "npm": ">=10.0.0"
  }
}

Running:

npx envcheck

will instantly validate your Node.js and npm versions.

2. Environment Contract (.envcheckrc.json)

For full-stack validation, create an .envcheckrc.json file in your project root.

This allows you to validate databases, system tools, and local libraries. Values defined here override values from package.json.

{
  "node": ">=20.0.0",
  "pnpm": ">=9.0.0",
  "postgres": ">=15.0.0",
  "docker": ">=24.0.0",
  "react": ">=18.2.0",
  "typescript": ">=5.0.0"
}

Output Example

envcheck provides beautifully formatted, highly readable terminal output:

🔍 Environment Scan Complete

✅ Node.js
   Found: 22.3.0 (Required: >=20.0.0)

✅ npm
   Found: 10.8.1 (Required: >=10.0.0)

❌ PostgreSQL
   Required: >=17.0.0
   Found:    15.2.0
   ↳ Please upgrade your local database to match production.

✅ React
   Found: 18.2.0 (Required: >=18.0.0)

⚠️ Environment drift detected. Please fix the issues above.

Supported Tech Stack — Tier 1

envcheck natively understands how to check versions for the following 30+ tools out of the box:

Category	Supported Tools
Runtimes	Node.js, Python, Java, Go, Rust, .NET
Package Managers	npm, pnpm, Yarn, pip, uv, Poetry, Maven, Gradle, Cargo
Databases	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis
Dev Tools	Git, Docker, Docker Compose, curl, OpenSSL
Local Libraries	TypeScript, React, Next.js, Express, NestJS, Prisma, Drizzle

Contributing

We want your tech stack!

envcheck is designed with a highly modular, plugin-based architecture.

Adding a new language, database, or tool should require only a small, focused contribution to the tool registry.

If you want to add support for a tool that isn't listed above, please read the Contributing Guide to learn how easy it is to submit a Pull Request.

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Built for developers who are tired of hearing: "But it works on my machine."