Environments Guide

Complete guide to managing environments and variables in LazyCurl.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Environment Structure
• Variable System
• Managing Environments
• Managing Variables
• Variable Substitution
• System Variables
• File Format Reference

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Overview

Environments allow you to define variables that can be used across your requests. This enables you to easily switch between different configurations (development, staging, production) without modifying your requests.

Key Features

• Multiple Environments: Maintain separate configs for dev/staging/prod
• Variable Substitution: Use {{variable}} syntax anywhere
• Secret Variables: Hide sensitive values in the UI
• Active/Inactive Toggle: Enable or disable variables without deleting
• System Variables: Built-in dynamic values

---

Environment Structure

Directory Layout

.lazycurl/
└── environments/
    ├── development.json
    ├── staging.json
    └── production.json

Visual Representation

In LazyCurl, environments appear as an expandable tree:

▼ Development ✓ (active)
  ○ base_url: http://localhost:3000
  ● token: ••••••••
  ○ user_id: 123
▷ Staging
▷ Production

Legend:

• ✓ = Active environment
• ● = Secret variable (value hidden)
• ○ = Regular variable
• Dimmed text = Inactive variable

---

Variable System

Variable Types

Type	Display	Description
Regular	○ name: value	Normal visible variable
Secret	● name: ••••••••	Value hidden in UI
Inactive	Dimmed text	Defined but not used

Variable States

Each variable has three properties:

{
  "value": "the-actual-value",
  "secret": false,
  "active": true
}

Property	Type	Default	Description
value	string	""	The variable's value
secret	boolean	false	Hide value in UI
active	boolean	true	Use in substitution

---

Managing Environments

Creating an Environment

1. Switch to Environments tab (press 2)
2. Press N to create a new environment
3. Enter the environment name
4. Press Enter to confirm

Selecting an Environment

1. Navigate to the environment
2. Press S or Enter to select
3. The environment shows ✓ and becomes active

Only one environment can be active at a time.

Duplicating an Environment

1. Select the environment
2. Press D to duplicate
3. A copy is created with "_copy" suffix

Deleting an Environment

1. Select the environment
2. Press d to delete
3. Confirm the deletion

Renaming an Environment

1. Select the environment
2. Press R to rename
3. Enter the new name
4. Press Enter to confirm

---

Managing Variables

Creating a Variable

1. Expand an environment (press l)
2. Press n to create a new variable
3. Enter:
   • Name: Variable identifier (e.g., base_url)
   • Value: Variable value (e.g., https://api.example.com)
4. Press Enter to confirm

Editing a Variable

1. Navigate to the variable with j/k
2. Press c or i to edit
3. Modify the value
4. Press Enter to save or Esc to cancel

Duplicating a Variable

1. Select the variable
2. Press D to duplicate
3. A copy is created with "_copy" suffix

Deleting a Variable

1. Select the variable
2. Press d to delete
3. Confirm the deletion

Renaming a Variable

1. Select the variable
2. Press R to rename
3. Enter the new name
4. Press Enter to confirm

Toggling Active State

Key	Action
a	Toggle active/inactive
A	Toggle active/inactive (same)

Inactive variables are not used in substitution.

Toggling Secret State

Key	Action
s	Toggle secret/visible

Secret variables have their values hidden in the UI but are still used in requests.

---

Variable Substitution

Syntax

Variables use double curly braces:

{{variable_name}}

Where Variables Work

Variables can be used in:

Location	Example
URL	{{base_url}}/api/users
Headers	Bearer {{token}}
Body	{"user": "{{user_name}}"}
Query Parameters	?id={{user_id}}

Substitution Process

1. Select an environment
2. Create requests with {{variable}} placeholders
3. When sending, variables are replaced with actual values

Example:

Environment:

{
  "base_url": { "value": "https://api.example.com", "active": true },
  "token": { "value": "abc123", "active": true }
}

Request URL:

{{base_url}}/users

Sent as:

https://api.example.com/users

Inactive Variables

Inactive variables are not substituted:

{{inactive_var}} → {{inactive_var}} (unchanged)

---

System Variables

LazyCurl provides built-in system variables that generate dynamic values.

Available System Variables

Variable	Description	Example Output
{{$timestamp}}	Current Unix timestamp	1699876543
{{$datetime}}	Current RFC3339 datetime	2024-11-13T10:15:30Z
{{$date}}	Current date (YYYY-MM-DD)	2024-11-13
{{$time}}	Current time (HH:MM:SS)	10:15:30
{{$uuid}}	Random UUID v4	a1b2c3d4-e5f6-...
{{$randomInt}}	Random integer (0-999999)	427891
{{$random}}	Random 10-char string	aB3cD7eF9g

Usage Examples

Request ID header:

X-Request-ID: {{$uuid}}

Timestamp in body:

{
  "created_at": "{{$datetime}}",
  "request_id": "{{$uuid}}"
}

Random test data:

{
  "email": "user_{{$randomInt}}@test.com",
  "code": "{{$random}}"
}

---

File Format Reference

Complete Environment Schema

{
  "name": "Environment Name",
  "description": "Optional description",
  "variables": {
    "variable_name": {
      "value": "variable_value",
      "secret": false,
      "active": true
    }
  }
}

Field Descriptions

EnvironmentFile

Field	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Environment display name
description	string	No	Environment description
variables	object	Yes	Map of variable names to configs

EnvironmentVariable

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
value	string	Yes	-	The variable's value
secret	boolean	No	false	Hide value in UI
active	boolean	No	true	Use in substitution

---

Examples

Development Environment

{
  "name": "Development",
  "description": "Local development environment",
  "variables": {
    "base_url": {
      "value": "http://localhost:3000",
      "active": true
    },
    "api_version": {
      "value": "v1",
      "active": true
    },
    "token": {
      "value": "dev-token-12345",
      "secret": true,
      "active": true
    },
    "debug": {
      "value": "true",
      "active": true
    }
  }
}

Staging Environment

{
  "name": "Staging",
  "description": "Staging server for testing",
  "variables": {
    "base_url": {
      "value": "https://staging.api.example.com",
      "active": true
    },
    "api_version": {
      "value": "v1",
      "active": true
    },
    "token": {
      "value": "staging-token-67890",
      "secret": true,
      "active": true
    },
    "debug": {
      "value": "false",
      "active": true
    }
  }
}

Production Environment

{
  "name": "Production",
  "description": "Production API - Use with caution!",
  "variables": {
    "base_url": {
      "value": "https://api.example.com",
      "active": true
    },
    "api_version": {
      "value": "v1",
      "active": true
    },
    "token": {
      "value": "prod-secret-token",
      "secret": true,
      "active": true
    },
    "debug": {
      "value": "false",
      "active": false
    },
    "admin_override": {
      "value": "disabled",
      "active": false
    }
  }
}

---

Keybindings Reference

Environment-Level Actions

Key	Action
N	Create new environment
S / Enter	Select/activate environment
d	Delete environment
D	Duplicate environment
R	Rename environment
h	Collapse environment
l	Expand environment

Variable-Level Actions

Key	Action
n	Create new variable
c / i	Edit variable value
d	Delete variable
D	Duplicate variable
R	Rename variable
a / A	Toggle active/inactive
s	Toggle secret/visible

Navigation

Key	Action
j / k	Move up/down
g	Jump to top
G	Jump to bottom
/	Search environments/variables

---

Best Practices

1. Use Consistent Naming

✅ base_url, api_token, user_id
❌ baseUrl, BaseURL, base-url (inconsistent)

2. Mark Sensitive Values as Secret

Always mark these as secret:

• API tokens and keys
• Passwords
• Private URLs
• Personal identifiable information

3. Use Descriptive Environment Names

✅ Development, Staging, Production
✅ Local, QA, UAT, Prod
❌ Env1, Test, New

4. Keep Environments in Sync

Maintain the same variable names across environments:

Development: base_url = http://localhost:3000
Staging:     base_url = https://staging.api.com
Production:  base_url = https://api.com

5. Version Control Carefully

# .gitignore - Protect secrets
.lazycurl/environments/production.json
.lazycurl/environments/*-local.json

# Keep templates
!.lazycurl/environments/example.json

6. Use System Variables for Dynamic Data

Instead of hardcoding:

{"timestamp": "1699876543"}

Use:

{"timestamp": "{{$timestamp}}"}

7. Deactivate Instead of Delete

Use inactive state for:

• Temporarily disabling features
• Keeping reference values
• A/B testing configurations

---

Troubleshooting

Variable Not Replaced

1. Check environment is selected: Look for ✓ indicator
2. Check variable is active: Inactive variables are dimmed
3. Check syntax: Use {{name}} not {name} or {{ name }}
4. Check spelling: Variable names are case-sensitive

Secret Value Shown

Secret values are only hidden in the UI. They are:

• Stored in plain text in JSON files
• Sent in requests as normal values
• Visible if you open the JSON file

Environment Not Loading

1. Check file is valid JSON: cat file.json | jq .
2. Check file permissions
3. Check file is in .lazycurl/environments/
4. Restart LazyCurl

Legacy Format Migration

LazyCurl supports legacy format (simple string values):

// Legacy format (still works)
{
  "variables": {
    "key": "value"
  }
}

// New format (recommended)
{
  "variables": {
    "key": {
      "value": "value",
      "secret": false,
      "active": true
    }
  }
}

Legacy format is automatically converted when saving.