Getting started with Dotvault

Dotvault is a macOS desktop app for managing .env files. Everything runs locally — your secrets never leave your machine.

Install

Download the latest release from the Dotvault website, open the .dmg, and drag Dotvault into your Applications folder. Launch it from Spotlight or Launchpad. On first launch you’ll be asked whether to share anonymous usage data — it’s off by default, and you can change your mind later in Settings.

Add your first project

A project in Dotvault is any folder on disk that has one or more .env files in it. To add one:

  • Click the Add Project button on the welcome screen, or the + button in the sidebar header.
  • Give the project a name, browse to its folder, and click Create.

You can also just drag a folder from Finder straight onto the sidebar. Dotvault scans it and automatically lists every .env file it finds — .env, .env.local, .env.production, and anything else named .env or starting with .env..

Projects stick around in the sidebar between launches. Hover a project and you’ll see drag handles for reordering, plus shortcut buttons for opening it in Finder, your terminal, or your editor. You can set your preferred terminal and editor in Settings under External apps.

Open a file

Click any environment file under a project to load it in the editor. Each line is parsed into a row showing the key, value, and any framework or validation hints Dotvault has picked up on. Comments beginning with # become section headers, and lines like #DEBUG=true are treated as disabled variables rather than comments.

The first time you open a file, Dotvault captures an initial snapshot of its current state — so you can always roll back to the original contents, even after your first edit.

Create a new env file

If the project has no env file yet — or you just need another — click New file… at the bottom of the environment file list. Pick a filename, then choose:

  • Blank — an empty file.
  • From Template — uses .env.example as a basis if one exists, otherwise generates keys from the frameworks and packages Dotvault detected in the project.

Basic navigation

  • Click a variable row to edit its value inline.
  • Use the filter bar above the editor to show All, Required, Framework, Custom, or Disabled variables.
  • The search box filters the current file. Press Cmd+K or click Search in the title bar to search across every project at once.
  • Click the eye icon next to a variable to disable it — the line gets saved as #KEY=value and can be re-enabled later.
  • Click Add Variable at the bottom of any section to add a new key.
  • Cmd+S saves. Cmd+Z and Cmd+Shift+Z undo and redo. Escape closes any open dialog.

When you save, Dotvault writes the file back to disk in standard .env format, quoting any values with spaces in them automatically. Open Help → Keyboard Shortcuts for the full list.

Where your data lives

Your database, your snapshots, and your encryption keys all live locally in ~/Library/Application Support/dotvault/. The snapshot encryption key itself sits in the macOS Keychain via Electron’s safeStorage. Nothing is ever uploaded anywhere.