plugins/environment-and-config/skills/configuring/SKILL.md
Universal environment variable loader for AI agent environments. Loads secrets and config from Claude.ai, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Jules, and standard .env files.
npx skillsauth add oaustegard/claude-skills configuringInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Unified configuration management across AI coding environments. Load environment variables, secrets, and other opinionated configuration setups from any AI coding platform.
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.
| 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 |
# 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
.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..."
}
}
Later sources override earlier:
.env files in cwdimport 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
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)
development
Write effective instructions for Claude: project instructions, standalone prompts, and skill content. Use when users need help writing prompts, setting up project instructions, choosing between instruction formats, or improving how they communicate with Claude. Covers writing principles, model-aware calibration, and format selection. For building and testing complete skills, use skill-creator instead.
data-ai
Discover and load skills on demand from /mnt/skills/user/. Use when you need a capability but don't know which skill provides it, when the boot-emitted skill list is names-only and you need a full description, or when you want to list the catalog. Verbs are list (names only), search (rank by name/description match against a query), and show (emit the full SKILL.md for a named skill).
documentation
Reads the visual content of slides, pages, and images the way a human would, not just their embedded text. Use when a PPTX or PDF has image slides, screenshots, charts, scanned figures, or flattened-to-image layouts that the built-in pptx/pdf skills read as empty; when asked to transcribe, describe, OCR, or extract what is shown in an image, slide deck, or document page; or when embedded-text extraction returned little or nothing from a visually rich file. Triggers on 'read this deck', 'what's on these slides', 'transcribe', 'OCR', 'extract text from image', 'describe this chart/diagram', .pptx/.pdf/.png/.jpg with visual content.
development
Portrait Mode for SVGs — foveated vectorization with 4-zone selective detail. Combines vision annotations, MediaPipe segmentation/landmarks, and optional saliency. Like phone portrait mode, but vectorized. Use when vectorizing a portrait or photo where subject detail should outrank background detail.