CoreEnv PHP — Lightweight .env for Core PHP 8+

CoreEnv PHP is a minimal, Laravel-style environment variable loader and manager for Core PHP 8+ applications. It provides .env loading, environment merging (local overrides), typed accessors, and simple validation — all without framework dependencies.

Features

• Load .env, .env.{env} and .env.local with override order.
• Populate putenv(), $_ENV and $_SERVER.
• Typed getters: getString, getInt, getBool, getFloat, getArray.
• Require/validate keys via requireVars().
• Small, zero-dependency library for legacy and modern PHP apps.
• Safe default: does not overwrite existing environment entries.

Quick Start

composer require sachin-sanchania/coreenv-php

Example

require 'vendor/autoload.php';
use CoreEnv\Env;

// Initialize (path to folder containing .env files)
$env = Env::getInstance(__DIR__ . '/');

echo $env->getString('APP_NAME', 'MyApp');
echo $env->getBool('APP_DEBUG') ? 'debug' : 'prod';

.env priority & merging

Loader reads files in this order and later files override earlier values:

1. .env (base)
2. .env.{APP_ENV} (e.g. .env.production)
3. .env.local (developer override)

API

• Env::getInstance(string $path = __DIR__ . '/../') — returns singleton instance.
• get(string $key, $default = null)
• getString(string $key, string $default = '')
• getInt(string $key, int $default = 0)
• getFloat(string $key, float $default = 0.0)
• getBool(string $key, bool $default = false)
• getArray(string $key, array $default = [])
• requireVars(array $keys) — throws if missing.

Example project

See example/ for .env, .env.local, .env.prod and a small index.php demonstrating usage.

Security & Best Practices

• Do not commit .env files with secrets to version control. Use .env.example to document variables.
• Keep production .env files outside your webroot, and protect them with correct file permissions.
• For CI/CD or container deployments, prefer server-level environment variables (not files) for secrets.

Contributing

PRs welcome. Please follow coding standards and add tests.

License

MIT