Environments

Hexagon supports multiple environments, allowing you to configure different settings for different contexts (development, staging, production, etc.). This guide explains how to configure and use environments in your CLI.

Defining Environments

Environments are defined in the envs section of your configuration file:

envs:
  - name: development
    alias: dev
    long_name: Development Environment
    description: Used for local development
  - name: staging
    alias: stg
    long_name: Staging Environment
    description: Used for testing before production
  - name: production
    alias: prod
    long_name: Production Environment
    description: Live production environment

Environment Properties

Property	Description	Required
name	The name of the environment	Yes
alias	Short alias for the environment	No
long_name	Longer descriptive name	No
description	Detailed description	No

Environment-Specific Tool Configuration

Many tools need different configurations for different environments. You can specify environment-specific settings using the envs property in a tool configuration:

Web Tool Example

- name: docs
  alias: d
  long_name: Documentation
  description: Open team documentation
  type: web
  envs:
    development: https://docs-dev.example.com
    staging: https://docs-staging.example.com
    production: https://docs.example.com
  action: open_link

In this example, the docs tool will open different URLs depending on the selected environment.

Shell Tool Example

- name: deploy
  alias: dep
  long_name: Deploy Service
  type: shell
  envs:
    development: "echo 'Deploying to development...' && ./scripts/deploy-dev.sh"
    staging: "echo 'Deploying to staging...' && ./scripts/deploy-staging.sh"
    production: "echo 'Deploying to production...' && ./scripts/deploy-prod.sh"

In this example, the deploy tool will run different shell commands depending on the selected environment.

Using Environments

When running your CLI, you can specify an environment using the -e or --env flag:

mycli tool-name -e development

Or using the environment alias:

mycli tool-name -e dev

If no environment is specified, Hexagon will prompt you to select one if the tool has environment-specific configurations.

Default Environment

You can set a default environment by setting the HEXAGON_DEFAULT_ENV environment variable:

export HEXAGON_DEFAULT_ENV=development

This will make Hexagon use the specified environment by default when no environment is explicitly provided.

Best Practices

• Consistent Naming: Use consistent naming conventions for environments
• Clear Aliases: Use short, intuitive aliases for frequently used environments
• Complete Configuration: Ensure all tools have configurations for all relevant environments
• Environment Variables: Use environment variables for sensitive information
• Documentation: Document the purpose and usage of each environment

Next Steps

Learn how to customize the appearance of your CLI with Theming.