ENV-005 recommended environment-config

Dev environment has verbose logging

Dev mode enabled, debug/verbose logging, stack traces visible for debugging

Question to ask

"Are stack traces visible locally, or are devs debugging blind?"

Verification guide

Severity: Recommended

Check automatically:

  1. Check dev workflow for environment mode:

    grep -A 20 -i "dev\|preview" .github/workflows/*.yml | grep -i "NODE_ENV\|RAILS_ENV\|APP_ENV\|LOG_LEVEL\|DEBUG"
    
  2. Check for debug/verbose flags:

    grep -r "LOG_LEVEL\|DEBUG\|VERBOSE" .github/workflows/*.yml | grep -i "dev\|preview"
    
  3. Check platform configs for dev environment variables:

    grep -r "LOG_LEVEL\|DEBUG" vercel.json fly.toml railway.toml 2>/dev/null
    

Ask user:

  • Is dev mode explicitly enabled in dev environments?
  • What logging level is configured? (debug, verbose, info)
  • Are stack traces visible in dev?

Pass criteria:

  • Dev environment runs in development mode (NODE_ENV=development or equivalent)
  • Verbose/debug logging enabled
  • Stack traces visible for debugging

Fail criteria:

  • Dev environment runs in production mode (defeats purpose of dev)
  • Logging too minimal to debug issues

Evidence to capture:

  • Environment mode setting
  • Log level configured
  • Debug features enabled (stack traces, source maps, etc.)

Cross-reference with:

  • ENV-003 (dev exists)
  • ENV-004 (contrast with staging in prod mode)
  • ENV-007 (prod has minimal logging - opposite)

Section

04. Environments

Infrastructure & Setup