Keep your .env file out of what your coding agent deploys
Jack Ellis responded to a developer who said "Codex published my env file to Cloudflare pages" with a reminder that you published it and should not blindly trust LLMs with everything.
Source
@JackEllis on X · 2026-10-16
Written in our own words. Credit to the original author. Link checked 2026-10-23.
What they did
Jack Ellis responded to a developer who said "Codex published my env file to Cloudflare pages" with a reminder that you published it and should not blindly trust LLMs with everything.
Result (as claimed)
Check what your agent includes in a deploy before it goes public, and keep secrets out of the deploy folder.
Tools they used
Cost: OpenAI Codex: free plan, paid from $8/mo. Checked 2026-10-14.
Set it up
Pick a contained repo or task
Start on a branch or side project where mistakes are cheap.
Install and configure
Set up OpenAI Codex, Cloudflare Pages. Read what it can run on your machine and limit permissions where possible.
Run it on a real task
Give it a well-scoped issue and let it work. Review the diff like any pull request.
Add guardrails
Keep tests and CI in the loop, and never let an agent push to main or touch production secrets unattended.
Copy the full setup prompt
Paste into your agent and it will walk you through the setup, asking before anything that sends, posts or spends.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Claude Code. Goal: Keep your .env file out of what your coding agent deploys What the original author did: Jack Ellis responded to a developer who said "Codex published my env file to Cloudflare pages" with a reminder that you published it and should not blindly trust LLMs with everything. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Check what your agent includes in a deploy before it goes public, and keep secrets out of the deploy folder. Source: https://x.com/JackEllis/status/2111172246672675060 Tools they used: OpenAI Codex, Cloudflare Pages Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Codex. Goal: Keep your .env file out of what your coding agent deploys What the original author did: Jack Ellis responded to a developer who said "Codex published my env file to Cloudflare pages" with a reminder that you published it and should not blindly trust LLMs with everything. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Check what your agent includes in a deploy before it goes public, and keep secrets out of the deploy folder. Source: https://x.com/JackEllis/status/2111172246672675060 Tools they used: OpenAI Codex, Cloudflare Pages Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Grok Bot. Goal: Keep your .env file out of what your coding agent deploys What the original author did: Jack Ellis responded to a developer who said "Codex published my env file to Cloudflare pages" with a reminder that you published it and should not blindly trust LLMs with everything. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Check what your agent includes in a deploy before it goes public, and keep secrets out of the deploy folder. Source: https://x.com/JackEllis/status/2111172246672675060 Tools they used: OpenAI Codex, Cloudflare Pages Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
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Guides for this use case
How to share passwords and logins with an AI agent safely · How to compare AI models on the same prompt · How to run multiple coding agents together
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