[Plugin] EnvVarEditor - GUI editor for Sigil's environment variables

[BeckyEbook]

Updated: November 3, 2025
Current Version: 0.1.12
Status: Stable
Plugin type: edit

Plugin icon:


How it works:
This plugin provides a simple GUI editor for Sigil's env-vars.txt file, which is a new feature introduced in Sigil 2.6.2.
Normally, editing this file requires manual text editing, which can be error-prone. With EnvVarEditor, you can easily view, add, remove, and update supported environment variables directly from within Sigil.

The plugin:

• Lists all known Sigil environment variables with proper input widgets (checkboxes, text fields, spinboxes).
• Supports validation of values (e.g., numeric ranges, valid hex colors).
• Allows removing variables entirely from env-vars.txt if they are not needed.
• Preserves any custom or unknown entries that already exist in the file.
• Prints a short summary of what was written back to the file after saving.

Installation:
1. Select Manage Plugins from the Plugins menu. In the Manage Plugins dialog box, select Use Bundled Python, if it isn't already selected. (If your Sigil version doesn't have a Use Bundled Python option, click one of the Auto buttons to detect the path or Set to manually select the Python interpreter path.)
2. Click Add Plugin and select EnvVarEditor_v0.X.Y.zip. This will install the EnvVarEditor plugin, which you can then run via Plugins > Edit > EnvVarEditor.

Issues:
At this stage no major issues are known. Please report bugs or suggestions in this thread.
Keep in mind that some values will be validated (e.g., integers must be within allowed ranges, colors must be in the format #rrggbb). Invalid values will trigger a warning message and will not be saved until corrected.

OS Requirements:
Windows/Linux/OS X.
Tested on Windows 10 and 11 with Sigil 2.7.0 prerelease. It should also work on Linux and macOS.
*** Linux users will have to make sure that the PySide6 module is present if it's not already. ***

Sigil Requirements:
Minimum version of Sigil: 2.6.2

Credits/Thanks:
DiapDealer, KevinH, Doitsu – for testing and suggestions
mrprobert – for enhancements

License/Copying: GNU LGPL Version 2 or Version 3 your choice. Any other license terms are only available directly from the author in writing.

[BeckyEbook]

Change Log

v0.1.0
- First public release

v0.1.5
- Fixed: Removal of variables from the file that do not have values entered in the dialog box
- Added: Support for unknown environment variables in the env-vars.txt file
- Added: In Sigil older than 2.6.2, informs the user about Sigil environment variables that are currently set in the system

v0.1.6
- Added: Shows the status of Sigil's environment variables that were set in the system outside of the env-vars.txt file when the application was launched

v0.1.7
- Added: Vertical scroll bar

v0.1.8
- Fixed: Improved handling of comments that contain the equal sign

v0.1.9-beta
- Added: New variable SIGIL_ONLY_USE_LANGCODES (Sigil 2.7.0+)

v0.1.10-beta
(Submitted by mrprobert)
- Enhanced: Comprehensive tooltips throughout the interface
- Added informative header with instructions
- Enhanced tooltips for all input widgets with type-specific guidance
- Added tooltips to Save and Cancel buttons
- Enhanced tooltips for variable name labels
- Improved system environment variable warnings
- Enhanced unknown variables section tooltips
- Added scroll area tooltip
- Added default value information to tooltips where applicable
* SIGIL_PREVIEW_TIMEOUT: Shows default of 1000ms
* SIGIL_DRAG_DISTANCE_TWEAK: Shows default of 0
* Boolean variables: Shows "Not set (feature disabled)" as default
* String variables: Shows "Not set (feature not active)" as default

v0.1.11
- Fixed: Values of the SIGIL_PREVIEW_TIMEOUT variable above 1000 were not saved
- Fixed: Window size policy

v0.1.12
- Fixed: Typos and minor issues


Screenshot




Beta version

Currently no beta version available

[DNSB]

Installed and tested. Looks good!

[KevinH]

Added to the Sigil Plugin Index.

[DiapDealer]

It doesn't seem to be preserving my custom variables on Linux. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding.

If I hit the "Save' button in the plugin with none of the displayed variables set, should it be removing all of my custom/unknown variables from the env-vars.txt file? I was expecting the plugin to ignore variables it was unaware of. Happy to adjust if this is the expected behavior. I was just going by:

Preserves any custom or unknown entries that already exist in the file.

I have a QT variable I'd like to leave permanently set, while still being able to use the plugin.

QT_QUICK_BACKEND=software

Also... what are the chances of being able to see (with the plugin) a list of custom/unknown variables that are currently set. No big deal if not. It would just be nice.

[BeckyEbook]

Send me the file via PM and I'll be happy to check it out.
On my Windows, it keeps other entries that exist in this file, so I can keep additional comments for myself, previous qdebug log file names, etc. there.
I can test it on Linux Arch.

[DiapDealer]

I can get you the file if you really need it, but there are literally only 2 entries in it:

QT_QUICK_BACKEND=software
SIGIL_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1

Whenever I make a change using the plugin... clicking Save causes the "QT_QUICK_BACKEND=software" line to be removed.

[BeckyEbook]

Indeed, I improved and improved it, and finally damaged that part.
But I will fix it.

[DiapDealer]

No need to rush on my account. I just wanted to make sure the plugin was intended to ignore all entries it was unaware of. Thanks for the plugin!

[BeckyEbook]

@DiapDealer: Please test the updated version. You should like it.

[DiapDealer]

Clicking 'Save' in 0.1.1 still seems to be deleting any entry that's not in the known list of Sigil env vars on my Linux machine. I'll spin up a Windows VM later today and see if I can see any difference in the behavior.

[BeckyEbook]

Building Sigil on Linux will take some time because I need to update a lot of components. Tests on Windows are promising.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by BeckyEbook

Building Sigil on Linux will take some time because I need to update a lot of components. Tests on Windows are promising.

Would it help if I can get you an AppImage of the most current Sigil?

[KevinH]

The loop in the dlg ignores "existing" that are not recognized in your official sigil list in init and it is not stored anyplace. So the fixup for existing not in your list must come in the run routine.

So in the plugin run routine, you need to walk "existing" and look for any keys not in your sigil list and add them before the save.

No access to computer to check this but this is from eyeballing the 0.1.1 code.

Hope something here helps.

[DiapDealer]

Perhaps there's simply some confusion on expectations here? I might be missing something, but at first glance, I just don't see anything in the plugin's code that would preserve anything other than 1) variables included in the list of Sigil env vars, or 2) lines that start with '#' (commented lines), or 3) empty lines, or 4) lines with no = character in them.

EDIT: Actually, that's not true. I see now where the attempt to preserve custom entries is made. I'm just not sure why it's failing (at least on linux) to do so. Have to do more inspection.