Investigate environment drift
Separate configuration candidates from demonstrated runtime overrides.
Question
Where is this configuration declared and read, and do the apparent conflicts belong to the same execution context?
Recipe
loct env-truth
loct env-truth --name APP_MODE --json
loct env-truth --paths deploy/,config/
Use actual variable names and paths. Compare declarations, recognized reads and template drift. The broad report is discovery; the focused queries test whether a candidate survives scoping.
Expected answer shape
Retain the variable name, declaration/read locations, warning class, reader coverage and source scope. Separate production configuration, fixtures, examples and alternative deployments. Check whether summary counters describe the whole repository or the filtered result.
Decision
Select a configuration question to investigate: an undocumented read, a missing template key or a possible competing declaration. To conclude that one value overrides another, establish co-execution and the actual precedence relationship.
Check the interpretation
loct find APP_MODE --literal --group-by-file --limit 40
Read the relevant source bodies through Loctree when necessary. A dynamic key, shell source, generated configuration or wrapper may sit outside recognized read classes. Zero recognized reads does not prove a declaration is unused.
Keep secrets out of shared artifacts. Prefer names, locations and warning classes; do not publish dotenv contents or credential values. Encrypted markers describe format, not decrypted value evidence.
Counterexample
An older declaration in one CI workflow does not necessarily override a newer declaration in another workflow. File modification time is not a secret rotation date. Matching names across two deployments do not prove a runtime collision.
Evidence
The September round found useful live/template key differences and reader gaps. October trials reported fixture/worktree scope noise, filtered/global counter ambiguity and override claims without demonstrated shared execution. These are boundaries to check on the version under test; warnings remain candidates until their execution relationship is established.