env.template fix

Author: MakerNetwork

.cursorrules

@@ -140,8 +140,10 @@ LLM_STRICT_MODE=false
 # In development, defaults are used with a warning
 LLM_ENCRYPTION_SALT=
 LLM_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD=
-# Alternative: Direct encryption key (if not using salt/password)
-LLM_ENCRYPTION_KEY=  # Used in code
+# Alternative: direct Fernet key (32 url-safe base64 bytes). Leave empty in dev
+# (salt/password KDF above). Do not put inline comments on the same line as the
+# value — with an empty value, python-dotenv can treat "# ..." as the value.
+LLM_ENCRYPTION_KEY=
 
 # Ollama Configuration (for local LLM provider)
 OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434

env.template

@@ -169,7 +169,19 @@ def __init__(self, encryption_key: Optional[str] = None):
             encryption_key: Optional encryption key. If not provided, will use environment variable
                           or generate a new one (not recommended for production)
         """
-        self.encryption_key = encryption_key or os.getenv("LLM_ENCRYPTION_KEY")
+        raw_key = encryption_key or os.getenv("LLM_ENCRYPTION_KEY")
+        if isinstance(raw_key, str):
+            raw_key = raw_key.strip()
+            if raw_key == "":
+                raw_key = None
+            elif raw_key.startswith("#"):
+                # python-dotenv misparses `KEY=  # comment` as value "# comment"
+                logger.warning(
+                    "LLM_ENCRYPTION_KEY looks like a mis-parsed .env comment; "
+                    "ignoring. Put comments on their own line or use a valid Fernet key."
+                )
+                raw_key = None
+        self.encryption_key = raw_key
         self._fernet = None
         self._initialize_encryption()