VSCode Extension: Improve Environment Variable Resolution in config.yaml for Connection Credentials

[SebZbp]

SQLMesh Version: 0.226.0

Description:

The SQLMesh VSCode extension currently has limited support for environment variables referenced in config.yaml using the {{ env_var('...') }} syntax, particularly for Snowflake connection credentials like private keys and passphrases.

Current Behavior:

When using environment variable references in config.yaml for Snowflake private key authentication:

gateways:
  snowflake:
    connection:
      type: snowflake
      account: my_account
      user: my_user
      private_key_path: "{{ env_var('SNOWFLAKE_KEY_PATH') }}"
      private_key_passphrase: "{{ env_var('SNOWFLAKE_KEY_PASSPHRASE') }}"

• ✅ Terminal/CLI: Works perfectly with sqlmesh plan, sqlmesh run, etc.
• ❌ VSCode Extension: Fails with connection errors, requiring hardcoded paths instead

Error Message:

Error: Invalid 'snowflake' connection config: Value error, Could not deserialize key data. The data may be in an incorrect format, it may be encrypted with an unsupported algorithm, or it may be an unsupported key type (e.g. EC curves with explicit parameters). Details: ASN.1 parsing error: invalid length Verify your config.yaml and environment variables.

Workaround:

Currently, the only reliable solution is to use hardcoded private_key_path values instead of environment variables:

private_key_path: /absolute/path/to/key.p8

Expected Behavior:

The VSCode extension should resolve environment variables in config.yaml the same way the CLI does, allowing users to:

• Keep sensitive paths and credentials out of version control
• Use the same configuration across different environments
• Maintain parity between CLI and extension functionality

Additional Context:

According to the documentation, the extension does support environment variables through:[1]

• .env files in the project root
• Opening VSCode from a terminal with vars set
• Shell configuration files

However, the {{ env_var('...') }} syntax in YAML config appears to not be properly resolved by the language server process.

Proposed Solution:

Enhance the VSCode extension's language server to properly resolve {{ env_var('...') }} references in config.yaml with the same precedence as the CLI, possibly by:

1. Loading environment variables earlier in the language server initialization
2. Improving error messages to indicate when env vars are unavailable
3. Adding a command like "SQLMesh: Validate Environment Variables" to debug config issues

Environment:

• SQLMesh version: 0.226.0
• Platform: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS

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