Baseline comparison
Compares runtime version, OS release, dependency lock, schema revision, timezone and feature-set observations in a fixed order.
Day 050 / DevOps / Environment Review
Environment Drift Checklist
/ Overview
A dependency-free Python CLI that compares six declared environment observations and reports matches, drift and missing evidence without printing observation values.
Two environments may be described as identical while their recorded runtime, dependency or schema observations differ. A useful checklist must distinguish a confirmed difference from absent evidence and avoid publishing the underlying values in routine reports.
/ Provided servicesClear thinking.
Clear thinking.
Practical delivery.
Evidence-aware checklist
Treats absent observations as unverified rather than matched, and reports which snapshot lacks the evidence.
Data-minimized output
Prints only fixed check IDs, states, reasons and counts. Supplied values and unrecognized fields are not echoed.
/ Solution
Environment Drift Checklist validates two bounded local JSON snapshots and compares six fixed observations using exact string equality. It reports per-check states and missing-side reasons, prioritizes drift over unverified evidence, and emits text or JSON with clear exit codes. Unknown fields and observation values are omitted. It does not collect live state, verify freshness or authenticity, compute digests, certify security or change configuration.
/ Impact
Six explicit environment checks
Match, drift and unverified states
Distinct missing-side reasons
Value-free deterministic reports
Exact string comparison
1 MB limit per snapshot
Text and JSON with exit codes
Twelve standard-library tests
Python standard library
Argparse, JSON and Unicode validation implement a dependency-free local CLI with no infrastructure connections.
Defensive input boundaries
Bounds each file and known observation, rejects duplicate JSON keys and control characters, and uses generic input-error messages.
Unittest
Twelve unit and CLI tests cover exact comparisons, missing evidence, precedence, validation, value omission and exit behavior.