I built ImpactCheck, a Windows CLI tool that analyzes JSON, XML and .config files and detects risky configuration changes before deployment.
It supports:
- Snapshot creation (--snapshot)
- Diff between versions (diff)
- Policy-based gating (--policy strict)
- JSON output for CI integration (--json)
- DLL analysis (maps loaded DLLs to processes and Windows services)
The idea is simple:
Configuration changes are one of the most common causes of production incidents.
ImpactCheck makes those changes measurable and enforceable.
Hi HN,
I built ImpactCheck, a Windows CLI tool that analyzes JSON, XML and .config files and detects risky configuration changes before deployment.
It supports: - Snapshot creation (--snapshot) - Diff between versions (diff) - Policy-based gating (--policy strict) - JSON output for CI integration (--json) - DLL analysis (maps loaded DLLs to processes and Windows services)
The idea is simple: Configuration changes are one of the most common causes of production incidents. ImpactCheck makes those changes measurable and enforceable.
Example:
impactcheck json appsettings.json --snapshot before.json # modify file impactcheck json appsettings.json --snapshot after.json impactcheck diff before.json after.json --policy strict
If a sensitive value (like a token or connection string) changes, the exit code becomes 1 and can block CI.
It’s currently Windows-focused and distributed as a standalone executable with install script.
Would love feedback on: - Risk patterns I might be missing - CI/CD integration ideas - Real-world config edge cases
Author here.
Happy to answer technical questions. If anyone wants to test it against real-world config files (redacted), I’d really appreciate it.
I’m especially interested in: - enterprise CI usage patterns - config governance workflows - cases where config drift caused outages