[BUG]: varlock/auto-load succeeds silently with no .env.schema, while load and run fail #1143

varlock version

1.21.0

Steps to reproduce

In a directory with varlock installed but no .env.schema:

t.ts:

import "varlock/auto-load";
import { ENV } from "varlock/env";
console.log("API_URL =", (ENV as any).API_URL);

1. varlock load
2. varlock run -- sh -c 'echo child ran'
3. bun t.ts

What is expected?

All three fail the same way, since there is nothing to load or validate.

What is actually happening?

1 and 2 exit 1 with "Run varlock init to create a .env.schema file, or use --path to specify a file or directory."

3 exits 0 and prints API_URL = undefined. varlock/auto-load succeeds silently, so validation is skipped and every ENV value is undefined.

Real ways to end up there: starting the app from a different working directory than the schema's, a monorepo package run from its own folder, or a build or archive that leaves the .env* files out (for example through export-ignore in .gitattributes). The app then starts with no config and fails later, far from the cause.

Suggested fix: make auto-load fail (or at least warn loudly) when no schema is found, like load and run, with an explicit opt-out for setups that rely on it.

System Info

macOS 27.0 (arm64)
Node v24.21.0
Bun 1.4.2
varlock 1.21.0

Any additional comments?

Found when a source-archive build ran with every value undefined because the archive excluded the schema files.