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Environment Variables

Configure Dial Code via environment variables.

Authentication

Variable Description Example
OPENAI_API_KEY API key for OpenAI-compatible providers sk-...
OPENAI_BASE_URL API endpoint URL https://api.openai.com/v1
OPENAI_MODEL Model to use gpt-4

Example Setup

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-key-here"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.openai.com/v1"
export OPENAI_MODEL="gpt-4"

Sandbox

Variable Description Values
DIAL_SANDBOX Sandbox mode false, docker, podman
GEMINI_SANDBOX Alias for DIAL_SANDBOX Same as above

Docker Sandbox

export DIAL_SANDBOX=docker

Podman Sandbox

export DIAL_SANDBOX=podman

Debug

Variable Description Values
DEBUG Enable debug output 1, true
VERBOSE Verbose logging 1, true
DEBUG_TELEMETRY Debug telemetry 1, true

Enable Debug Mode

export DEBUG=1
dial

Display

Variable Description Values
NO_COLOR Disable colors 1, true
FORCE_COLOR Force colors 1, true
TERM Terminal type xterm-256color, etc.

Disable Colors

export NO_COLOR=1

Development

Variable Description Values
DEV Development mode true
NODE_ENV Node environment development, production

Development Mode

export DEV=true
npm start

Provider-Specific

Qwen

Variable Description
(Uses OAuth) No environment variables needed

OpenAI

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export OPENAI_MODEL="gpt-4"

Anthropic

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.anthropic.com/v1"
export OPENAI_MODEL="claude-3-opus-20240229"

Ollama

export OPENAI_BASE_URL="http://localhost:11434/v1"
export OPENAI_MODEL="llama3"

OpenRouter

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
export OPENAI_MODEL="openai/gpt-4"
Variable Description
TAVILY_API_KEY Tavily search API key
GOOGLE_API_KEY Google search API key
GOOGLE_CSE_ID Google Custom Search Engine ID

.env File

Create a .env file in your project root:

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4
DIAL_SANDBOX=false

Dial Code automatically loads .env files from:

  1. Current directory
  2. .dial/.env
  3. ~/.dial/.env

Precedence

Environment variables take precedence over settings files:

  1. Environment variables (highest)
  2. Project settings (.dial/settings.json)
  3. Global settings (~/.dial/settings.json)

CLI flags override everything.

Security Notes

Don't Commit API Keys

Add to .gitignore:

.env
.dial/

Use Secret Management

For CI/CD, use your platform's secret management:

  • GitHub Actions: Repository secrets
  • GitLab: CI/CD variables
  • Docker: Build secrets

Next Steps