Env Reference · RoboCo Docs

This is the canonical list of every ROBOCO_* setting. They are all read by a single Pydantic-Settings class (roboco/config.py), loaded from the process environment and .env, prefixed with ROBOCO_, and case-insensitive. Most have a working default; the few that don't, and the ones the orchestrator refuses to start without, are flagged below.

You rarely set most of these

For a working deploy you set the two required secrets, the host paths, and maybe a feature flag or two. The long tables here exist so that when you do need to tune a timeout or a window, you can find it. The defaults shown are RoboCo's config defaults; a few compose-only defaults differ and are called out.

A feature flag set in .env takes effect on the next backend restart. The env-gated subsystems can also be toggled from the panel's Settings → Feature Flags card, which persists to the settings store and overrides the env default; an unset toggle falls back to the env/config default. See the Optional capabilities section for what each subsystem does.

Required secrets

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	(empty — required)	Fernet key encrypting every per-project git token at rest. The orchestrator refuses to start without it (compose `:?` guard). Generate with `python -c 'from cryptography.fernet import Fernet; print(Fernet.generate_key().decode())'`. Keep it stable — losing it makes stored tokens undecryptable.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_AUTH_SECRET`	(empty — required for compose)	HMAC secret signing the per-agent `X-Agent-Token`. Generate with `python -c 'import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))'`.

Security & auth

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_AGENT_AUTH_REQUIRED`	`false`	Fail-closed secure mode. When `true`, every API call must carry a valid token. Requires `ROBOCO_PANEL_AGENT_TOKEN` to keep the panel working. On a trusted LAN, leave `false` (header-trust mode).
`ROBOCO_PANEL_AGENT_TOKEN`	(empty)	The CEO token nginx injects as `X-Agent-Token` on `/api` and `/ws` in secure mode, so the panel works without the browser holding the signing secret. Generate with `make panel-token`.

Application & API server

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_APP_VERSION`	`0.9.0`	Reported app version.
`ROBOCO_DEBUG`	`false`	Debug mode.
`ROBOCO_ENVIRONMENT`	`development`	One of `development` / `staging` / `production`. Selects the JSON log renderer (prod) vs console renderer. The compose stack sets `production`.
`ROBOCO_HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	Bind address. Use `0.0.0.0` in containers.
`ROBOCO_PORT`	`8000`	API port.
`ROBOCO_API_URL`	(unset)	Override base URL for containerized agents (e.g. `http://roboco-orchestrator:8000`); otherwise built from host/port.
`ROBOCO_CORS_ORIGINS`	`["http://localhost:3000","http://localhost:5173"]`	Allowed CORS origins. The single-origin nginx setup means you rarely change this.
`ROBOCO_CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS`	`true`	Whether CORS allows credentials.
`ROBOCO_PUBLIC_BASE_URL`	`http://127.0.0.1:8000`	Reachable base URL embedded in commit-trailer links — set to your LAN IP or domain so the links resolve.

Database

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_HOST`	`localhost`	Postgres host (`roboco-postgres` in compose).
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_PORT`	`5432`	Postgres port.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_USER`	`roboco`	Postgres user.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_PASSWORD`	`roboco`	Postgres password — change it for any real deployment.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_NAME`	`roboco`	Database name.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_ECHO`	`false`	Log every SQL statement.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_POOL_SIZE`	`10`	Connection pool size.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_MAX_OVERFLOW`	`20`	Extra connections beyond the pool.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_POOL_TIMEOUT`	`10`	Seconds to wait for a pooled connection.
`ROBOCO_DATABASE_POOL_RECYCLE`	`1800`	Recycle a connection after this many seconds.

Redis

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_REDIS_HOST`	`localhost`	Redis host (`roboco-redis` in compose).
`ROBOCO_REDIS_PORT`	`6379`	Redis port.
`ROBOCO_REDIS_DB`	`0`	Redis logical DB.
`ROBOCO_REDIS_PASSWORD`	(unset)	Optional Redis password.

RAG, embeddings & Ollama

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_RAG_PERSIST_DIR`	`.roboco`	Local RAG persistence dir.
`ROBOCO_RAG_CHUNK_STRATEGY`	`fixed`	One of `fixed` / `semantic` / `hierarchical` / `contextual`. `fixed` recommended; `semantic` loads an extra model.
`ROBOCO_RAG_CHUNK_SIZE`	`512`	Base chunk size.
`ROBOCO_RAG_CHUNK_SIZE_DOCS`	`1536`	Chunk size for docs.
`ROBOCO_RAG_CHUNK_SIZE_JOURNALS`	`1024`	Chunk size for journals/reflections.
`ROBOCO_RAG_CHUNK_OVERLAP`	`128`	Chunk overlap.
`ROBOCO_RAG_AUTO_UPDATE_ENABLED`	`true`	Whether the RAG index auto-refreshes.
`ROBOCO_RAG_AUTO_UPDATE_INTERVAL`	`300`	Seconds between auto-updates.
`ROBOCO_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	(unset)	Optional Anthropic key. Agents use the mounted Claude Code auth, not a metered key.
`ROBOCO_DEFAULT_EMBEDDING_MODEL`	`qwen3-embedding:0.6b`	Embedding model (1024-dim).
`ROBOCO_EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS`	`1024`	Embedding dimensions — must match the model.
`ROBOCO_LOCAL_LLM_MODEL`	`glm-5:cloud`	Local LLM for RAG answer synthesis.
`ROBOCO_LOCAL_LLM_BASE_URL`	`http://roboco-ollama:11434/v1`	Ollama OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
`ROBOCO_OLLAMA_BASE_URL`	`http://roboco-ollama:11434`	Ollama native endpoint (embeddings, model management).

Workspaces & git timeouts

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACES_ROOT`	`/data/workspaces`	Root for all agent git clones.
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_AUTO_CLONE`	`true`	Auto-clone a repo on first workspace access.
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_CLONE_TIMEOUT`	`300`	Seconds for a `git clone`.
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_REFRESH_FETCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`60`	Timeout for the best-effort `git fetch` on re-entry into a healthy clone.
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_INSTALL_DEV_DEPS`	`true`	After cloning, install the project's dev dependencies into the workspace so `make quality` runs without re-downloading tooling.
`ROBOCO_WORKSPACE_DEP_INSTALL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`600`	Timeout for that post-clone dependency install.
`ROBOCO_GIT_COMMAND_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`30`	Timeout for a single local git subprocess (status, log, checkout).
`ROBOCO_GIT_COMMIT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`180`	Timeout for staging + committing a changeset.
`ROBOCO_GIT_NETWORK_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`120`	Timeout for git ops that talk to origin (fetch / pull / push).
`ROBOCO_PROTECTED_GIT_URLS`	(empty)	Repo URL substrings a project may not point at — blocks agent commits/merges from reaching a protected repo.
`ROBOCO_SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`3600`	Idle seconds before a messaging session is swept closed.

Agent images (spawn source)

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_AGENT_IMAGE_REGISTRY`	(empty)	Registry namespace for pre-built agent images (e.g. `ghcr.io/rennf93`). Empty = build locally. The registry compose wires this to `ROBOCO_REGISTRY`.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_IMAGE_TAG`	(empty)	Tag for pre-built agent images (e.g. `0.9.0`). Empty = implicit `:latest`. The registry compose wires this to `ROBOCO_VERSION`.

Deploy-time variables (compose, not config.py)

A few variables are consumed by the compose files and host-mount wiring rather than by config.py: ROBOCO_REGISTRY, ROBOCO_VERSION, ROBOCO_DATA_DIR, ROBOCO_HOST_PROJECT_DIR, ROBOCO_HOST_CLAUDE_DIR / CLAUDE_AUTH_DIR, ROBOCO_HOST_DATA_DIR, and ROBOCO_HOST_GROK_DIR. They are documented in the production deploy reference.

Transcript retention

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_TRANSCRIPT_RETENTION_DAYS`	`14`	Days to keep agent Claude Code transcripts. A stored panel setting overrides this default.
`ROBOCO_TRANSCRIPT_PRUNE_ENABLED`	`true`	Whether the background sweep prunes old transcripts.
`ROBOCO_TRANSCRIPT_PRUNE_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`3600`	Minimum seconds between prune passes.

Spawn pacing, SLAs & reaper windows

The orchestrator's dispatcher uses these to pace spawns, detect loops, and reclaim stuck work. Defaults are tuned for real LLM latency — raise the reaper windows (not lower) if long agent tasks are being reaped mid-work.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_AGENT_TOOL_CALL_WARN`	`50`	Soft warning threshold for per-session tool calls.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_TOOL_CALL_HALT`	`150`	Hard cap on per-session tool calls; the orchestrator stops the container.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_LOOP_THRESHOLD`	`3`	Identical tool+args repeats in the window that flag a loop.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_LOOP_WINDOW`	`10`	How many recent tool calls to inspect for loop detection.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_STOP_ATTEMPT_ALLOWANCE`	`1`	Stop-without-terminal attempts before auto-substitute.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_SLA_DEVELOPER_IN_PROGRESS`	`7200`	SLA (s) for a developer in `in_progress`.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_SLA_DEVELOPER_VERIFYING`	`1800`	SLA (s) for a developer in `verifying`.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_SLA_QA_CLAIMED`	`1800`	SLA (s) for QA on a claimed review.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_SLA_DOCUMENTER_CLAIMED`	`3600`	SLA (s) for a documenter on a claimed task.
`ROBOCO_AGENT_SLA_CELL_PM_CLAIMED`	`14400`	SLA (s) for a cell PM on a claimed task.
`ROBOCO_CLAIM_STALE_SECONDS`	`180`	Claim-heartbeat staleness used by the spawn trigger filter.
`ROBOCO_STALE_CLAIM_REAP_SECONDS`	`600`	Reaper-only stale-claim threshold before releasing a claim back to pending.
`ROBOCO_PM_CLOSURE_RECENTLY_PAUSED_SECONDS`	`45`	Debounce before respawning a PM to close a recently paused parent.
`ROBOCO_GROK_IDLE_KILL_SECONDS`	`900`	Idle-container kill threshold for Grok agents (they emit no SDK heartbeat).
`ROBOCO_GROK_MAX_COST_USD`	`0.0`	Per-agent Grok cost ceiling (USD) before kill; `0` disables.
`ROBOCO_INTERACTIVE_IDLE_REAP_SECONDS`	`1800`	Idle-reap threshold for live intake/secretary chats; `0` disables.
`ROBOCO_CLAIMED_NO_AGENT_GRACE_SECONDS`	`120`	Grace window before respawning/releasing a claimed task with no running agent.
`ROBOCO_PM_DECISION_WINDOW_SECONDS`	`300`	Recency window for a PM `journal:decision` to satisfy gating verbs.
`ROBOCO_SPAWN_COOLDOWN_SECONDS`	`60`	Per-task spawn-rate cooldown.
`ROBOCO_ROLE_SPAWN_RATE_PER_MINUTE`	`6`	Per-role spawn-rate limit per minute.

Gateway: manifests & tracing-gate minimums

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_MANIFEST_HOST_DIR`	`/app/manifests`	Orchestrator dir where per-agent tool manifests are written; must be a host-bind-mounted path so the daemon can mount each manifest into its agent.
`ROBOCO_QA_NOTES_MIN_CHARS`	`80`	Minimum characters for QA notes.
`ROBOCO_DOCS_NOTES_MIN_CHARS`	`20`	Minimum characters for docs notes.
`ROBOCO_DEV_NOTES_MIN_CHARS`	`40`	Minimum characters for a developer's `dev_notes`.
`ROBOCO_PR_REVIEWER_NOTES_MIN_CHARS`	`40`	Minimum characters for a PR reviewer's notes.
`ROBOCO_QUICK_CONTEXT_MIN_CHARS`	`30`	Minimum characters for a PM's `quick_context` resumption section.
`ROBOCO_COMMIT_SUBJECT_MIN_CHARS`	`20`	Minimum characters for a commit subject.
`ROBOCO_COMMIT_BANNED_WORDS`	`wip,tmp,asdf,oops,fix,update,change,stuff,things`	Banned single-word commit subjects.

Grok runtime

Only relevant if you run any agent on Grok. See the models section for the full runtime.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_HOST_GROK_DIR`	`/home/renzof/.grok` (compose)	Host `~/.grok` SuperGrok auth dir; mounted read-write into the orchestrator (token auto-refresh) and read-only into Grok agents. The same value is both the source and target path.
`ROBOCO_GROK_AGENT_IMAGE`	`roboco-agent-grok:latest`	Image the orchestrator spawns for Grok agents.
`ROBOCO_GROK_CLI_MODEL`	`grok-build`	Grok CLI model id.
`ROBOCO_GROK_REASONING_EFFORT`	(empty)	`low`/`medium`/`high`/`xhigh`/`max` for all Grok agents; empty keeps the model default.
`ROBOCO_GROK_MAX_TURNS`	`200`	Hard ceiling on agentic turns per Grok run (loop guard).
`ROBOCO_GROK_IDLE_KILL_SECONDS`	`900`	(see reaper table) Idle-kill window for a wedged Grok container.
`ROBOCO_GROK_MAX_COST_USD`	`0.0`	(see reaper table) Per-agent Grok cost ceiling.

Optional subsystem flags (default-off unless noted)

These gate the env-toggled capabilities. Each is inert when off. See Optional capabilities.

Web research — default on

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_ENABLED`	`true`	Master switch for web research. When `false`, the search MCP is not mounted into any agent.
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_PROVIDER`	`tavily`	`tavily` / `brave` / `exa` / `null`.
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_API_KEY`	(unset)	Provider key — server-side only, never reaches an agent. Unset = empty-result null provider.
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_MAX_RESULTS`	`5`	Cap on results per search (1–20).
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_FETCH_MAX_CHARS`	`20000`	Cap on extracted characters per fetch.
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`15.0`	Per-request outbound timeout.
`ROBOCO_RESEARCH_DAILY_QUOTA_PER_AGENT`	`50`	Search+fetch calls per agent per UTC day.

GitHub repo provisioning — default on (inert without token/org)

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_PROVISIONING_ENABLED`	`true`	Master switch for pitch auto-provisioning. Inert with no token/org regardless.
`ROBOCO_PROVISIONING_TOKEN`	(empty)	GitHub PAT (repo + org admin) used to create repos — server-side only.
`ROBOCO_PROVISIONING_ORG`	(empty)	GitHub org where new repos are created.
`ROBOCO_GITHUB_API_BASE_URL`	`https://api.github.com`	Override for GitHub Enterprise.
`ROBOCO_PROVISIONING_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	`30.0`	Per-request provisioning timeout.
`ROBOCO_PROVISIONING_REPO_PRIVATE`	`true`	Whether provisioned repos are private.

Architectural conventions — off (config) / on (compose)

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_CONVENTIONS_ENABLED`	`false` (config) / `true` (compose)	Master switch for the per-project conventions standard (scaffold, ambient injection, baseline constraints, gate enforcement). The compose orchestrator block defaults this on (left off in `docker-compose.registry.yml`); fully inert when off.

Toolchain matching — default off

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_TOOLCHAIN_MATCH_ENABLED`	`false` (config) / `true` (compose)	Provision the agent workspace with the target project's Python and block delivery gates when the suite can't run. The compose orchestrator block defaults this on.

Provider overload break — default on

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_OVERLOAD_BREAK_ENABLED`	`true`	Park a provider on a persistent overload (HTTP 529/500/503) the way a 429 is parked, instead of crash-retrying.
`ROBOCO_GATEWAY_HEALTH_ENABLED`	`true`	Probe a stale-heartbeat-but-live agent's gateway and kill + respawn it when the gateway is broken (a corrupted `/app` venv firing no verb), instead of the reaper protecting it forever. Off => spare live containers on verb-heartbeat liveness alone.
`ROBOCO_GATEWAY_HEALTH_GRACE_SECONDS`	`180`	How long an agent gateway may probe as broken before recovery — tolerates a transient probe miss.
`ROBOCO_IMAGE_PRUNE_ENABLED`	`true`	Background sweep prunes dangling (`<none>`) Docker images left by agent-image rebuilds, throttled ~6h. Only dangling images are removed — a tagged image or one backing a running container is never touched. Not a feature flag; disable to manage image cleanup yourself.

Strategy engine — default off

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_STRATEGY_ENGINE_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for the autonomous strategy engine (notify-only). When off the loop never runs.
`ROBOCO_STRATEGY_ENGINE_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`1800`	Seconds between assessment passes.
`ROBOCO_STRATEGY_STRANDED_BLOCKED_MINUTES`	`120`	A task blocked longer than this is surfaced as stranded.

External / internal PR review — default off

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_EXTERNAL_PR_ENABLED`	`false` (config) / `true` (compose)	Master switch for inbound external/fork PR review. The compose orchestrator block defaults this on.
`ROBOCO_EXTERNAL_PR_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`300`	Seconds between inbound external-PR discovery passes.
`ROBOCO_EXTERNAL_PR_AUTHOR_ALLOWLIST`	(empty)	GitHub usernames auto-trusted. Empty = every external PR needs human confirmation.
`ROBOCO_EXTERNAL_PR_REQUIRE_HUMAN_CONFIRM`	`true`	Require explicit human confirmation before any agent fetches/checks-out/executes external code.
`ROBOCO_INTERNAL_PR_ENABLED`	`false`	Also review org-repo (non-fork) PRs not tied to an active task.

Self-healing CI loop — default off

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for the self-heal loop (detect + notify the CEO). When off the loop never runs.
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_PROJECT_SLUG`	(empty) / `roboco-api` (compose)	The registered project that is RoboCo itself — the only repo the loop watches/originates into.
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_CI_WORKFLOW`	`ci.yml`	GitHub Actions workflow file to scope the CI signal to.
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_ORIGINATE_ENABLED`	`false`	Second opt-in: on a regression, also open a fix task and dispatch it to the Main PM automatically (no manual start). The loop never merges or deploys — the fix ships through the normal gates (QA, PR review, your merge).
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`1800`	Seconds between telemetry passes.
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_MAX_OPEN_TASKS`	`3`	Rolling cap on concurrently-open self-heal tasks.
`ROBOCO_SELF_HEAL_MAX_PER_CYCLE`	`1`	Max self-heal tasks originated in one cycle.

Multi-repo CI-watch — default off

The global switch arms the engine; each project opts in via ci_watch_enabled (+ optional ci_watch_workflow) in the edit-project dialog.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_CI_WATCH_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for watching opted-in projects' CI. When off the engine never runs and no CI telemetry is fetched.
`ROBOCO_CI_WATCH_DEFAULT_WORKFLOW`	`ci.yml`	Workflow file to scope the CI signal to when a project sets no `ci_watch_workflow` of its own.
`ROBOCO_CI_WATCH_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`1800`	Seconds between CI-watch passes.
`ROBOCO_CI_WATCH_MAX_OPEN_TASKS`	`3`	Rolling cap on concurrently-open CI-watch fix tasks per repo.
`ROBOCO_CI_WATCH_MAX_PER_CYCLE`	`1`	Max CI-watch fix tasks opened in one cycle.

Dependency-update bot — default off

The global switch arms the engine; each project opts in via dep_update_command (+ optional dep_update_paths) in the edit-project dialog. Detection is read-only — the command runs in a throwaway clone and only the lockfiles are diffed; the real repo is never mutated.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_DEP_UPDATE_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for the dependency-update bot. When off nothing runs and no throwaway clone is made.
`ROBOCO_DEP_UPDATE_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`604800`	Seconds between dependency-update passes (default weekly).
`ROBOCO_DEP_UPDATE_MAX_OPEN_TASKS`	`3`	Rolling cap on concurrently-open update-dependencies tasks per repo.
`ROBOCO_DEP_UPDATE_MAX_PER_CYCLE`	`1`	Max update-dependencies tasks opened in one cycle.

Gated release manager (default-off)

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_RELEASE_MANAGER_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for the gated release manager. When off the loop never runs and no release is proposed. Even on it only PROPOSES — the CEO approves before any publish.
`ROBOCO_RELEASE_MIN_COMMITS`	`8`	Minimum unreleased commits since the last tag before a release is proposed (a feat/security change also qualifies).
`ROBOCO_RELEASE_MANAGER_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	`3600`	Seconds between release-readiness assessment passes.

Organizational memory loop (default-off)

Variable	Default	Purpose
`ROBOCO_ORG_MEMORY_ENABLED`	`false`	Master switch for the org-memory loop. When off: legacy completion capture, no auto-inject, no playbook curation verbs.
`ROBOCO_ORG_MEMORY_TOP_K`	`3`	Max institutional-memory items injected into a briefing on claim.
`ROBOCO_ORG_MEMORY_MIN_SCORE`	`0.6`	Cosine-similarity floor for injected memory; below it, nothing is injected.

Production deploy — compose files, host mounts, secure mode, startup.
Optional capabilities — what each flag above turns on.
Settings panel — toggling flags from the UI instead of .env.