Environment Variables

Overview

The VibeKit CLI uses environment variables for configuration, API keys, and integration settings. These can be set in your shell, .env files, or passed directly to commands.

API Keys

AI Agent Keys

Configure API keys for different AI providers:

Variable	Description	Required For
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic API key for Claude	`--agent claude`
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key	`--agent codex`
`GOOGLE_API_KEY`	Google API key	`--agent gemini`
`GROQ_API_KEY`	Groq API key	`--agent opencode`

Example:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-api03-..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export GOOGLE_API_KEY="AIza..."
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_..."

Priority Order

API keys are resolved in this order:

Command line --api-key option
Environment-specific API key variable
Environment variables passed via --env
.env file in current directory

GitHub Integration

Authentication

Variable	Description	Required For
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	Personal access token	PR creation, Git operations
`GITHUB_REPOSITORY`	Repository in `owner/repo` format	PR creation

Example:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
export GITHUB_REPOSITORY="myorg/myrepo"

Token Permissions

Required GitHub token scopes:

repo - Full repository access
write:pull_requests - Create PRs
read:user - Read user profile

Provider Configuration

Dagger (Local Provider)

Variable	Description	Default
`VIBEKIT_PREFER_REGISTRY_IMAGES`	Use Docker Hub images instead of local builds	`false`
`DOCKER_USERNAME`	Docker Hub username for image uploads	None

Example:

export VIBEKIT_PREFER_REGISTRY_IMAGES="true"
export DOCKER_USERNAME="myusername"

Northflank

Variable	Description	Default
`NORTHFLANK_PROJECT_ID`	Default project ID for Northflank	None
`NORTHFLANK_API_TOKEN`	Northflank API token	None

Daytona

Variable	Description	Default
`DAYTONA_WORKSPACE_ID`	Default workspace ID	None
`DAYTONA_API_TOKEN`	Daytona API token	None

E2B

Variable	Description	Default
`E2B_API_KEY`	E2B API key	None
`E2B_TEAM_ID`	E2B team identifier	None

Telemetry

Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
`VIBEKIT_TELEMETRY_ENABLED`	Enable telemetry collection	`false`
`VIBEKIT_TELEMETRY_SESSION_ID`	Custom session ID for telemetry	Auto-generated
`VIBEKIT_TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT`	Telemetry endpoint URL	VibeKit default

Example:

export VIBEKIT_TELEMETRY_ENABLED="true"
export VIBEKIT_TELEMETRY_SESSION_ID="my-session-123"

Default Settings

Resource Allocation

Variable	Description	Default
`VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_CPU`	Default CPU cores for environments	2
`VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY`	Default memory in MB	2048
`VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_DISK`	Default disk space in GB	20

Example:

export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_CPU="4"
export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY="4096"
export VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_DISK="50"

Behavior Settings

Variable	Description	Default
`VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT`	Default AI agent type	None
`VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT`	Default command timeout in ms	30000
`VIBEKIT_AUTO_CLEANUP`	Auto-delete stopped environments	`false`

Development Settings

Debug Options

Variable	Description	Default
`VIBEKIT_DEBUG`	Enable debug logging	`false`
`VIBEKIT_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level (error, warn, info, debug)	`info`
`VIBEKIT_LOG_FILE`	Log output file	None (stdout)

Example:

export VIBEKIT_DEBUG="true"
export VIBEKIT_LOG_LEVEL="debug"
export VIBEKIT_LOG_FILE="/tmp/vibekit.log"

Using .env Files

File Location

The CLI automatically loads .env files from:

Current working directory
Project root (if in a git repository)
Home directory (~/.env)

.env File Format

# .env
# AI API Keys
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# GitHub Integration
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_...
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=owner/repo

# Provider Settings
DOCKER_USERNAME=myusername
NORTHFLANK_PROJECT_ID=proj_123

# Defaults
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=claude
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_MEMORY=4096

# Debug
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

Security Best Practices

Never commit .env files - Add to .gitignore
Use .env.example - Template without secrets
Restrict permissions - chmod 600 .env
Rotate keys regularly - Update API keys periodically

Command-Specific Variables

vibekit init

Additional variables during initialization:

# Skip interactive prompts
export VIBEKIT_INIT_PROVIDERS="Dagger,E2B"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_AGENTS="claude,codex"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_CPU="4"
export VIBEKIT_INIT_MEMORY="4096"

vibekit local create

Override defaults for environment creation:

# Set working directory
export VIBEKIT_WORKING_DIR="/app"

# Set default environment variables
export VIBEKIT_ENV_VARS="NODE_ENV=development,PORT=3000"

Precedence Rules

Environment variables are loaded in this order (later overrides earlier):

System environment variables
~/.env file
Project .env file
Current directory .env file
Command line options

Example:

# System env
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="old-key"

# .env file
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=new-key

# Command line (highest priority)
vibekit local create --api-key "newest-key"

Validation

Checking Variables

View current settings:

# All environment variables
env | grep VIBEKIT

# Specific variable
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# In environment
vibekit local exec -e my-env -c "env | grep API"

Required Variables

Commands will fail with clear messages if required variables are missing:

❌ No API key found for claude agent. 
Set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable or use --api-key

Troubleshooting

Variables Not Loading

# Check if .env exists
ls -la .env

# Verify format
cat .env

# Test loading
source .env
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Permission Issues

# Fix .env permissions
chmod 600 .env

# Check ownership
ls -l .env

Debugging Variable Loading

# Enable debug mode
export VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

# Run command to see variable loading
vibekit local create --name test

Best Practices

1. Use .env.example

Create a template for team members:

# .env.example
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-anthropic-key-here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-key-here
GITHUB_TOKEN=your-github-token-here
GITHUB_REPOSITORY=owner/repo

2. Separate Environments

Use different files for different environments:

# .env.development
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=codex
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=true

# .env.production
VIBEKIT_DEFAULT_AGENT=claude
VIBEKIT_DEBUG=false

3. Security Script

Check for exposed secrets:

#!/bin/bash
# check-secrets.sh
files=".env .env.* *.env"
for file in $files; do
  if [ -f "$file" ]; then
    if grep -q "sk-\|ghp_\|gsk_" "$file"; then
      echo "WARNING: $file might contain secrets"
      ls -la "$file"
    fi
  fi
done

Configuration Files - Other configuration options
Installation - Initial setup and configuration
Quick Reference - Common variable usage

Getting Started

Commands

Local Subcommands

Configuration

​Overview

​API Keys

​AI Agent Keys

​Priority Order

​GitHub Integration

​Authentication

​Token Permissions

​Provider Configuration

​Dagger (Local Provider)

​Northflank

​Daytona

​E2B

​Telemetry

​Configuration

​Default Settings

​Resource Allocation

​Behavior Settings

​Development Settings

​Debug Options

​Using .env Files

​File Location

​.env File Format

​Security Best Practices

​Command-Specific Variables

​vibekit init

​vibekit local create

​Precedence Rules

​Validation

​Checking Variables

​Required Variables

​Troubleshooting

​Variables Not Loading

​Permission Issues

​Debugging Variable Loading

​Best Practices

​1. Use .env.example

​2. Separate Environments

​3. Security Script

​Related Topics

Overview

API Keys

AI Agent Keys

Priority Order

GitHub Integration

Authentication

Token Permissions

Provider Configuration

Dagger (Local Provider)

Northflank

Daytona

E2B

Telemetry

Configuration

Default Settings

Resource Allocation

Behavior Settings

Development Settings

Debug Options

Using .env Files

File Location

.env File Format

Security Best Practices

Command-Specific Variables

vibekit init

vibekit local create

Precedence Rules

Validation

Checking Variables

Required Variables

Troubleshooting

Variables Not Loading

Permission Issues

Debugging Variable Loading

Best Practices

1. Use .env.example

2. Separate Environments

3. Security Script

Related Topics