Environment variables

Environment variables set for Claude Code subprocess invocations and skill CLI commands.

Core variables

Set for every task:

Variable	Source
ISTOTA_TASK_ID	Task ID
ISTOTA_USER_ID	Task's user ID
ISTOTA_DB_PATH	Database path (admin only)
ISTOTA_CONVERSATION_TOKEN	Talk room token (if set)
ISTOTA_DEFERRED_DIR	Temp directory for deferred JSON writes
ISTOTA_SKILL_PROXY_SOCK	Skill proxy socket path (if proxy enabled)
ISTOTA_CONFIG_PATH	Config file path (propagated to subprocess children so module-skill jobs find the config)
ISTOTA_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURES	CSV of enabled experimental features (config.experimental.features). Injected by every subprocess builder so @requires_feature-gated CLI subcommands and gated skills see the same gate as the LLM path

Nextcloud

Variable	Source
NC_URL	config.nextcloud.url
NC_USER	config.nextcloud.username
NC_PASS	config.nextcloud.app_password
NEXTCLOUD_MOUNT_PATH	config.nextcloud_mount_path (scoped to user dir for non-admin)

CalDAV

Derived from Nextcloud credentials:

Variable	Source
CALDAV_URL	config.nextcloud.url + /remote.php/dav
CALDAV_USERNAME	config.nextcloud.username
CALDAV_PASSWORD	config.nextcloud.app_password

Email

Variable	Source
SMTP_HOST	config.email.smtp_host
SMTP_PORT	config.email.smtp_port
SMTP_USER	config.email.effective_smtp_user
SMTP_PASSWORD	config.email.effective_smtp_password
SMTP_FROM	Plus-addressed: bot+user_id@domain
IMAP_HOST	config.email.imap_host
IMAP_PORT	config.email.imap_port
IMAP_USER	config.email.imap_user
IMAP_PASSWORD	config.email.imap_password

Browser

Variable	Source
BROWSER_API_URL	config.browser.api_url
BROWSER_VNC_URL	config.browser.vnc_url

Service integrations

Every service-integration env var is declared in the consuming skill's skill.md env: block and resolved by build_skill_env() against the per-task EnvContext. Per-user credentials come from the encrypted secrets table (from: "secret"); module-skill subprocesses receive ISTOTA_SECRET_KEY via the proxy so they can decrypt in-process.

Variable	Source	Notes
KARAKEEP_BASE_URL	secrets (karakeep.base_url)	per-user
KARAKEEP_API_KEY	secrets (karakeep.api_key)	per-user, sensitive
MONARCH_SESSION_ID	secrets (monarch.session_id)	per-user, sensitive
MONARCH_CSRFTOKEN	secrets (monarch.csrftoken)	per-user, sensitive
FEEDS_USER	task user_id	declared in the feeds skill.md env spec (from: user_id) and resolved by build_skill_env in every subprocess path (LLM execute_task, skill-task, command-task)
TUMBLR_API_KEY	secrets (feeds.tumblr_api_key)	per-user, sensitive
NTFY_TOPIC / NTFY_SERVER_URL / NTFY_USERNAME	secrets (ntfy.*)	per-user (non-credential)
NTFY_TOKEN / NTFY_PASSWORD	secrets (ntfy.token / ntfy.password)	per-user, sensitive
MONEY_USER	task user_id	the only money env var; config is resolved from the per-user money DB via resolve_for_user. MONEY_CONFIG / MONEY_SECRETS_FILE and the standalone money binary are gone — money is fully istota-native (reachable as istota money …).

Module setup_env hooks

Some module env vars are resolved at runtime by Python hooks rather than static config lookups. These are declared from: "setup_env" in the skill manifest and dispatched by dispatch_setup_env_hooks in the scheduler, command-task, skill-task, and heartbeat paths.

Variable	Source	Notes
HEALTH_DB_PATH	istota.health.resolve_for_user(user_id, config).db_path	per-user; no-op when health module is disabled
LOCATION_DB_PATH	istota.location.resolve_for_user(user_id, config).db_path	per-user; no-op when location module is disabled

Google Workspace

Variable	Source
GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN	OAuth access token from DB (injected via setup_env() hook, auto-refreshed)

Developer

Variable	Source
DEVELOPER_REPOS_DIR	config.developer.repos_dir
GITLAB_URL	config.developer.gitlab_url
GITLAB_DEFAULT_NAMESPACE	config.developer.gitlab_default_namespace
GITLAB_API_CMD	Path to API wrapper script
GITHUB_URL	config.developer.github_url
GITHUB_DEFAULT_OWNER	config.developer.github_default_owner
GITHUB_REVIEWER	config.developer.github_reviewer
GITHUB_API_CMD	Path to API wrapper script
GIT_CONFIG_*	Git credential helpers for HTTPS auth

Website

Variable	Source
WEBSITE_PATH	config.site.base_path
WEBSITE_URL	config.site.hostname

Credential proxy

When skill_proxy_enabled = true, every env var declared with sensitive: true in any skill manifest is stripped from the subprocess environment and injected server-side by the proxy. The set is computed at task time by derive_credential_set(skill_index). Today's set:

• CALDAV_PASSWORD
• NC_PASS
• SMTP_PASSWORD
• IMAP_PASSWORD
• KARAKEEP_API_KEY
• GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLI_TOKEN
• GITLAB_TOKEN
• GITHUB_TOKEN
• MONARCH_SESSION_ID, MONARCH_CSRFTOKEN
• NTFY_TOKEN, NTFY_PASSWORD
• TUMBLR_API_KEY
• ISTOTA_SECRET_KEY — routed to module-skill subprocesses, hard-blocked at the lookup endpoint via _PROXY_LOOKUP_BLOCKED

The proxy injects each credential only into the skill CLIs whose manifest declared it (derive_skill_credential_map). Authorization is based on credential presence in the task env — not skill selection — so any skill whose credentials the user has configured can request them at runtime. See security: credential proxy for the authorization model and rejection logging. See credentials for the full two-tier credential inventory and provisioning guide.

Secret overrides

These env vars override TOML config values (for use with systemd EnvironmentFile=):

Env var	Config field
ISTOTA_NEXTCLOUD_APP_PASSWORD	nextcloud.app_password
ISTOTA_EMAIL_IMAP_PASSWORD	email.imap_password
ISTOTA_EMAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD	email.smtp_password
ISTOTA_DEVELOPER_GITLAB_TOKEN	developer.gitlab_token
ISTOTA_DEVELOPER_GITHUB_TOKEN	developer.github_token
ISTOTA_GOOGLE_WORKSPACE_CLIENT_SECRET	google_workspace.client_secret
ISTOTA_WEB_OAUTH2_CLIENT_SECRET	web.oauth2_client_secret
ISTOTA_WEB_SESSION_SECRET_KEY	web.session_secret_key
ISTOTA_BRAIN_NATIVE_API_KEY	brain.native.api_key (native brain provider key; kept out of TOML)

See credentials for what each override covers and the full env var → config mapping.