Configuration Reference
Wizard is configured through backend/.env (see backend/.env.example in
the core repo for the full, current list with defaults). This page covers
the settings you're most likely to actually need to touch — for the
complete, byte-accurate list, the .env.example file itself is the source
of truth; this page can drift, that file can't.
Providers and models
| Variable | What it does |
|---|
API_PROVIDER | The default provider — not a global switch. You can still assign a different provider per role (manager/worker/vision). |
MODEL_NAME / WORKER_MODEL_NAME / VISION_MODEL_NAME | Empty by default, meaning "use whatever this provider has installed." Setting one pins it. |
DATA_MODE | local-only / cloud-only / hybrid. Empty means "derive it": local-only on a fresh install, cloud-only if API_PROVIDER is already a cloud backend. |
DATA_SCHEMA_ONLY | Defaults on — the conservative redaction option needs no explicit decision. |
OLLAMA_BASE_URL / LMSTUDIO_BASE_URL / OPENAI_BASE_URL / ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL / GATEWAY_API_URL | Provider endpoints. Rewritten from host.docker.internal to 127.0.0.1 automatically when the backend isn't containerized, unless you've set them yourself. |
Execution and sandboxing
| Variable | What it does |
|---|
EXECUTION_BACKEND | host (default, subprocess per session) / docker (container per session) / inprocess (dev/test only). auto and local are older spellings, folded to host. |
HOST_SANDBOX | off / best-effort (default) / require. See Execution & Sandboxing. |
HOST_SANDBOX_NETWORK | deny (default) / allow — outbound only; loopback always works. |
SANDBOX_TIER | core / standard (default) / full — how much of the analysis toolkit the Docker image ships. |
SANDBOX_ENABLED | false disables container creation entirely. |
Agent behavior
| Variable | What it does |
|---|
AGENT_TIER | auto (default, inferred from the manager model's parameter count) / compact / balanced / full. |
AGENT_MAX_ITERATIONS | A hard ceiling above whatever the tier allows — deliberately not auto-derived, since a runaway loop against a paid gateway is a billing incident. |
AGENT_REQUIRE_APPROVAL | Turn plan-approval on. Off by default. |
AGENT_TURN_TIMEOUT | Wall-clock deadline per turn. |
MAX_TOKENS | The ceiling every per-purpose output budget is clamped to — lower this if you're tight on context, not the other way around. |
Host sizing
| Variable | What it does |
|---|
SYSTEM_PROFILE | auto (default) measures your machine at boot and derives thread counts, worker counts, and memory limits from it. |
LLM_NUM_THREAD / LLM_NUM_CTX | Left unset in the shipped example on purpose — setting either in a copied .env defeats the auto-derivation on every machine that copies it. |
Skills
| Variable | What it does |
|---|
SKILLS_BUILTIN_DIR / SKILLS_PROJECT_DIR | Empty by default, meaning "derive it" (the checkout's backend/skills/ and .wizard/skills). The user layer is never configurable — always your platform config directory, so one machine's layout can't leak into .env.example and confuse another. |
SKILLS_REGISTRY_API | Left commented by default (api.github.com is correct for most installs) — set it for GitHub Enterprise. |
What's deliberately not here
Repo/API secrets (model provider API keys, connector credentials) are
resolved from the environment first, then a local credential store — never
logged, never returned by any route. See
Data Modes & Privacy.