Environment Variables

Configure your Chiro AI instance behavior through environment variables. Achiral supports both predefined system variables and custom application variables.

Setting Environment Variables

Via Dashboard

Navigate to Configuration → Environment Variables
Click Add Variable
Enter the variable name and value
Click Save
Restart your Chiro instance to apply changes

Via API

curl -X POST https://api.achiral.ai/v1/organizations/{org_id}/env \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "variables": {
      "LOG_LEVEL": "DEBUG",
      "MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS": "100"
    }
  }'

System Variables

Core Configuration

`MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS`

Maximum number of simultaneous inference requests.

Default: Varies by plan tier (5/20/100 for Spark/Seed/Scale)
Type: Integer
Range: 1-1000
Example: MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=100

`REQUEST_TIMEOUT`

Maximum time (in seconds) to process a single request.

Default: 120
Type: Integer
Range: 10-600
Example: REQUEST_TIMEOUT=60

`MODEL_CACHE_DIR`

Directory for cached model files and weights.

Default: /var/lib/chiro/models
Type: String (path)
Example: MODEL_CACHE_DIR=/mnt/storage/models

`WORKER_PROCESSES`

Number of inference worker processes.

Default: Auto (based on plan tier)
Type: Integer
Range: 1-16
Example: WORKER_PROCESSES=4

Logging Configuration

`LOG_LEVEL`

Logging verbosity level.

Default: INFO
Type: String
Options: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL
Example: LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG

`LOG_FORMAT`

Format for log output.

Default: json
Type: String
Options: json, text, structured
Example: LOG_FORMAT=json

`LOG_DESTINATION`

Where to send logs.

Default: stdout
Type: String
Options: stdout, file, syslog, cloudwatch
Example: LOG_DESTINATION=file

`LOG_FILE_PATH`

Path to log file (when LOG_DESTINATION=file).

Default: /var/log/chiro/app.log
Type: String (path)
Example: LOG_FILE_PATH=/mnt/logs/chiro.log

Model Configuration

`DEFAULT_MODEL`

Default model to use when not specified in requests.

Default: None (must be specified in request)
Type: String
Example: DEFAULT_MODEL=mistral-7b-instruct

`MODEL_AUTO_DOWNLOAD`

Automatically download models from Hugging Face Hub.

Default: true
Type: Boolean
Example: MODEL_AUTO_DOWNLOAD=false

`MAX_MODEL_SIZE_GB`

Maximum allowed model size in gigabytes.

Default: Varies by plan tier
Type: Integer
Example: MAX_MODEL_SIZE_GB=50

`MODEL_QUANTIZATION`

Default quantization mode for models.

Default: none
Type: String
Options: none, int8, int4, gptq, awq
Example: MODEL_QUANTIZATION=int8

API Configuration

`API_PORT`

Port number for the API server.

Default: 8000
Type: Integer
Range: 1024-65535
Example: API_PORT=9000

`API_HOST`

Host address to bind the API server.

Default: 0.0.0.0
Type: String (IP address)
Example: API_HOST=127.0.0.1

`API_KEY_REQUIRED`

Require API key for all requests.

Default: true
Type: Boolean
Example: API_KEY_REQUIRED=true

`CORS_ORIGINS`

Allowed CORS origins (comma-separated).

Default: *
Type: String
Example: CORS_ORIGINS=https://app.example.com,https://admin.example.com

`RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS`

Maximum requests per minute per API key.

Default: 100
Type: Integer
Example: RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS=500

Performance Tuning

`BATCH_SIZE`

Default batch size for inference.

Default: Auto (optimized per plan tier)
Type: Integer
Range: 1-256
Example: BATCH_SIZE=32

`GPU_MEMORY_FRACTION`

Fraction of GPU memory to allocate.

Default: 0.9
Type: Float
Range: 0.1-1.0
Example: GPU_MEMORY_FRACTION=0.8

`ENABLE_FLASH_ATTENTION`

Use Flash Attention for faster inference.

Default: true
Type: Boolean
Example: ENABLE_FLASH_ATTENTION=true

`KV_CACHE_SIZE_GB`

Size of key-value cache in gigabytes.

Default: Auto (based on available VRAM)
Type: Integer
Example: KV_CACHE_SIZE_GB=8

Training Configuration

`TRAINING_ENABLED`

Enable model training and fine-tuning features.

Default: true
Type: Boolean
Example: TRAINING_ENABLED=false

`CHECKPOINT_INTERVAL`

Save training checkpoints every N steps.

Default: 1000
Type: Integer
Example: CHECKPOINT_INTERVAL=500

`GRADIENT_ACCUMULATION_STEPS`

Number of steps to accumulate gradients.

Default: 4
Type: Integer
Example: GRADIENT_ACCUMULATION_STEPS=8

Custom Variables

You can define custom environment variables for your application:

# Application-specific variables
APP_NAME=my-llm-app
CUSTOM_API_ENDPOINT=https://api.example.com
FEATURE_FLAG_STREAMING=true

Access custom variables in your application code:

import os

app_name = os.getenv('APP_NAME', 'default-app')
api_endpoint = os.getenv('CUSTOM_API_ENDPOINT')

Variable Management Best Practices

Security

Never commit secrets: Use the Achiral secrets management system for sensitive data
Rotate regularly: Update API keys and tokens on a regular schedule
Limit access: Restrict who can view and modify environment variables

Organization

Use prefixes: Group related variables with prefixes (e.g., DB_, API_, CACHE_)
Document purpose: Add descriptions for custom variables in your documentation
Version control: Track changes to environment variables in your deployment pipeline

Performance

Cache frequently accessed values: Don't read environment variables in hot paths
Validate on startup: Check required variables exist and have valid values at startup
Use defaults wisely: Provide sensible defaults for optional configuration

Environment Variable Precedence

Variables are loaded in the following order (later sources override earlier ones):

System defaults
Plan-specific defaults
Organization-level variables
Chiro instance variables
Runtime overrides (via API)

Viewing Current Variables

Via Dashboard

Navigate to Configuration → Environment Variables to view all active variables and their values.

Via API

curl https://api.achiral.ai/v1/organizations/{org_id}/env \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Deleting Variables

Via Dashboard

Navigate to Configuration → Environment Variables
Find the variable to delete
Click the trash icon
Confirm deletion

Via API

curl -X DELETE https://api.achiral.ai/v1/organizations/{org_id}/env/VARIABLE_NAME \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Next Steps

Network Settings - Configure network access
Storage Options - Manage persistent storage
API Reference - Detailed API documentation