Config from Environment

Supply the entire user-config layer from an environment variable, so containers and CI runners need nothing written to disk.

Quick Start

Inline YAML via PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT

Pass the whole config as an inline blob — ideal for Docker and CI where no file exists:

export PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT='
agent:
  model: gpt-4o
output: verbose
'
praisonai "Summarise today's changes"

Explicit path via PRAISONAI_CONFIG

Point at a specific config file instead of the discovered global/project files:

export PRAISONAI_CONFIG=/etc/praisonai/config.yaml
praisonai "Summarise today's changes"

Interpolate secrets and files

Values support ${VAR}, {env:VAR}, and {file:...} so secrets stay out of the blob:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
export PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT='
agent:
  model: gpt-4o
  api_key: ${OPENAI_API_KEY}
  system_prompt: "{file:/run/secrets/prompt.txt}"
'
praisonai "Run the pipeline"

How It Works

Both JSON and YAML parse through yaml.safe_load, then interpolation runs before the blob joins the resolution ladder. Both variables fill the user-config layer — the same slot the discovered global/project file would occupy. When either is set, no global or project file is read for that layer.

Setting	Purpose
`PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT`	Inline JSON/YAML blob parsed in memory
`PRAISONAI_CONFIG`	Explicit path to a config file

Precedence

Higher layers win. The env-config sources sit in the user-config layer, below per-key env vars and CLI flags.

Layer	Source	Wins Over
1	Defaults	—
2	Managed defaults	Defaults
3	User-config layer (env-config or file discovery)	Managed defaults
4	Per-key environment variables	User-config layer
5	CLI arguments	Per-key env vars
6	Managed policy	Everything

Within the user-config layer, inline content beats an explicit path, which beats global-file discovery, which beats project-file discovery:

PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT  >  PRAISONAI_CONFIG  >  global file  >  project file

When the blob is invalid JSON/YAML, or PRAISONAI_CONFIG points at a missing file, the resolver warns and falls back to normal file discovery. Behaviour is unchanged when neither variable is set.

Common Patterns

Docker / Kubernetes secret mount

Mount the config as a secret and export it — nothing is written to the image:

env:
  - name: PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: praisonai-config
        key: config.yaml

GitHub Actions runner

Ship one variable to the job; no ~/.praisonai/ needs to exist:

- name: Run agent
  env:
    PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT: |
      agent:
        model: gpt-4o
      output: silent
  run: praisonai "Analyse the diff"

Ephemeral container with no writable home

Inline content avoids any filesystem write on a read-only container:

docker run --read-only \
  -e PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT="$(cat config.yaml)" \
  praisonai "Run once and exit"

User Interaction Flow

A team lead ships one environment variable to the CI container. The runner has no ~/.praisonai/ and never writes one — the resolver reads PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT, interpolates any ${VAR} secrets from the job’s environment, and runs the agent with the team’s model and output settings. Removing the variable restores default file discovery with no code change.

PRAISONAI_AUTH_CONTENT is the credentials-only sibling. Use it to inject the auth layer the same way, so a single CI secret set can supply both config and credentials with nothing on disk.

Best Practices

Keep secrets out of the blob

Reference secrets with ${VAR} or {file:/run/secrets/...} instead of pasting them inline, so the config blob stays safe to log.

Prefer inline content for stateless runners

PRAISONAI_CONFIG_CONTENT needs no writable filesystem, making it ideal for read-only containers and ephemeral CI.

Use explicit paths for mounted volumes

When a config file is already mounted, PRAISONAI_CONFIG points at it directly and skips global/project discovery.

Rely on graceful fallback

An invalid blob or missing path warns and falls back to file discovery, so a typo never hard-fails a run.

OutputConfig

Control agent output verbosity and formatting

XDG Paths

Where config, data, state, and cache live

Getting Started

Install

Core Concepts

Guides

Features

Models

Databases

Observability

Memory

Telemetry & Analytics

Knowledge

RAG

Persistence

Tools

Other Features

Developers

Configuration

Best Practices

Getting Started (No Code)

Config from Environment

Quick Start

How It Works

Precedence

Common Patterns

Docker / Kubernetes secret mount

GitHub Actions runner

Ephemeral container with no writable home

User Interaction Flow

Best Practices

OutputConfig

XDG Paths

​Quick Start

​How It Works

​Precedence

​Common Patterns

​Docker / Kubernetes secret mount

​GitHub Actions runner

​Ephemeral container with no writable home

​User Interaction Flow

​Best Practices

​Related

OutputConfig

XDG Paths

Quick Start

How It Works

Precedence

Common Patterns

Docker / Kubernetes secret mount

GitHub Actions runner

Ephemeral container with no writable home

User Interaction Flow

Best Practices

Related