Environment Variables

All environment variables used by Golems v2. Store sensitive values in 1Password (see Secrets Management).

Core Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`LLM_BACKEND`	`ollama`	Which LLM to use: `haiku` (cloud) or `ollama` (local); cloud-worker sets `haiku` explicitly	Agent execution
`STATE_BACKEND`	`file`	State storage: `supabase` (cloud) or `file` (local)	Persistent state
`TELEGRAM_MODE`	`local`	Notification mode: `direct` (cloud) or `local` (launchd)	Telegram notifications
`TZ`	`UTC`	Timezone (only used in helpers-status.ts); cloud-worker hardcodes `Asia/Jerusalem`	Status display
`GOLEMS_STATE_DIR`	`~/.golems-zikaron`	Override state directory for tests or alternate environments	Test isolation

LLM Configuration

Cloud Backend (Haiku)

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	—	Anthropic API key from 1Password (any item name you choose)	Cloud LLM calls
`RAILWAY_URL`	`https://your-service.up.railway.app`	Cloud worker endpoint for health checks	Health monitoring

Local Backend (Ollama)

Requires Ollama running locally on http://localhost:11434.

Database Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`SUPABASE_URL`	—	Your Supabase project URL (format: `https://YOUR_PROJECT.supabase.co`)	Cloud state backend
`SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY`	—	Service role key (bypasses RLS, for cloud worker only) from 1Password	Cloud database access
`SUPABASE_ANON_KEY`	—	Anonymous key for job sync	Job golem sync

Gmail Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`GMAIL_CLIENT_ID`	—	OAuth 2.0 Client ID from Google Cloud Console	Email sync
`GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET`	—	OAuth 2.0 Client Secret from Google Cloud Console	Email sync
`GMAIL_REFRESH_TOKEN`	—	Gmail refresh token (generate via oauth-cli)	Email sync

Telegram Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN`	—	Bot token from @BotFather on Telegram	Telegram bot
`TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID`	—	Chat/group ID for notifications (negative number for groups)	Telegram messages
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_ALERTS`	—	Topic ID for 🔔 Alerts (system notifications)	Alert routing
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_NIGHTSHIFT`	—	Topic ID for 🌙 Night Shift (autonomous tasks)	Night Shift logs
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_EMAIL`	—	Topic ID for 📧 Email (email events)	Email notifications
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_JOBS`	—	Topic ID for 💼 Jobs (job scraper results)	Job notifications
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_RECRUITER`	—	Topic ID for 👥 Recruiter (outreach events)	Recruiter notifications
`TELEGRAM_TOPIC_UPTIME`	—	Topic ID for ⏰ Uptime (health checks)	Uptime monitoring

Ollama Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`OLLAMA_MODEL`	`qwen2.5-coder:7b` (direct), `qwen3-coder-64k` (sandboxed)	Local Ollama model name	Email scoring, categorization
`OLLAMA_HOST`	`http://localhost:11434`	Ollama server URL	Local LLM calls
`OLLAMA_URL`	`http://127.0.0.1:11434`	Alias for `OLLAMA_HOST` (sandboxed mode)	Sandboxed execution
`OLLAMA_SANDBOXED`	—	Set to `1` to enable sandboxed Ollama execution	Sandboxed mode
`VALIDATION_DIR`	`~/.golems-zikaron/validation-queue`	Directory for sandboxed validation queue	Sandboxed execution

Job Scraper Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`SKIP_DRUSHIM`	—	Set to `1` to skip Drushim.co.il scraper	Job scraper
`SKIP_INDEED`	—	Set to `1` to skip Indeed scraper	Job scraper
`SKIP_SECRETLV`	—	Set to `1` to skip Secret Tel Aviv scraper	Job scraper

Recruiter Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`HUNTER_API_KEY`	—	Hunter.io API key for finding contact emails	Contact finder
`EXA_API_KEY`	—	Exa API key for web search and contact finding	Contact finder

Night Shift & Bot Configuration

Variable	Default	Description	Required For
`REPOS_PATH`	`~/Gits`	Base path for git repositories	Night Shift
`ACTIVITY_DAYS_TO_KEEP`	`7`	Days of session history to retain	Session archiver
`TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_IDS`	—	Comma-separated Telegram user IDs allowed to interact	Telegram bot security
`OLLAMA_CHAT_BOT_TOKEN`	—	Separate bot token for Ollama chat bot	Ollama chat bot

Setup Examples

Development (Local)

# Use local Ollama and file-based state
export LLM_BACKEND=ollama
export STATE_BACKEND=file
export TELEGRAM_MODE=local
export TZ=Asia/Jerusalem
 
# Gmail
export GMAIL_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
export GMAIL_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
export GMAIL_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token
 
# Telegram (get token from @BotFather, chat ID from your group)
export TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF...
export TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=-1001234567890

Production (Railway)

# Use cloud LLM and Supabase
export LLM_BACKEND=haiku
export STATE_BACKEND=supabase
export TELEGRAM_MODE=direct
 
# All secrets from 1Password (handled by Railway)
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_SERVICE_KEY, etc.

Loading Variables

Variables are loaded from:

Environment — System variables (highest priority)
.env file — Project root .env file (git-ignored)
Defaults — Built-in fallbacks

For launchd jobs, use load-env.ts at the entry point:

import "../lib/load-env";  // MUST be first import

This ensures .env files are loaded before any code runs.

API Cost Logging

All LLM calls are logged to ~/.golems-zikaron/api_costs.jsonl as JSONL:

{
  "timestamp": "2026-02-06T10:30:00Z",
  "model": "claude-haiku-4-5-20251001",
  "source": "email-golem",
  "input_tokens": 1250,
  "output_tokens": 342,
  "cost_usd": 0.002352
}

Pricing (Haiku 4.5):

Input: $0.80/MTok
Output: $4.00/MTok