kilocode/cli/docs/ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES.md

Environment Variables Configuration

The Kilo Code CLI can be fully configured using environment variables, allowing you to run it in ephemeral environments without a config.json file.

Core Configuration

Variable	Description	Default	Required
KILO_MODE	Operation mode (code, architect, ask, debug, orchestrator, etc.)	code	No
KILO_TELEMETRY	Enable/disable telemetry (true/false)	true	No
KILO_THEME	UI theme (dark, light, alpha, ansi, etc.)	dark	No

Provider Selection

Variable	Description	Default	Required
KILO_PROVIDER	Active provider ID	default	No
KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE	Provider type (kilocode, anthropic, openai, etc.)	-	Yes*

*Required when running without config.json

Provider-Specific Configuration

Kilocode Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILOCODE_TOKEN	API token	Yes
KILOCODE_MODEL	Model to use	Yes
KILOCODE_ORGANIZATION_ID	Organization ID	No
KILOCODE_OPEN_ROUTER_SPECIFIC_PROVIDER	OpenRouter specific provider	No
KILOCODE_OPEN_ROUTER_PROVIDER_DATA_COLLECTION	Data collection (allow/deny)	No
KILOCODE_OPEN_ROUTER_PROVIDER_SORT	Sort preference (price/throughput/latency)	No
KILOCODE_OPEN_ROUTER_ZDR	Enable ZDR	No
KILOCODE_TESTER_WARNINGS_DISABLED_UNTIL	Disable warnings until (timestamp)	No

Anthropic Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_API_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_API_KEY	API key	Yes
KILO_ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL	Base URL	No
KILO_ANTHROPIC_USE_AUTH_TOKEN	Use auth token (true/false)	No
KILO_ANTHROPIC_BETA_1M_CONTEXT	Enable 1M context beta (true/false)	No

OpenAI Native Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_API_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_OPENAI_NATIVE_API_KEY	API key	Yes
KILO_OPENAI_NATIVE_BASE_URL	Base URL	No
KILO_OPENAI_NATIVE_SERVICE_TIER	Service tier (auto/default/flex/priority)	No

OpenAI Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_OPENAI_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_OPENAI_API_KEY	API key	Yes
KILO_OPENAI_BASE_URL	Base URL	No
KILO_OPENAI_LEGACY_FORMAT	Use legacy format (true/false)	No
KILO_OPENAI_R1_FORMAT_ENABLED	Enable R1 format (true/false)	No
KILO_OPENAI_USE_AZURE	Use Azure (true/false)	No
KILO_AZURE_API_VERSION	Azure API version	No
KILO_OPENAI_STREAMING_ENABLED	Enable streaming (true/false)	No

OpenRouter Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_OPENROUTER_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_OPENROUTER_API_KEY	API key	Yes
KILO_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL	Base URL	No
KILO_OPENROUTER_SPECIFIC_PROVIDER	Specific provider	No
KILO_OPENROUTER_USE_MIDDLE_OUT_TRANSFORM	Use middle-out transform (true/false)	No
KILO_OPENROUTER_PROVIDER_DATA_COLLECTION	Data collection (allow/deny)	No
KILO_OPENROUTER_PROVIDER_SORT	Sort preference (price/throughput/latency)	No
KILO_OPENROUTER_ZDR	Enable ZDR (true/false)	No

Ollama Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_OLLAMA_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_OLLAMA_BASE_URL	Base URL	No
KILO_OLLAMA_API_KEY	API key	No
KILO_OLLAMA_NUM_CTX	Context size	No

AWS Bedrock Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_API_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_AWS_ACCESS_KEY	AWS access key	Yes*
KILO_AWS_SECRET_KEY	AWS secret key	Yes*
KILO_AWS_SESSION_TOKEN	AWS session token	No
KILO_AWS_REGION	AWS region	Yes
KILO_AWS_USE_CROSS_REGION_INFERENCE	Use cross-region inference (true/false)	No
KILO_AWS_USE_PROMPT_CACHE	Use prompt cache (true/false)	No
KILO_AWS_PROFILE	AWS profile name	No
KILO_AWS_USE_PROFILE	Use AWS profile (true/false)	No
KILO_AWS_API_KEY	AWS API key (alternative auth)	No
KILO_AWS_USE_API_KEY	Use API key auth (true/false)	No
KILO_AWS_CUSTOM_ARN	Custom ARN	No
KILO_AWS_MODEL_CONTEXT_WINDOW	Model context window size	No
KILO_AWS_BEDROCK_ENDPOINT_ENABLED	Enable custom endpoint (true/false)	No
KILO_AWS_BEDROCK_ENDPOINT	Custom Bedrock endpoint	No
KILO_AWS_BEDROCK_1M_CONTEXT	Enable 1M context (true/false)	No

*Required unless using profile or API key authentication

Google Vertex Provider

Variable	Description	Required
KILO_API_MODEL_ID	Model ID	Yes
KILO_VERTEX_KEY_FILE	Path to service account key file	Yes*
KILO_VERTEX_JSON_CREDENTIALS	JSON credentials (alternative to key file)	Yes*
KILO_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID	GCP project ID	Yes
KILO_VERTEX_REGION	GCP region	Yes
KILO_ENABLE_URL_CONTEXT	Enable URL context (true/false)	No
KILO_ENABLE_GROUNDING	Enable grounding (true/false)	No

*Either key file or JSON credentials required

Other Providers

For other providers (DeepSeek, Mistral, Groq, etc.), the pattern is similar:

• Model ID: KILO_API_MODEL_ID or KILO_<PROVIDER>_MODEL_ID
• API Key: KILO_<PROVIDER>_API_KEY
• Base URL: KILO_<PROVIDER>_BASE_URL (if applicable)

Auto-Approval Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_ENABLED	Global auto-approval toggle	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_READ_ENABLED	Auto-approve read operations	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_READ_OUTSIDE	Auto-approve reads outside workspace	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_WRITE_ENABLED	Auto-approve write operations	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_WRITE_OUTSIDE	Auto-approve writes outside workspace	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_WRITE_PROTECTED	Auto-approve writes to protected files	false
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_BROWSER_ENABLED	Auto-approve browser operations	false
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_RETRY_ENABLED	Auto-approve retry operations	false
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_RETRY_DELAY	Retry delay in seconds	10
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_MCP_ENABLED	Auto-approve MCP operations	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_MODE_ENABLED	Auto-approve mode switching	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_SUBTASKS_ENABLED	Auto-approve subtask creation	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_EXECUTE_ENABLED	Auto-approve command execution	true
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_EXECUTE_ALLOWED	Comma-separated list of allowed commands	ls,cat,echo,pwd
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_EXECUTE_DENIED	Comma-separated list of denied commands	rm -rf,sudo rm,mkfs,dd if=
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_QUESTION_ENABLED	Auto-approve followup questions	false
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_QUESTION_TIMEOUT	Question timeout in seconds	60
KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_TODO_ENABLED	Auto-approve todo list updates	true

Minimal Configuration Example

To run the CLI in an ephemeral environment without a config.json file, you need at minimum:

For Kilocode Provider:

export KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE=kilocode
export KILOCODE_TOKEN=your-api-token
export KILOCODE_MODEL=your-model-name
kilocode

For Anthropic Provider:

export KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE=anthropic
export KILO_API_KEY=your-api-key
export KILO_API_MODEL_ID=claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
kilocode

For OpenAI Provider:

export KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE=openai
export KILO_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
export KILO_OPENAI_MODEL_ID=gpt-4o
kilocode

Full Configuration Example

# Core settings
export KILO_MODE=code
export KILO_TELEMETRY=true
export KILO_THEME=dark

# Provider configuration
export KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE=kilocode
export KILOCODE_TOKEN=your-api-token
export KILOCODE_MODEL=x-ai/grok-code-fast-1
export KILOCODE_ORGANIZATION_ID=org-123

# Auto-approval settings
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_ENABLED=true
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_READ_ENABLED=true
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_WRITE_ENABLED=true
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_BROWSER_ENABLED=false
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_EXECUTE_ALLOWED="ls,cat,echo,pwd,npm,yarn,pnpm"
export KILO_AUTO_APPROVAL_EXECUTE_DENIED="rm -rf,sudo"

kilocode

Notes

1. Provider Type: When running without a config.json file, you must specify KILO_PROVIDER_TYPE to indicate which provider to use.

2. Boolean Values: Use true or false (case-insensitive) for boolean settings.

3. Lists: For comma-separated lists (like allowed/denied commands), use commas without spaces unless the space is part of the command pattern.

4. Precedence: Environment variables override values in config.json if both are present.

5. Validation: The CLI will validate the environment configuration and provide clear error messages if required variables are missing.

6. Security: Be cautious when setting API keys and tokens in environment variables. Consider using secret management tools in production environments.