Environment Variables

Configure the Claude Code Templates CLI and Claude Code using environment variables for authentication, API keys, and runtime settings.

Authentication Variables

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

string

required

Anthropic API key for Claude Code authentication

Usage:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-xxx

Purpose:

Authenticate Claude Code CLI
Enable API-based authentication
Alternative to OAuth authentication

Obtain Key:

Visit https://console.anthropic.com/
Navigate to API Keys section
Create new API key
Copy and set as environment variable

Priority: Environment variable takes precedence over ~/.claude.json API key. Security:

Never commit to git
Use .env files with .gitignore
Rotate keys regularly
Use different keys for dev/prod

Example .env file:

# .env
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-xxx

Load in shell:

# Bash/Zsh
export $(cat .env | xargs)

# Or use dotenv
source .env

ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN

string

Alternative authentication token (if using OAuth)

Usage:

export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=your-token

Purpose: Alternative authentication method for enterprise setups.

Sandbox Variables

E2B_API_KEY

string

E2B API key for sandbox execution

Usage:

export E2B_API_KEY=e2b_xxx

Purpose:

Enable E2B sandbox execution
Required for --sandbox e2b flag

Obtain Key:

Visit https://e2b.dev/
Sign up for account
Create API key
Set as environment variable

Example:

export E2B_API_KEY=e2b_xxx
cct --sandbox e2b --prompt "Create a React app"

Alternative: Use --e2b-api-key flag:

cct --sandbox e2b --e2b-api-key e2b_xxx --prompt "Create app"

CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN

string

Cloudflare Tunnel token for remote access (optional)

Usage:

export CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN=your-token

Purpose:

Use custom Cloudflare Tunnel
Persistent tunnel URLs
Team access to dashboards

Obtain Token:

Create Cloudflare account
Install cloudflared
Create tunnel: cloudflared tunnel create my-tunnel
Get token from tunnel config

Note: The CLI uses temporary tunnels by default. This is only needed for persistent URLs.

Runtime Configuration

PORT

number

Port for analytics dashboard and web interfaces

Usage:

export PORT=8080
cct --analytics

Default: 3333 Purpose:

Change default port if 3333 is in use
Run multiple dashboards simultaneously

Example:

# Terminal 1
PORT=3333 cct --analytics

# Terminal 2
PORT=4444 cct --chats

NODE_ENV

string

Node.js environment (development, production, test)

Usage:

export NODE_ENV=development

Values:

development - Development mode (verbose logging)
production - Production mode (minimal logging)
test - Testing mode

Purpose:

Control logging verbosity
Enable debug features
Configure behavior

DEBUG

string

Enable debug logging for specific modules

Usage:

export DEBUG=*
export DEBUG=claude:*
export DEBUG=analytics:*

Purpose:

Detailed debugging output
Module-specific logs
Troubleshooting

Examples:

# All debug output
DEBUG=* cct --analytics

# Specific module
DEBUG=claude:* cct --agent frontend-developer

CCT_DEBUG

string

Enable Claude Code Templates debug logging

Usage:

export CCT_DEBUG=true

Purpose:

Show tracking debug messages
Display non-critical errors
Troubleshoot analytics issues

Example:

CCT_DEBUG=true npx claude-code-templates --agent frontend-developer

CCT_NO_TRACKING

string

Disable usage tracking and analytics

Usage:

export CCT_NO_TRACKING=true

Purpose:

Opt out of anonymous usage analytics
Disable component download tracking
Privacy-focused installations

Example:

CCT_NO_TRACKING=true npx claude-code-templates --agent security-auditor

CCT_NO_ANALYTICS

string

Alias for CCT_NO_TRACKING (disables analytics)

Usage:

export CCT_NO_ANALYTICS=true

Purpose:

Same as CCT_NO_TRACKING
Alternative environment variable name
Disables all telemetry

Note: Setting either CCT_NO_TRACKING or CCT_NO_ANALYTICS to true will disable tracking.

Shell Configuration

PATH

string

System PATH for global agent executables

Usage:

export PATH="$HOME/.claude-code-templates/bin:$PATH"

Purpose:

Make global agents accessible
Enable command-line execution
Required for user-directory installations

Add to Shell Config: Bash (~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile):

# Claude Code Templates - Global Agents
export PATH="$HOME/.claude-code-templates/bin:$PATH"

Zsh (~/.zshrc):

# Claude Code Templates - Global Agents
export PATH="$HOME/.claude-code-templates/bin:$PATH"

Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):

# Claude Code Templates - Global Agents
set -gx PATH $HOME/.claude-code-templates/bin $PATH

Apply Changes:

source ~/.bashrc  # Or ~/.zshrc, ~/.config/fish/config.fish

SHELL

string

Current shell (automatically set by system)

Values:

/bin/bash
/bin/zsh
/usr/bin/fish

Purpose:

Detect shell for PATH configuration
Shell-specific features
Autocompletion setup

CI

string

Continuous Integration environment indicator

Values:

true - Running in CI environment
Unset - Local development

Purpose:

Automatically disables tracking in CI/CD
Prevents analytics in automated environments
Skips interactive prompts

Set by: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI, Jenkins, and other CI platforms automatically set this variable. Manual Override:

# Force CI mode locally
CI=true npx claude-code-templates --agent frontend-developer

Project-Specific Variables

These can be set in .claude/settings.json under the env field:

{
  "env": {
    "NODE_ENV": "development",
    "DEBUG": "true",
    "API_URL": "http://localhost:3000",
    "DATABASE_URL": "${DATABASE_URL}"
  }
}

Variable Expansion: Use ${VAR_NAME} to reference system environment variables.

Environment Variable Precedence

When multiple sources define the same variable:

Command-line flags (highest priority)
Environment variables
Local settings (.claude/settings.local.json)
Project settings (.claude/settings.json)
User settings (~/.claude/settings.json) (lowest priority)

Example:

# Environment variable
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-111

# CLI flag (takes precedence)
cct --anthropic-api-key sk-ant-222 --prompt "test"
# Uses sk-ant-222

.env Files

Project .env

Store environment variables in .env file:

# .env
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-xxx
E2B_API_KEY=e2b_xxx
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/mydb
API_URL=http://localhost:3000

Load with dotenv:

# Install dotenv-cli
npm install -g dotenv-cli

# Run with .env
dotenv cct --analytics

Load in shell:

export $(cat .env | grep -v '^#' | xargs)

.env.example

Create template for team:

# .env.example
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key-here
E2B_API_KEY=e2b_your-key-here
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your-token-here
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost/dbname

Usage:

# Team member copies and fills in
cp .env.example .env
vim .env  # Add real values

Gitignore

Always exclude .env from git:

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
.claude.json
.claude/settings.local.json

CI/CD Configuration

GitHub Actions

Set secrets in repository settings:

# .github/workflows/claude.yml
name: Claude Code

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '18'
      
      - name: Install CLI
        run: npm install -g claude-code-templates
      
      - name: Run Health Check
        run: cct --health-check
        env:
          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}

Set Secrets:

Go to repository Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
Add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY secret
Reference with ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}

GitLab CI

# .gitlab-ci.yml
review:
  image: node:18
  script:
    - npm install -g claude-code-templates
    - cct --health-check
  variables:
    ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Set Variables:

Go to Settings > CI/CD > Variables
Add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (protected, masked)

Docker Configuration

Dockerfile

FROM node:18

WORKDIR /app

RUN npm install -g claude-code-templates

COPY . .

ENV NODE_ENV=production

CMD ["cct", "--analytics"]

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  claude-analytics:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3333:3333"
    environment:
      - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - PORT=3333
    env_file:
      - .env

Run:

docker-compose up

Security Best Practices

1. Never Commit Secrets

# Check for secrets before commit
git diff | grep -i "api.key\|secret\|token\|password"

# Use git-secrets
git secrets --install
git secrets --register-aws

2. Use Separate Keys

Development: Personal API key
Staging: Team staging key
Production: Production key (rotate regularly)

3. Restrict Permissions

# Secure .env file
chmod 600 .env

# Verify
ls -la .env
# -rw------- (only owner can read/write)

4. Rotate Keys Regularly

# Monthly rotation schedule
# 1. Generate new key
# 2. Update environment variables
# 3. Test applications
# 4. Revoke old key

5. Use Key Management Systems

AWS Secrets Manager:

# Fetch secret
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$(aws secretsmanager get-secret-value \
  --secret-id anthropic-api-key \
  --query SecretString \
  --output text)

HashiCorp Vault:

# Read secret
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$(vault kv get -field=api_key secret/claude)

Troubleshooting

Variables Not Loading

Check if variable is set:

echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
env | grep ANTHROPIC

Source shell config:

source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Verify .env file:

cat .env | grep ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Authentication Fails

Test API key:

curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
  }'

Check key format:

Should start with sk-ant-
No whitespace or special characters
Not expired

PATH Not Working

Verify PATH includes bin directory:

echo $PATH | grep claude-code-templates

Add to PATH manually:

export PATH="$HOME/.claude-code-templates/bin:$PATH"

Check executable exists:

ls -la ~/.claude-code-templates/bin/

Permission Denied

Fix file permissions:

chmod 600 .env
chmod 755 ~/.claude-code-templates/bin/*

Next Steps

CLI Flags Reference - All CLI flags
Configuration Guide - Settings files
Health Check - Verify configuration
CLI Overview - Complete CLI documentation

Commands

Options

​Environment Variables

​Authentication Variables

​ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

​ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN

​Sandbox Variables

​E2B_API_KEY

​CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN

​Runtime Configuration

​PORT

​NODE_ENV

​DEBUG

​CCT_DEBUG

​CCT_NO_TRACKING

​CCT_NO_ANALYTICS

​Shell Configuration

​PATH

​SHELL

​CI

​Project-Specific Variables

​Environment Variable Precedence

​.env Files

​Project .env

​.env.example

​Gitignore

​CI/CD Configuration

​GitHub Actions

​GitLab CI

​Docker Configuration

​Dockerfile

​docker-compose.yml

​Security Best Practices

​1. Never Commit Secrets

​2. Use Separate Keys

​3. Restrict Permissions

​4. Rotate Keys Regularly

​5. Use Key Management Systems

​Troubleshooting

​Variables Not Loading

​Authentication Fails

​PATH Not Working

​Permission Denied

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Environment Variables

Authentication Variables

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN

Sandbox Variables

E2B_API_KEY

CLOUDFLARE_TUNNEL_TOKEN

Runtime Configuration

PORT

NODE_ENV

DEBUG

CCT_DEBUG

CCT_NO_TRACKING

CCT_NO_ANALYTICS

Shell Configuration

PATH

SHELL

CI

Project-Specific Variables

Environment Variable Precedence

.env Files

Project .env

.env.example

Gitignore

CI/CD Configuration

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Docker Configuration

Dockerfile

docker-compose.yml

Security Best Practices

1. Never Commit Secrets

2. Use Separate Keys

3. Restrict Permissions

4. Rotate Keys Regularly

5. Use Key Management Systems

Troubleshooting

Variables Not Loading

Authentication Fails

PATH Not Working

Permission Denied

Next Steps