Skip to main content
You can configure Strix using environment variables. Strix automatically saves your configuration to ~/.strix/cli-config.json, so you don’t need to set these variables on every run.

​
Required Variables

​
STRIX_LLM
string
required
Model name to use with LiteLLM (e.g., openai/gpt-5, anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6).For Strix Router, use the strix/ prefix (e.g., strix/gpt-5).
export STRIX_LLM="openai/gpt-5"

​
LLM Configuration

​
LLM_API_KEY
string
API key for your LLM provider.Not required for local models (Ollama, LMStudio), cloud providers with built-in authentication (Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock), or when using Strix Router.
export LLM_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
​
LLM_API_BASE
string
Custom API base URL for your LLM provider.Use this when running local models (Ollama, LMStudio) or custom endpoints. For strix/ models, this is automatically set to Strix Router.
# For Ollama
export LLM_API_BASE="http://localhost:11434"

# For LMStudio
export LLM_API_BASE="http://localhost:1234/v1"
​
OPENAI_API_BASE
string
OpenAI-specific API base URL. This is an alternative to LLM_API_BASE for OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
export OPENAI_API_BASE="https://api.openai.com/v1"
​
LITELLM_BASE_URL
string
LiteLLM-specific base URL. This is an alternative to LLM_API_BASE when using LiteLLM proxy.
export LITELLM_BASE_URL="http://localhost:4000"
​
OLLAMA_API_BASE
string
Ollama-specific API base URL. This is an alternative to LLM_API_BASE when using Ollama.
export OLLAMA_API_BASE="http://localhost:11434"
​
STRIX_REASONING_EFFORT
string
default:"high"
Control the reasoning effort level for LLM responses.Valid values: none, minimal, low, medium, high, xhighHigher values result in more thorough analysis but slower responses. For quick scans, use medium.
export STRIX_REASONING_EFFORT="high"
​
STRIX_LLM_MAX_RETRIES
string
default:"5"
Maximum number of retries for LLM API calls when encountering transient errors.
export STRIX_LLM_MAX_RETRIES="5"
​
LLM_TIMEOUT
string
default:"300"
Timeout in seconds for LLM API requests.
export LLM_TIMEOUT="300"
​
STRIX_MEMORY_COMPRESSOR_TIMEOUT
string
default:"30"
Timeout in seconds for the memory compression operation.
export STRIX_MEMORY_COMPRESSOR_TIMEOUT="30"

​
Tool & Feature Configuration

​
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY
string
API key for Perplexity AI web search.Enables real-time research and OSINT capabilities during penetration testing. Get your API key at perplexity.ai.
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your-perplexity-key-here"
​
STRIX_DISABLE_BROWSER
string
default:"false"
Disable browser automation tool.Set to true to prevent Strix from using browser automation (Playwright). This disables testing for XSS, CSRF, and other client-side vulnerabilities.
export STRIX_DISABLE_BROWSER="true"

​
Runtime Configuration

​
STRIX_IMAGE
string
default:"ghcr.io/usestrix/strix-sandbox:0.1.12"
Docker image to use for the Strix sandbox environment.You can override this to use a custom sandbox image or a specific version.
export STRIX_IMAGE="ghcr.io/usestrix/strix-sandbox:0.1.12"
​
STRIX_RUNTIME_BACKEND
string
default:"docker"
Runtime backend for Strix sandboxes.Currently, only docker is supported.
export STRIX_RUNTIME_BACKEND="docker"
​
STRIX_SANDBOX_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT
string
default:"120"
Timeout in seconds for sandbox tool execution.This controls how long Strix will wait for individual tool executions (terminal commands, Python scripts, etc.) to complete.
export STRIX_SANDBOX_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT="120"
​
STRIX_SANDBOX_CONNECT_TIMEOUT
string
default:"10"
Timeout in seconds for connecting to the sandbox tool server.
export STRIX_SANDBOX_CONNECT_TIMEOUT="10"
​
DOCKER_HOST
string
Docker daemon connection URL.By default, Strix uses the local Docker daemon. Set this to connect to a remote Docker host.
export DOCKER_HOST="tcp://remote-host:2375"

​
Telemetry

​
STRIX_TELEMETRY
string
default:"1"
Enable or disable anonymous telemetry.Set to 0 to opt out of telemetry collection. Telemetry helps improve Strix by collecting anonymous usage statistics.
export STRIX_TELEMETRY="0"

​
Example Configurations

​
OpenAI GPT-5

export STRIX_LLM="openai/gpt-5"
export LLM_API_KEY="sk-..."

​
Anthropic Claude

export STRIX_LLM="anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"
export LLM_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

​
Strix Router (Multiple Providers)

export STRIX_LLM="strix/gpt-5"
export LLM_API_KEY="your-strix-router-key"

​
Ollama (Local)

export STRIX_LLM="ollama/llama3.1:70b"
export LLM_API_BASE="http://localhost:11434"

export STRIX_LLM="openai/gpt-5"
export LLM_API_KEY="sk-..."
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="pplx-..."

​
Configuration Persistence

Strix automatically saves your environment variables to ~/.strix/cli-config.json. This means you only need to set these variables once, and Strix will remember them for future runs. To override saved configuration temporarily, you can:
  1. Set environment variables in your current shell session
  2. Use a custom config file with the --config flag
  3. Clear a variable by setting it to an empty string: export STRIX_LLM=""
LLM configuration variables (STRIX_LLM, LLM_API_KEY, etc.) are re-validated on each run. If you change these in your environment, Strix will use the new values and update the saved configuration.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us