> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://autter.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environment variables

> Configuration reference for the Autter Runtime SDKs and the self-hosted ingester.

## SDK configuration (backend)

| Variable             | Used by                              | Description                                                                                                                                                                      |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `AUTTER_RUNTIME_KEY` | `@autter/runtime-node`, any OTel SDK | Secret **server key** (`autter_rt_…`). Passed as `apiKey` to `initAutterServer` / `createBrowserRelayHandler`, or as the `Authorization: Bearer` header for a raw OTLP exporter. |
| `AUTTER_ENDPOINT`    | `@autter/runtime-node`               | Base URL of your ingester. Defaults to Autter's hosted endpoint (`https://otlp.autter.dev`) if unset.                                                                            |
| `GIT_SHA`            | any                                  | Convention used in the docs and examples for the `release` field — wire it to your build's git commit so regressions can be traced to a release.                                 |
| `NODE_ENV`           | `@autter/runtime-node`               | Commonly passed through as `environment`.                                                                                                                                        |

Frontend equivalents are passed directly to `initAutterBrowser({...})` rather than read from `process.env` (bundlers don't expose server env vars to the browser by default) — for example `import.meta.env.VITE_GIT_SHA` for `release`.

## Ingester configuration (self-hosted)

| Variable                   | Required                                     | Description                                                                                                                                                                         |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `CLICKHOUSE_URL`           | yes                                          | ClickHouse HTTP(S) endpoint the ingester writes to.                                                                                                                                 |
| `CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD`      | yes                                          | ClickHouse password for the ingester's user.                                                                                                                                        |
| `AUTTER_INGEST_KEYS`       | yes, unless using `AUTTER_KEY_VALIDATOR_URL` | JSON array mapping ingest keys to `{orgId, repositoryId}`. See format below.                                                                                                        |
| `AUTTER_KEY_VALIDATOR_URL` | alternative to `AUTTER_INGEST_KEYS`          | URL of your own key-validation service, for dynamic key management instead of a static env-var list.                                                                                |
| `AUTTER_SINK_URL`          | no                                           | Optional webhook. Each ingest batch is POSTed here as normalized occurrences — see [Architecture](/docs/runtime/architecture#sink-webhook-v1). Delivery is best-effort, fire-and-forget. |

### `AUTTER_INGEST_KEYS`

A JSON array, one entry per key:

```bash theme={null}
AUTTER_INGEST_KEYS='[
  {"key":"autter_rt_REPLACE_ME","orgId":"my-org","repositoryId":"my-app"},
  {"key":"autter_rtc_REPLACE_ME","orgId":"my-org","repositoryId":"my-app",
   "scope":"client","allowedOrigins":["https://app.example.com"]}
]'
```

* **Server keys** (`autter_rt_…`) have no `scope` field and can send OTLP traces/metrics plus relay browser events.
* **Client keys** (`autter_rtc_…`) need `"scope": "client"` and an `allowedOrigins` list — the ingester rejects `/v1/browser` requests whose `Origin` isn't on the list.
* One key pair per app or repository — `repositoryId` is how data is grouped for analysis.

Generate keys with anything sufficiently random, for example:

```bash theme={null}
echo "autter_rt_$(openssl rand -hex 16)"
```

Full config reference: [`packages/otlp-ingester`](https://github.com/Autter-dev/autter-runtime/tree/main/packages/otlp-ingester).

<Card title="Self-hosting" icon="server" href="/docs/runtime/self-hosting">
  Run the ingester locally, on a single server, or on AWS.
</Card>