Environment variables

roundtable init writes a .env.example next to roundtable.config.ts. Copy it to .env, fill it in, and the config file reads the values from the process environment.

cp .env.example .env

Bun loads .env by itself, so there is no dotenv step. Run roundtable commands from the project directory, because the config file is looked up there as well. The .gitignore that init writes lists .env, so the file stays out of Git.

The variables

Variable	Where the value comes from	Feeds
DISCORD_TOKEN	The Bot page of your application at the Discord developer portal.	discord.token
DISCORD_GUILD_ID	Turn on Developer Mode in Discord, then right-click the server and copy its id.	discord.guild
DISCORD_ENTRY_CHANNEL_ID	The same way: right-click the channel the coordinator should live in and copy its id.	discord.entryChannel
OWNER_ID	You, the one owner who can change everything: right-click your name and choose Copy User ID.	owner.id
OWNER_NAME	Your name, as the agents should use it.	owner.name
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL. The default in the file matches the docker-compose.yml that init writes: postgres://roundtable:roundtable@localhost:5432/roundtable.	database.url
MODEL	The agents’ model, written <provider>/<id>. The file suggests anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5.	model
PUBLIC_URL	The address that reaches this process from the internet. It serves the agents’ avatars.	http.publicUrl
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	The provider’s API key. Commented out in the file; see below.	Read by the model login, not by the config file.

The first eight are set in roundtable.config.ts through its env("NAME") helper. You can read more variables the same way in that file: it is ordinary TypeScript.

For the Discord values step by step, see Set up the Discord bot.

Which ones are required

roundtable doctor and roundtable start treat every uncommented NAME= line in .env.example as required. A variable whose value is missing or blank fails the environment check:

✗ environment: no value for DISCORD_TOKEN, DISCORD_GUILD_ID, DISCORD_ENTRY_CHANNEL_ID, OWNER_ID, OWNER_NAME, DATABASE_URL, MODEL, PUBLIC_URL.
    Copy .env.example to .env and fill them in; .env.example says where each one comes from.

If .env already exists, the fix line says Fill them in .env instead of the copy step. If the project has no .env.example, the check is skipped.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is commented out, so it is optional. Leave it out when you log in with Pi instead. Both ways are explained under Models.

If you add a variable of your own to .env.example, doctor starts requiring it too. Comment it out with # to make it optional.

What happens with an empty value

The config file turns an unset variable into an empty string, and every required setting must be a non-empty string. So a value left blank in .env is also caught when the configuration is checked:

config owner.id: expected a non-empty string, got "". Fix the value in roundtable.config.ts.

The public address

PUBLIC_URL must be an http:// or https:// address. doctor checks that it is well formed. With --reachable it also requests the address, which only answers while the bot is running. See CLI for the flag, and Errors for the messages.

The process listens on http.port, which is 3000 unless you change it. The address in PUBLIC_URL has to lead there, for example through a tunnel.