Environment Variables

This page documents all environment variables used by wit for configuration.

AI Features

Variable	Description	Required
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key for AI features	For AI
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic API key (alternative to OpenAI)	For AI
`WIT_AI_MODEL`	AI model to use (default: gpt-4o)	No

Usage

# Use OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Or use Anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# Specify model
export WIT_AI_MODEL="gpt-4-turbo"

Semantic Search

Variable	Description	Default
`WIT_SEARCH_MODEL`	Embedding model for search	text-embedding-3-small
`WIT_SEARCH_IGNORE`	Patterns to ignore (comma-separated)	node_modules,dist,.git

Usage

export WIT_SEARCH_MODEL="text-embedding-3-large"
export WIT_SEARCH_IGNORE="node_modules,dist,build,.git,vendor"

Server & Platform

Variable	Description	Default
`PORT`	API server port	3000
`HOST`	Hostname to bind	0.0.0.0
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection string	Required for server
`REPOS_DIR`	Repository storage path	./repos
`JWT_SECRET`	Secret for JWT token signing	Required for auth
`NODE_ENV`	Environment mode	development

Usage

# Database connection
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/wit"

# Server configuration
export PORT=3000
export HOST="0.0.0.0"
export REPOS_DIR="/var/lib/wit/repos"

# Security
export JWT_SECRET="your-secure-secret-key"
export NODE_ENV="production"

Repository Storage (REPOS_DIR)

The REPOS_DIR environment variable controls where wit stores git repositories on disk. This is a critical setting for the platform to function correctly.

If REPOS_DIR is not set correctly, you may see “Repository not found on disk” errors when trying to view files, save changes in the IDE, or perform git operations.

How It Works

When you create a repository through the web UI, wit:

Creates a bare git repository at {REPOS_DIR}/{username}/{repo-name}.git
Stores the path /repos/{username}/{repo-name}.git in the database
Resolves this path using REPOS_DIR when accessing the repository

Configuration Examples

# Development (default) - relative to project directory
REPOS_DIR=./repos

# User home directory
REPOS_DIR=~/.wit/repos

# Absolute path for production
REPOS_DIR=/var/lib/wit/repos

# Docker volume
REPOS_DIR=/data/repos

Troubleshooting

If you’re getting “Repository not found on disk” errors:

Check where repos are stored:

# Find existing repositories
find ~/.wit -name "*.git" -type d 2>/dev/null
find ./repos -name "*.git" -type d 2>/dev/null

Set REPOS_DIR to match:

# In your .env file
REPOS_DIR=/path/to/where/repos/actually/are

Restart the server:
wit down && wit up

Migration

If you need to move repositories to a new location:

# 1. Stop the server
wit down

# 2. Move repositories
mv ./repos /var/lib/wit/repos

# 3. Update .env
echo 'REPOS_DIR=/var/lib/wit/repos' >> .env

# 4. Restart
wit up

Git Configuration

Variable	Description	Used For
`WIT_AUTHOR_NAME`	Default commit author name	Commits
`WIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	Default commit author email	Commits
`GIT_AUTHOR_NAME`	Fallback author name	Commits
`GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL`	Fallback author email	Commits

wit checks WIT_* variables first, then falls back to GIT_* variables.

Usage

export WIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Your Name"
export WIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="you@example.com"

Code Review

Variable	Description	Required
`CODERABBIT_API_KEY`	CodeRabbit API key	For CodeRabbit reviews

Usage

export CODERABBIT_API_KEY="your-coderabbit-key"
wit review --coderabbit

Email Notifications

Email configuration for collaborator invitations.

Variable	Description	Default
`RESEND_API_KEY`	Resend API key	-
`EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS`	Sender email address	noreply@wit.dev
`EMAIL_FROM_NAME`	Sender display name	wit

Usage

export RESEND_API_KEY="re_..."
export EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="noreply@yourcompany.com"
export EMAIL_FROM_NAME="Your Company Git"

GitHub Integration

Variable	Description	Required
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	GitHub personal access token	For GitHub features
`GITHUB_CLIENT_ID`	OAuth app client ID	For OAuth
`GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET`	OAuth app client secret	For OAuth

Usage

# Personal access token for CLI
export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_..."

# OAuth for web app
export GITHUB_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

SSH Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
`SSH_PORT`	SSH server port	22
`SSH_HOST_KEY`	Path to host key	~/.wit/ssh/host_key

Development & Debugging

Variable	Description	Default
`DEBUG`	Enable debug logging	false
`WIT_VERBOSE`	Verbose output	false
`LOG_LEVEL`	Log level (debug, info, warn, error)	info

Usage

# Enable debug mode
export DEBUG=true
export LOG_LEVEL="debug"
export WIT_VERBOSE=true

Rate Limiting

Variable	Description	Default
`RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW`	Rate limit window (ms)	60000
`RATE_LIMIT_MAX`	Max requests per window	100
`RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED`	Enable rate limiting	true

Example Configuration

Development Environment

# .env.development
OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-dev-key"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://wit:wit@localhost:5432/wit"
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV="development"
DEBUG=true
LOG_LEVEL="debug"

Production Environment

# .env.production
OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-prod-key"
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://wit:secure-password@db.example.com:5432/wit"
PORT=3000
NODE_ENV="production"
JWT_SECRET="your-very-secure-secret"
REPOS_DIR="/var/lib/wit/repos"

# Email
RESEND_API_KEY="re_..."
EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="git@yourcompany.com"

# Rate limiting
RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED=true
RATE_LIMIT_MAX=100

CI/CD Environment

# For CI pipelines
WIT_AUTHOR_NAME="CI Bot"
WIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="ci@yourcompany.com"
GITHUB_TOKEN="${GITHUB_TOKEN}"

Loading Environment Variables

Using .env Files

wit supports .env files in your project root:

# Create .env file
cat > .env << EOF
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
EOF

# wit automatically loads .env
wit ai commit

Using direnv

For project-specific configuration:

# .envrc
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export WIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="work@company.com"

Shell Configuration

Add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc):

# wit configuration
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export WIT_AUTHOR_NAME="Your Name"
export WIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="you@example.com"

Security Best Practices

Never commit secrets - Use .env files and add them to .gitignore
Use different keys per environment - Dev, staging, production
Rotate secrets regularly - Especially for production
Use secret managers - AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, etc.

# .gitignore
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

​AI Features

​Usage

​Semantic Search

​Usage

​Server & Platform

​Usage

​Repository Storage (REPOS_DIR)

​How It Works

​Configuration Examples

​Troubleshooting

​Migration

​Git Configuration

​Usage

​Code Review

​Usage

​Email Notifications

​Usage

​GitHub Integration

​Usage

​SSH Configuration

​Development & Debugging

​Usage

​Rate Limiting

​Example Configuration

​Development Environment

​Production Environment

​CI/CD Environment

​Loading Environment Variables

​Using .env Files

​Using direnv

​Shell Configuration

​Security Best Practices

AI Features

Usage

Semantic Search

Usage

Server & Platform

Usage

Repository Storage (REPOS_DIR)

How It Works

Configuration Examples

Troubleshooting

Migration

Git Configuration

Usage

Code Review

Usage

Email Notifications

Usage

GitHub Integration

Usage

SSH Configuration

Development & Debugging

Usage

Rate Limiting

Example Configuration

Development Environment

Production Environment

CI/CD Environment

Loading Environment Variables

Using .env Files

Using direnv

Shell Configuration

Security Best Practices