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Sometimes you need to configure your agent with environment variables that should be provided by the runtime. For example, you might want to globally enable or disable thinking mode for all users of your agent, or configure API endpoints, feature flags, or other environment settings. Normally, you would set these environment variables directly in your deployment environment. However, when your agent is deployed to Agent Stack via the agentstack add command, the platform manages the runtime environment and you can’t directly control it. The Agent Stack platform allows you to declare environment variable requirements through AgentDetail. The platform will then provide these variables to your agent at runtime, and you can access them using standard os.getenv() calls.
Environment variables declared in AgentDetail are automatically provided by the Agent Stack platform when your agent is deployed via agentstack add. When running your agent locally or with auto-registration via SDK, you’re responsible for providing these variables yourself.

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Quickstart

1

Import AgentDetail and EnvVar

Import the necessary components from the Agent Stack SDK.
2

Declare environment variables

Add an EnvVar list to the variables field in your AgentDetail configuration.
3

Deploy your agent to the Agent Stack

Use agentstack add command to deploy your agent in Agent Stack
4

Configure the variables via CLI

Configure environment variables for your agent using agentstack env add "Name or ID of your Agent" KEY=VALUE.
5

Access environment variables

Use os.getenv() to access the environment variables in your agent code.

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Basic Environment Variables Example

Here’s how to request environment variables for your agent: 
import os

from a2a.types import Message
from agentstack_sdk.a2a.extensions.ui.agent_detail import EnvVar
from agentstack_sdk.server import Server
from agentstack_sdk.server.context import RunContext
from agentstack_sdk.a2a.extensions import AgentDetail

server = Server()


@server.agent(
    detail=AgentDetail(
        variables=[
            EnvVar(
                name="THINKING_ENABLED",
                description="Whether to enable thinking mode for all users",
                required=True
            )
        ]
    )
)
async def env_var_agent(input: Message, context: RunContext):
    """Agent that uses environment variables for configuration"""
    thinking_enabled = os.getenv("THINKING_ENABLED", "false").lower() == "true"
    
    if thinking_enabled:
        yield "Thinking mode is enabled. I'll show my reasoning process."
    else:
        yield "Thinking mode is disabled. I'll provide direct responses."


def run():
    server.run(host=os.getenv("HOST", "127.0.0.1"), port=int(os.getenv("PORT", 8000)))


if __name__ == "__main__":
    run()

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Managing Environment Variables

Once your agent is deployed to Agent Stack, you need to provide the environment variables it requires. You can manage these variables using the agentstack env CLI commands.

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Adding Environment Variables

To provide environment variables to your agent, use the agentstack env add command: 
agentstack env add "Name or ID of the agent" FIRST_VAR=VALUE SECOND_VAR=VALUE ...
You can add multiple variables at once by including them all in a single command.

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Listing Environment Variables

To view the environment variables configured for an agent: 
agentstack env list "Name or ID of the agent"

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Removing Environment Variables

To remove an environment variable from an agent: 
agentstack env remove "Name or ID of the agent" VARIABLE_NAME

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Checking Missing Variables

When a required variable hasn’t been provided, you can see this in the agent list. Use agentstack list to view all agents - the MISSING ENV column shows which variables still need to be configured.