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10Backward/docs/operations/environment-setup.md
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---
type: operations
title: Environment Variable Setup
description: How to provide and validate the required env vars for the 10Backward container — .env, docker-compose, and the runtime check in entrypoint.sh.
tags: [env, ops, setup]
timestamp: 2026-08-04T17:51:00Z
---
# Purpose
Job 1083 promoted every previously-optional knob in `.env.example`
to required, and renamed three of them. Operators must populate the
full set before the container will boot.
# Required Variables
| Variable | Example value | Purpose |
|--------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| `MASTODON_BASE_URL` | `https://mastodon.social` | Mastodon instance to post against. |
| `MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN` | _(from your Mastodon account)_ | OAuth access token. |
| `VISIBILITY` | `public` | Post visibility (`public` or `unlisted`). |
| `SITE_URL` | `https://blog.example.com` | Source blog URL (used by the future clone step). |
| `HASHTAGS` | `#throwback,#10backward` | Hashtags appended to every throwback post. |
| `THROWNBACK_PREFIX` | `Throwback:` | Prefix prepended to every post. |
| `MAX_RETRIES` | `3` | Non-negative retry count for the pipeline. |
| `RUN_AT` | `09:00` | Daily fire time (HH:MM, 24-hour). |
| `TZ` | `Europe/Berlin` | IANA timezone for cron + container clock. |
# Where Each Name Is Enforced
* `entrypoint.sh` — exports `TZ`, validates all nine are non-empty,
and validates `RUN_AT` matches `^([01][0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]$`
before writing the cron file. A missing var aborts the container
with `ERROR: missing required environment variable(s): ...` and
exits `1`.
* `tenbackward.config.validate_config` — same set, plus URL/visibility/
TZ/MAX_RETRIES validation. Failures surface as a single
`ConfigError` listing every problem.
* The `kilo.json` config file is **not** an env-var file — it is the
agent runtime configuration.
# Setup Steps
1. Copy the template:
```bash
cp .env.example .env
```
2. Replace placeholder values in `.env` (the example ships with
`MASTODON_ACCESS_TOKEN=replace-me` and `https://mastodon.example`).
3. Verify the file parses by running the validator directly:
```bash
python -m tenbackward
```
A successful validation run emits one `startup` JSON log line and
exits `0`. Missing/invalid config exits `2`.
4. Bring up the container:
```bash
docker compose up --build
```
The required-var check in `entrypoint.sh` runs first; if any
variable is empty, the container exits before `cron` starts.
# Renames vs. Job 1082
| Old key | New key |
|------------------------|--------------------------|
| `MASTODON_VISIBILITY` | `VISIBILITY` |
| `THROWBACK_PREFIX` | `THROWNBACK_PREFIX` |
| `RETRY_COUNT` | `MAX_RETRIES` |
If you have an existing `.env` from the scaffold, rename these
manually. The renamed variables are **not** backwards compatible — the
container will refuse to start with both versions set.
# Defaults That Can Be Removed
`DEFAULTS` provides fallbacks for `VISIBILITY`, `THROWNBACK_PREFIX`,
`MAX_RETRIES`, `TZ`, and `RUN_AT`. You may leave them out of your
`.env`, but the operator contract is "every required key is set" —
prod deployments should set them explicitly so a missing key is
caught at boot instead of silently used as a default.
# Related
* [Config Schema](/architecture/config-schema.md)
* [System Architecture](/architecture/system-overview.md)
* [Cron Lifecycle](/operations/cron-lifecycle.md)