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

# Environment variables

> Complete reference for all environment variables that configure VectorLint's runtime behavior.

VectorLint reads configuration from environment variables at runtime. You can set them in two places:

* **`~/.vectorlint/config.toml`** — global defaults that apply across all projects
* **`.env` in your project root** — project-level overrides that take precedence over the global config

In CI, pass them directly as pipeline environment variables or secrets. See [CI Integration](/ci-integration) for examples.

<Note>
  Never commit API keys to version control. Add `.env` to your `.gitignore`.
</Note>

## LLM provider

| Variable                  | Required           | Description                                                                         |
| ------------------------- | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `LLM_PROVIDER`            | Yes                | The LLM provider to use. Accepted values: `openai`, `anthropic`, `gemini`, `azure`. |
| `OPENAI_API_KEY`          | If using OpenAI    | API key for OpenAI.                                                                 |
| `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`       | If using Anthropic | API key for Anthropic.                                                              |
| `GEMINI_API_KEY`          | If using Gemini    | API key for Google Gemini.                                                          |
| `AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY`    | If using Azure     | API key for Azure OpenAI.                                                           |
| `AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT`   | If using Azure     | Your Azure OpenAI resource endpoint URL.                                            |
| `AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT` | If using Azure     | Your Azure OpenAI deployment name.                                                  |

## Search provider

Required only for rules that use the `technical-accuracy` evaluator. If not set, rules that depend on external lookup return reduced-confidence results.

| Variable             | Required                    | Description                                           |
| -------------------- | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| `SEARCH_PROVIDER`    | If using technical-accuracy | Search provider to use. Accepted value: `perplexity`. |
| `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` | If using Perplexity         | API key for Perplexity search.                        |

## Evaluation behavior

| Variable               | Default | Description                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ---------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD` | `0.75`  | PAT pipeline confidence gate. Controls how strictly raw model candidates are filtered before surfacing violations. Accepted range: `0`–`1`. Invalid values fall back to `0.75`. |

Lower values surface more findings (higher recall, more noise). Higher values surface fewer findings (higher precision, fewer false positives). See [Tuning evaluation precision](/false-positive-tuning) for guidance on when to adjust this.

## Example configurations

### OpenAI — global config.toml

```toml theme={null}
[env]
LLM_PROVIDER = "openai"
OPENAI_API_KEY = "sk-..."
```

### Anthropic — project .env

```bash theme={null}
LLM_PROVIDER=anthropic
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
```

### With search provider

```toml theme={null}
[env]
LLM_PROVIDER = "openai"
OPENAI_API_KEY = "sk-..."
SEARCH_PROVIDER = "perplexity"
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = "pplx-..."
```

### CI environment with higher confidence threshold

```bash theme={null}
LLM_PROVIDER=openai
OPENAI_API_KEY=${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD=0.85
```

## Precedence

When the same variable is set in multiple places, VectorLint resolves it in this order — highest precedence first:

1. Project `.env` file
2. Global `~/.vectorlint/config.toml`
3. System environment variables

## Related

* [LLM Providers](/llm-providers) — configure your provider with full setup examples
* [CI Integration](/ci-integration) — pass environment variables securely in pipelines
* [Tuning evaluation precision](/false-positive-tuning) — when and how to adjust `CONFIDENCE_THRESHOLD`