Environment Variables

Reference for every SlackHive configuration variable in .env.

SlackHive stores configuration in a .env file in the install directory. slackhive init generates this file with safe defaults - you rarely need to edit it by hand.

.env contains encryption keys and the admin password. Never commit it. It’s already in .gitignore but double-check before pushing.

Claude Authentication

Pick one option. If both are set, the API key wins.

Option A: Anthropic API key

Best for teams, production, predictable billing.

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...

All agents share this key. Billed per token via the Anthropic API.

Option B: Claude Pro or Max subscription

Best for individual developers.

# Leave ANTHROPIC_API_KEY unset
CLAUDE_BIN=/usr/local/bin/claude     # macOS (Intel) or Linux
# CLAUDE_BIN=/opt/homebrew/bin/claude  # macOS (Apple Silicon, Homebrew)
# CLAUDE_BIN=/usr/bin/claude           # Linux (package install)

Requirements:

1. Run claude login on the host machine
2. Set CLAUDE_BIN to the path returned by which claude

Token refresh behavior:

Platform	Source of truth	Refresh
macOS	Keychain → ~/.claude/.credentials.json	SlackHive auto-syncs from Keychain on 401
Linux (GNOME)	secret-tool → ~/.claude/.credentials.json	Re-run claude login when it expires
Linux (headless)	~/.claude/.credentials.json directly	Re-run claude login when it expires

See OAuth MCPs for how this flows through to MCP connections.

Dashboard Authentication

slackhive init sets these from the prompts - you don’t typically need to touch them:

Variable	Purpose
ADMIN_USERNAME	Superadmin login
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Superadmin password
AUTH_SECRET	Signs session cookies (rotating logs everyone out)
ENV_SECRET_KEY	Encrypts the secret store (rotating breaks all stored secrets)

AUTH_SECRET and ENV_SECRET_KEY are generated automatically on first install with openssl rand -hex 32. If you need to regenerate:

openssl rand -hex 32

Do not rotate ENV_SECRET_KEY after initial setup without a plan. All stored secrets become unreadable - every MCP server referencing ${env:NAME} will fail until you re-enter each secret in Settings → Env Vars.

Platform

Variable	Default	Purpose
NODE_ENV	production	Affects log verbosity and error handling
PORT	auto	Web server port (default 3001, auto-negotiates if taken)
RUNNER_INTERNAL_PORT	auto	Runner port (default 3002, auto-negotiates)
AGENTS_TMP_DIR	~/.slackhive/agents	Where per-agent workspaces live
DATABASE_TYPE	sqlite	Always sqlite on CLI installs
ACTIVITY_DASHBOARD	unset	Set to 1 to enable the Activity Dashboard. When unset, the writer hooks short-circuit and no tasks/activities/tool calls are recorded.

Where data lives

Everything is on disk under ~/.slackhive/:

Path	Contents
~/.slackhive/data.db	SQLite database - agents, memories, skills, history, settings
~/.slackhive/agents/<slug>/	Per-agent workspace (CLAUDE.md, sessions, copies of assigned wiki folders)
~/.slackhive/knowledge/<folderId>/wiki/	Compiled wiki for one Knowledge Library folder (source of truth; copied to assigned agents)
~/.slackhive/logs/runner.log	Runner log stream
~/.slackhive/runner.lock	Singleton runner lock - JSON with pid, startedAt, mode
~/.slackhive/slackhive.pid	Web server PID file

Back up ~/.slackhive/ to preserve your full install.

The .slackhive-native marker

The install directory contains a .slackhive-native file. It tells the CLI this is a CLI-managed install - slackhive commands will target it from any directory.

Complete .env.example

# --- Claude Authentication (choose ONE) ---

# Option A: API key
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...

# Option B: Pro/Max subscription
# CLAUDE_BIN=/usr/local/bin/claude

# --- Dashboard ---
ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
ADMIN_PASSWORD=change-me
AUTH_SECRET=generate-with-openssl-rand-hex-32
ENV_SECRET_KEY=generate-with-openssl-rand-hex-32

# --- Platform ---
NODE_ENV=production
DATABASE_TYPE=sqlite

# --- Feature flags ---
# ACTIVITY_DASHBOARD=1

Next steps

Slack App Setup

Create the Slack app for each agent.

MCP Servers

Use the encrypted env store to pass secrets to MCP tools.