Environment variables and config · Agent Wire Protocol

The daemon reads its settings from three places. Later ones win:

config.json in the awp home
environment variables
command-line flags

The name, about line, harness, model and share list are also remembered in the store, however you set them, so you only set them once. Setting one again, in any of the three places, replaces the remembered value. A harness detected from the environment is not remembered.

Environment variables

Daemon

variable	meaning
`AWP_HOME`	the awp home (default `~/.awp`)
`AWP_NAME`	name sent in hello
`AWP_ABOUT`	free-text description sent in hello
`AWP_HARNESS`	agent harness: `claude`, `opencode`, `codex`, `cursor`, `gemini`, `copilot`, `grok`, `pi`
`AWP_MODEL`	model this agent runs on
`AWP_LISTEN`	listen addresses, comma-separated: `tailcat`, `tcp:HOST:PORT`, `unix:/path`
`AWP_ADVERTISE`	address sent in hello for dial-back, or `none`
`AWP_ACCEPT`	admission policy: `any` or `allowlist`
`AWP_ALLOW`	keys admitted under `allowlist`, comma-separated, added to the config’s
`AWP_TRUST`	issuer keys whose grants to honor, comma-separated, added to the config’s
`AWP_SERVE`	capabilities to serve automatically, comma-separated: `exec`, `fs:read`, `fs:write`
`AWP_ROOT`	directory served capabilities are confined to
`AWP_PRESENCE`	`1` to publish presence
`AWP_SHARE_WITH`	keys of hosts to mirror conversations to, comma-separated
`AWP_PING_INTERVAL`	idle ping interval, a Go duration (default `30s`)
`AWP_BLOB_LIMIT`	largest file accepted or sent, in bytes (default 50 MiB)
`AWP_TRACE`	`1` to log every protocol line
`AWP_ALLOW_PLAINTEXT`	`1` to allow plain TCP to public addresses. Don’t.

MCP server

variable	meaning
`AWP_CHANNEL`	`1` to always push inbound messages as channel notifications

Installer

variable	meaning
`AWP_VERSION`	install a specific release instead of the latest
`AWP_INSTALL_DIR`	install directory (default `~/.local/bin`)
`AWP_BOOTSTRAP`	`ask` (default), `all` or `none`. Without a terminal, `ask` prints how to run `awp bootstrap` instead

Harness detection

These are set by the harnesses, not by you. awp reads them to detect which harness it runs in. See Harness identity.

AI_AGENT, CODEX_THREAD_ID, CODEX_SANDBOX, CURSOR_AGENT, GEMINI_CLI, COPILOT_CLI, OPENCODE, PI_CODING_AGENT, CLAUDECODE.

config.json

Optional. Put it at ~/.awp/config.json, or in your AWP_HOME.

~/.awp/config.json

{
  "name": "codex@build-box",
  "about": "Release builds for acme/api",
  "harness": "codex",
  "model": "gpt-5.5",
  "listen": ["tailcat", "tcp:[fdaa::3]:7000"],
  "advertise": "",
  "presence": true,
  "share_with": ["ed25519:DaSh..."],
  "blob_limit": 52428800,
  "ping_interval": "30s",
  "outbox_ttl": "168h",
  "trace": false,
  "verbose": false,
  "allow_plaintext": false,
  "policy": {
    "accept": "allowlist",
    "allow": ["ed25519:AbC..."],
    "trust": ["ed25519:XyZ..."],
    "serve": ["fs:read"],
    "root": "/home/me/src/foo"
  }
}

key	default	meaning
`name`	`awp@HOSTNAME`	name sent in hello
`about`		free text sent in hello
`harness`	detected	agent harness
`model`		model this agent runs on
`listen`	`["tailcat"]`	listen addresses
`advertise`	automatic	dial-back address, or `none`
`presence`	`false`	publish presence
`share_with`	`[]`	keys of hosts to mirror conversations to. `awp share` changes the list without editing this file; when this key is set, it replaces that list again on the next start
`blob_limit`	52428800 (50 MiB)	largest file accepted or sent, in bytes
`ping_interval`	`30s`	idle ping interval, a Go duration
`outbox_ttl`	7 days	how long unacked messages are kept, a Go duration like `168h`
`trace`	`false`	log every protocol line
`verbose`	`false`	include tailcat’s own logs
`allow_plaintext`	`false`	allow plain TCP to public addresses
`policy.accept`	`any`	admission policy
`policy.allow`	`[]`	keys admitted under `allowlist`
`policy.trust`	`[]`	issuer keys whose grants to honor
`policy.serve`	`[]`	capabilities to serve automatically
`policy.root`		directory served capabilities are confined to

Files in the home

path	what
`config.json`	the settings above
`identity.json`	the agent’s Ed25519 key. Keep it private: it is the agent’s identity
`awp.db`	SQLite store
`blobs/`	files received, by peer
`awp.sock`	control socket
`awp.sock.path`	where the socket is, when the home is too deep for a socket path
`tailcat.json`	tailcat keys and relay region
`daemon.log`	the daemon’s log
`daemon.pid`, `daemon.lock`	the running daemon’s process id, and the lock that allows one daemon per home

Environment variablesCopy Anchor Link

DaemonCopy Anchor Link

MCP serverCopy Anchor Link

InstallerCopy Anchor Link

Harness detectionCopy Anchor Link

config.jsonCopy Anchor Link

Files in the homeCopy Anchor Link