Environment Variables

Required variables

These variables must be set for the Probe to start:

Variable	Description	Example
GOVERN_API_KEY	Your GOVERN platform API key	gvn_live_abcdef...
GOVERN_ORG_ID	Your organization ID	org_01HXYZ...
UPSTREAM_URL	Base URL of the AI model API	https://api.anthropic.com

Connection and proxy

Variable	Default	Description
PROXY_PORT	4020	Port the Probe listens on
UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT_MS	30000	Upstream request timeout in ms
UPSTREAM_MAX_BODY_BYTES	10485760	Maximum request body (10MB)

GOVERN platform

Variable	Default	Description
GOVERN_API_URL	https://api.govern.archetypal.ai	Telemetry API endpoint
GOVERN_ENV	production	Environment label in telemetry
GOVERN_PROBE_ID	(auto-generated UUID)	Human-readable probe label

Scoring

Variable	Default	Description
SCORING_MODE	log	log, flag, or block
SCORING_SECURITY_ENABLED	true	Enable security scoring
SCORING_SECURITY_THRESHOLD	0.70	Flag/block threshold (0.0–1.0)
SCORING_BIAS_ENABLED	true	Enable bias scoring
SCORING_BIAS_THRESHOLD	0.60	Flag/block threshold
SCORING_ACCURACY_ENABLED	true	Enable accuracy scoring
SCORING_ACCURACY_THRESHOLD	0.65	Flag/block threshold
SCORING_DRIFT_ENABLED	true	Enable drift detection
SCORING_DRIFT_THRESHOLD	0.25	Flag/block threshold
SCORING_COST_ENABLED	true	Enable cost tracking
SCORING_COST_BUDGET_TOKENS	(none)	Token budget per hour
SCORING_COST_BUDGET_USD	(none)	Spend budget per hour in USD

Telemetry

Variable	Default	Description
TELEMETRY_FLUSH_INTERVAL_MS	5000	Ring buffer flush interval
TELEMETRY_BATCH_SIZE	50	Events per telemetry batch
TELEMETRY_RING_BUFFER_SIZE	1000	Max buffered events
TELEMETRY_MAX_RETRIES	3	Flush retry count before drop
TELEMETRY_INCLUDE_CONTENT	false	Include prompt/response text

Caution

Setting TELEMETRY_INCLUDE_CONTENT=true transmits full prompt and response text to the GOVERN platform. Ensure this is permitted by your data handling policies before enabling.

Logging

Variable	Default	Description
LOG_LEVEL	info	debug, info, warn, error
LOG_FORMAT	json	json or text

Health endpoints

Variable	Default	Description
HEALTH_LIVENESS_PATH	/healthz	Liveness probe path
HEALTH_READINESS_PATH	/readyz	Readiness probe path
HEALTH_METRICS_PATH	/metrics	Prometheus metrics path

Example .env file

# Required
GOVERN_API_KEY=gvn_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
GOVERN_ORG_ID=org_01HXYZABCDEFGHIJ
UPSTREAM_URL=https://api.anthropic.com

# Scoring
SCORING_MODE=flag
SCORING_SECURITY_THRESHOLD=0.70
SCORING_BIAS_THRESHOLD=0.60
SCORING_ACCURACY_THRESHOLD=0.65

# Telemetry
TELEMETRY_FLUSH_INTERVAL_MS=5000
TELEMETRY_BATCH_SIZE=50

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info
GOVERN_ENV=production

Docker Secrets (Swarm)

For Docker Swarm deployments, use secrets instead of environment variables for sensitive values:

echo "gvn_live_xxxx" | docker secret create govern_api_key -
echo "org_xxxx" | docker secret create govern_org_id -

services:
  govern-probe:
    image: archetypal/govern-probe:latest
    secrets:
      - govern_api_key
      - govern_org_id
    environment:
      - GOVERN_API_KEY_FILE=/run/secrets/govern_api_key
      - GOVERN_ORG_ID_FILE=/run/secrets/govern_org_id

secrets:
  govern_api_key:
    external: true
  govern_org_id:
    external: true