Environment Variables for Portrix API Configuration

The recommended way to configure Portrix in your application is through environment variables. Externalizing credentials and configuration from your source code keeps secrets out of version control, makes it easy to switch between environments (development, staging, production), and follows security best practices.

Core variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`PORTRIX_API_KEY`	Yes	—	Your Portrix API key. Obtain this from the dashboard under Settings > API Keys.
`PORTRIX_BASE_URL`	No	`https://api.portrix.ai/v1`	The API base URL. Override this for custom deployments or local proxies.
`PORTRIX_DEFAULT_MODEL`	No	—	A default model ID (e.g. `openai/gpt-4o`) used when your code doesn’t specify one.

Never commit .env files containing real API keys to version control. Add .env to your .gitignore immediately after creating it.

Setting variables

macOS / Linux
Windows
Docker
.env File

Add the following lines to your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.bash_profile) to make the variables available in every terminal session:

export PORTRIX_API_KEY="your_portrix_api_key_here"
export PORTRIX_BASE_URL="https://api.portrix.ai/v1"
export PORTRIX_DEFAULT_MODEL="openai/gpt-4o"

After editing the file, reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc   # or ~/.bashrc, depending on your shell

To set a variable only for the current terminal session (without persisting it), run the export commands directly in your terminal.

Command Prompt (current session only):

set PORTRIX_API_KEY=your_portrix_api_key_here
set PORTRIX_BASE_URL=https://api.portrix.ai/v1

PowerShell (current session only):

$env:PORTRIX_API_KEY = "your_portrix_api_key_here"
$env:PORTRIX_BASE_URL = "https://api.portrix.ai/v1"

System-wide (persistent): Open System Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables, then add new User or System variables using the GUI. Changes take effect in new terminal windows.

Pass variables at run time with -e:

docker run -e PORTRIX_API_KEY="your_portrix_api_key_here" \
           -e PORTRIX_BASE_URL="https://api.portrix.ai/v1" \
           your-image-name

Use an env_file in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    image: your-image-name
    env_file:
      - .env

Store your variables in a .env file at the project root (and add it to .gitignore). Docker Compose will load them automatically.

Create a .env file in the root of your project:

PORTRIX_API_KEY=your_portrix_api_key_here
PORTRIX_BASE_URL=https://api.portrix.ai/v1
PORTRIX_DEFAULT_MODEL=openai/gpt-4o

Then use a library like python-dotenv (Python) or dotenv (Node.js) to load the file at application startup. See the examples below.Add .env to .gitignore to prevent accidental commits:

echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Loading in Python

Use the built-in os module to read environment variables, and python-dotenv to load a .env file during local development.

import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv  # pip install python-dotenv
import openai

# Load variables from .env (no-op if the file doesn't exist)
load_dotenv()

client = openai.OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ.get("PORTRIX_API_KEY"),
    base_url=os.environ.get("PORTRIX_BASE_URL", "https://api.portrix.ai/v1"),
)

default_model = os.environ.get("PORTRIX_DEFAULT_MODEL", "openai/gpt-4o")

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model=default_model,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

Loading in Node.js

Use process.env to access variables and the dotenv package to load a .env file.

import "dotenv/config"; // npm install dotenv
import OpenAI from "openai"; // npm install openai

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.PORTRIX_API_KEY,
  baseURL: process.env.PORTRIX_BASE_URL ?? "https://api.portrix.ai/v1",
});

const defaultModel = process.env.PORTRIX_DEFAULT_MODEL ?? "openai/gpt-4o";

const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: defaultModel,
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello!" }],
});

console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);

CI/CD

Keep secrets out of your code and CI configuration files by using your platform’s native secret management:

GitHub Actions

Store your API key in Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions as a repository secret named PORTRIX_API_KEY. Reference it in your workflow:

env:
  PORTRIX_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PORTRIX_API_KEY }}

Vercel

Add PORTRIX_API_KEY under Project Settings > Environment Variables in the Vercel dashboard. Select which environments (Production, Preview, Development) should receive the variable. Vercel injects it automatically at build and runtime.

For other platforms (Railway, Render, AWS, GCP, Azure), use the equivalent secrets or environment configuration feature — the variable names remain the same regardless of platform.

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Environment Variables for Portrix API Configuration

Core variables

Setting variables

Loading in Python

Loading in Node.js

CI/CD

GitHub Actions

Vercel

​Core variables

​Setting variables

​Loading in Python

​Loading in Node.js

​CI/CD

GitHub Actions

Vercel

Core variables

Setting variables

Loading in Python

Loading in Node.js

CI/CD