Reticle Docs: verification for AI coding agents

Reticle works with none of these set. Each one changes a single behaviour, and most are read once, by the process named in the table: the daemon at startup, the CLI command you run, or a build plugin when your dev server starts. A daemon that is already running keeps the values it started with, so after changing a daemon setting run npx @reticlehq/server restart.

Connection and ports

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_PORT`	daemon, CLI, build plugins	The bridge and daemon port. `.reticle.json`’s `port` sets it per project; this overrides it.
`RETICLE_HOST`	daemon	The bridge bind host. Loopback by default. Anything else exposes the bridge beyond this machine, so it is opt-in.
`RETICLE_TOKEN`	daemon	A shared secret the page must present when it connects. The pairing token covers this automatically; set it only for a hand-wired setup.
`RETICLE_PAIRING_TOKEN_DIR`	daemon, `init`, `verify`, `try`, `open`, build plugins	Where the auto-provisioned pairing token lives. Defaults to `~/.reticle`. Move it for CI or a read-only home folder. Use an absolute path. A relative path is resolved against the folder the process runs in, and Reticle writes a warning. A Windows path such as `C:\Users\me\.reticle` on Linux, WSL or a container is not used: Reticle uses `~/.reticle` and writes a warning.
`RETICLE_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`	daemon	Comma-separated WebSocket origins the bridge accepts.
`RETICLE_STATE_DIR`	daemon, CLI	Daemon state: pid files, the discovery registry and logs. Defaults to `~/.reticle`.
`RETICLE_DAEMON_READY_TIMEOUT_MS`	MCP proxy	How long the MCP proxy waits for a daemon to come up before reporting it unreachable.
`RETICLE_NO_VERSION_MATCH`	CLI	`1` turns off version matching: when the project’s SDK is a different major version from the CLI you ran, the CLI normally hands the command to the matching server version.
`RETICLE_DEV`	`@reticlehq/next`	Instrument even when `NODE_ENV` says production, for `NODE_ENV=production next dev`.

Daemon lifetime

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_IDLE_SHUTDOWN_MS`	daemon	How long the daemon waits with no agent, no page and no lease before it exits. `0` keeps it running.
`RETICLE_IDLE_ATTACHED_MS`	daemon	The same wait while an agent is attached, which is longer so a slow install or a thinking human is not cut off. Derived from the base when unset. An agent that attached in the last 30 minutes counts as attached, if the daemon has served a tool call.
`RETICLE_MCP_PROXY_IDLE_MS`	MCP proxy	How long an abandoned MCP stdio proxy waits before it exits. `0` disables the watcher.
`RETICLE_JOURNAL`	daemon	Turns the causal journal off (`0`, `false`, `off`) or on. On by default.

Browser

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_CDP_URL`	daemon	Attach to a browser that is already running, over CDP, instead of launching one.
`RETICLE_CHROMIUM_PATH`	daemon, `drive`, `verify`, `doctor`	The Chromium executable to launch, for a machine where Playwright’s own build is missing and cannot be installed and there is no Chrome or Edge in the usual place. When set, nothing else is tried: no Playwright build, no Chrome or Edge, no install. A path that does not exist, is not a file, or is not executable is refused with a message naming it and saying which. `doctor` reports on this path instead of the bundled build.
`RETICLE_MAX_CONTEXTS`	daemon	The most leased headless browser contexts the pool runs at once.
`RETICLE_MAX_MESSAGES_PER_SECOND`	daemon	Events per second a page may send before the bridge starts sampling them. It never disconnects. Raise it for a legitimately busy app, such as a streaming dashboard.

Tools and output

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_ADVERTISE_ALL_TOOLS`	daemon	Advertise 30 tools directly instead of the default ten, under their unmerged names (`reticle_snapshot` instead of `reticle_look { action: "page" }`, and so on). Everything is reachable either way, through `reticle_run`.
`RETICLE_VERIFY_SURFACE`	daemon	Advertise the smallest surface that can still produce a verdict.
`RETICLE_TOOL_PROFILE`	daemon	Retired. Any value it used to accept still resolves to a sensible surface, and the daemon says which one it used instead.
`RETICLE_ENCODING`	daemon	How tool results are written for the agent. Compact JSON by default; `pretty` indents it, and `toon` is a denser tabular form. The typed result is the same in every encoding.
`RETICLE_NO_UPSELL`	daemon	Silences every upgrade hint.

Gate and CI

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_SKIP_GATE`	`reticle gate --hook`	Lets an agent’s stop hook proceed past a failing gate. The skip is printed and recorded, never silent. It does not affect `reticle gate` without `--hook`, which is what CI runs.
`RETICLE_NO_CI_HINT`	`reticle gate`, `reticle verify`	`1` stops the one line these commands write to stderr at the end of a run in a CI runner or a container. The line names the pull request check and `https://reticle.sh/ci`. It never prints in an interactive terminal or for `gate --hook`, and it makes no network call.
`RETICLE_VERIFY_TOKEN`	`reticle serve --http`	The bearer token the optional HTTP verify endpoint requires.
`RETICLE_SECRET_<FIELD>`	replay, verify, crawl	The value typed into a password or secret field at replay. A recorded flow never stores it. See what is recorded.

Cloud and the autonomous drive

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_API_KEY`	CLI, daemon	The API key minted on the platform.
`RETICLE_CLOUD_KEY`	CLI, daemon	The key’s earlier name. Still honoured.
`RETICLE_CLOUD_URL`, `RETICLE_URL`	CLI, daemon	The platform host. `RETICLE_CLOUD_URL` wins when both are set.
`RETICLE_PROMPT_CAPTURE`	prompt hook	`0`, `false`, `off` or `no` stops the agent hooks on this machine from keeping anything: prompts, tool calls, the model and closing messages. `"promptCapture": false` in `.reticle.json` does the same for one project. See prompt capture.
`RETICLE_BACKGROUND_SYNC`	daemon	`0`, `false`, `off` or `no` stops the daemon’s background sync on this machine. `"backgroundSync": false` in `.reticle.json` does the same for one project. `reticle sync` still sends.
`RETICLE_SYNC_INTERVAL_MS`	`reticle sync --watch`	How often the watching sync runs. Every 60 seconds by default.
`RETICLE_HARNESS_MAX_STEPS`	autonomous drive	A hard ceiling on steps in one drive. It bounds cost. The drive itself runs on the platform and needs a linked project; each drive spends credits from the workspace’s allowance.
`RETICLE_DRIVE_ID`	autonomous drive	The free drive the platform granted, sent with every Harness call. `reticle try` sets it; you do not need to.
`RETICLE_SECRET_<FIELD>`	autonomous drive, replay	The value of a secret field, typed in on this machine. Only the field’s name goes to the platform.

Licensing

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_LICENSE_KEY`	daemon	The Enterprise licence key. See licence activation.

Telemetry and feedback

Variable	Read by	What it does
`RETICLE_TELEMETRY`	CLI, daemon	`0`, `false` or `off` turns anonymous usage telemetry off. `DO_NOT_TRACK` is honoured too. See telemetry.
`RETICLE_TELEMETRY_FILE`	CLI, daemon	Write telemetry to a local JSONL file and send nothing, so you can read exactly what would be sent.
`RETICLE_TELEMETRY_URL`, `RETICLE_TELEMETRY_KEY`	CLI, daemon	Send telemetry to a different host or project, such as an EU region or your own instance.
`RETICLE_FEEDBACK`	daemon	Turns off the feedback channel only. Usage telemetry follows `RETICLE_TELEMETRY`.
`RETICLE_INSTALL_SOURCE`	`init`, installer, plugin	Names the published route an install came through: `skill_file`, `npx_skill`, `plugin`, `install_script`, `docs_site`, `readme`, `blog` or `cli_direct`. Any other value is sent as `unknown`. Self-declared, carries nothing about you, and changes nothing about the install.
`RETICLE_TRACE`	daemon, CLI	Verbose internal tracing for people working on Reticle itself. Off by default.

Tools

Beyond the loop

CLI commands

Packages

Grammar

Long form

Environment variables