Environment Variables

Connection

These are the only variables most users need:

Variable	Description
`AMFS_HTTP_URL`	Your SenseLab API URL (e.g. `https://amfs-login.sense-lab.ai`)
`AMFS_API_KEY`	Your API key (from Dashboard → Settings → API Keys)

When AMFS_HTTP_URL is set, the MCP server and CLI route all memory operations through the authenticated HTTP API. The Python and TypeScript SDKs do not read these variables — pass an HttpAdapter explicitly instead, as described in Configuration.

Agent Identity

Variable	Description	Default
`AMFS_AGENT_ID`	Agent identity for headless contexts (CI, scripts, servers)	Auto-detected
`AMFS_NAMESPACE`	Memory namespace for isolation	`default`

Identity is auto-detected from the IDE environment (Cursor, Claude Code), and those signals take priority over AMFS_AGENT_ID — so the variable only applies in headless environments like CI or deploy scripts. To name an agent running inside an IDE, call amfs_set_identity.

MCP Server

Variable	Description	Default
`AMFS_TRANSPORT`	Transport protocol: `stdio` or `http`	`stdio`
`AMFS_HOST`	MCP HTTP server bind host	`0.0.0.0`
`AMFS_PORT`	MCP HTTP server bind port	`8000`
`AMFS_PATH`	MCP HTTP server URL path	`/mcp`
`AMFS_TTL_SWEEP_INTERVAL`	Seconds between TTL sweep runs	—

Pro Features

Variable	Description	Default
`AMFS_TRACE_SIGNING_KEY`	HMAC key for immutable trace integrity (traces are signed and Merkle-chained)	—
`AMFS_OTEL_ENDPOINT`	OpenTelemetry collector endpoint (gRPC)	`http://localhost:4317`
`AMFS_OTEL_SERVICE_NAME`	Service name for OTel spans	`amfs`
`AMFS_AUTO_EXTRACT`	Enable automatic entity/relationship extraction from traces	`false`
`AMFS_EXTRACTION_MODEL`	LLM model for extraction	`gpt-4o-mini`
`AMFS_EXTRACTION_PROVIDER`	LLM provider (`openai`, `anthropic`)	`openai`
`AMFS_CORTEX_LLM_MODEL`	LLM model for narrative digest compilation	`gpt-4o-mini`
`AMFS_ML_MODEL_DIR`	Directory for learned ranking model checkpoints	—

Auto-Detection (Read-Only)

These are set by IDEs and read by SenseLab for agent identity detection. You don’t set these yourself.

Variable	Set By	Used For
`CURSOR_SESSION_ID`	Cursor	Detecting Cursor environment
`VSCODE_PID`	VS Code / Cursor	Detecting VS Code/Cursor environment
`CLAUDE_CODE_SESSION`	Claude Code	Detecting Claude Code environment

Self-Hosted Only

These variables are for self-hosted SenseLab deployments. You don’t need them on the managed platform.

Variable	Description	Default
`AMFS_POSTGRES_DSN`	Postgres connection string	—
`AMFS_DATA_DIR`	Filesystem data directory	`.amfs`
`AMFS_S3_BUCKET`	S3 bucket name	—
`AMFS_S3_PREFIX`	S3 object key prefix	`amfs/`
`AMFS_S3_ENDPOINT`	Custom S3 endpoint (ACS, MinIO, R2)	—
`AWS_DEFAULT_REGION`	AWS region	`us-east-1`
`AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	AWS access key	—
`AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS secret key	—
`AMFS_HTTP_HOST`	HTTP server bind host	`0.0.0.0`
`AMFS_HTTP_PORT`	HTTP server bind port	`8080`
`AMFS_API_KEYS`	Comma-separated API keys (self-hosted auth)	—
`AMFS_CORS_ORIGINS`	CORS allowed origins	`*`
`AMFS_CONNECTOR_{NAME}_SECRET`	HMAC secret for webhook connector verification	—
`AMFS_CORTEX_DEBOUNCE_MS`	Digest recompilation debounce (ms)	`3000`
`AMFS_PRO_URL`	Pro API URL for hybrid deployments	—
`AMFS_PRO_API_KEY`	API key for the Pro API	—
`AMFS_API_URL`	Dashboard: SenseLab server URL (server-side)	`http://localhost:8080`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_AMFS_API_URL`	Dashboard: SenseLab server URL (client-side)	—
`AMFS_ROOT`	Dashboard: path to `.amfs` directory	—
`AMFS_DEMO`	Dashboard: force demo mode	`false`
`AMFS_TEST_PG_DSN`	Postgres DSN for integration tests	—

​Connection

​Agent Identity

​MCP Server

​Pro Features

​Auto-Detection (Read-Only)

​Self-Hosted Only