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Environment Variable Setup

Sifaka uses environment variables to manage API keys for various LLM providers. This guide explains how to set up your environment.

Quick Start

  1. Copy the example environment file: 

    cp .env.example .env

  2. Edit .env and add your API keys: 

    OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key-here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-anthropic-api-key-here
GEMINI_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-key-here
GROQ_API_KEY=your-groq-api-key-here

Automatic Loading

Sifaka automatically loads environment variables from .env files using python-dotenv:

  • When importing sifaka: from sifaka import improve
  • In example scripts that include load_dotenv()
  • In the LLM client module

Provider Requirements

Not all API keys are required. You only need keys for the providers you plan to use:

  • OpenAI: Required for GPT-3.5, GPT-4 models (default)
  • Anthropic: Required for Claude models
  • Google Gemini: Required for Gemini models
  • Groq: Required for fast open-source model inference

Security Notes

  • Never commit .env files to version control
  • The .env file is already in .gitignore
  • Use .env.example as a template for sharing required variables
  • Keep your API keys secure and rotate them regularly

Additional Configuration

Optional environment variables:

  • GUARDRAILS_API_KEY: For GuardrailsAI validators
  • LOGFIRE_TOKEN: For observability with Logfire
  • REDIS_URL: Redis connection string (default: redis://localhost:6379)
  • REDIS_PASSWORD: Redis authentication password