Reference

Configuration

Every environment variable and config key, grouped by tool.

brico CLI

Variable	Description
`BRICO_VAULT`	Vault location. Overrides vaultPath in the config; overridden by --vault
`BRICO_PUBLISH_REPO`	Repository for publish and pull. Overrides publishRepo; overridden by --repo

The config file keys are in Manifest and project files.

Install script

Variable	Default	Description
`BRICO_VERSION`	latest	Version to install, without the leading v
`BRICO_INSTALL_DIR`	`~/.local/bin`	Where to put the binary
`BRICO_RELEASE_BASE`	GitHub releases	Alternative download location, such as an internal mirror
`GITHUB_TOKEN`	—	Used to look up the latest release, if set

Builder

Set these in apps/workbench/.env.local. Keys stay on the server. Never prefix them with NEXT_PUBLIC_.

Model providers

The Builder only uses free tiers. Add as many keys as you have, and each one becomes a fallback.

Provider	Key	Default chat / slot model	Guard
`openrouter`	`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	`openrouter/free`	Only `openrouter/free` or `:free` models
`mistral`	`MISTRAL_API_KEY`	`mistral-small-latest` / `codestral-latest`	Experiment plan
`google`	`GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY`	`gemini-2.5-flash`	Flash models only
`groq`	`GROQ_API_KEY`	`llama-3.3-70b-versatile`	Free tier
`local`	none; set `BRICO_LOCAL_MODEL`	`qwen2.5:3b` / `BRICO_LOCAL_SLOT_MODEL`	Any OpenAI-compatible server; no rate limit

Model chain

Variable	Default	Description
`BRICO_AI_PROVIDER`	`openrouter`	First provider tried
`BRICO_AI_MODEL`	`openrouter/free`	Interview model
`BRICO_AI_SLOT_MODEL`	BRICO_AI_MODEL	Model that writes function bodies
`BRICO_AI_FALLBACKS`	—	Explicit order, for example `mistral:codestral-latest,groq`
`BRICO_AI_AUTO_FALLBACK`	`true`	Use every other provider with a key as a fallback
`BRICO_LOCAL_MODEL`	—	Turns on the local provider as the last fallback
`BRICO_LOCAL_SLOT_MODEL`	—	Local model for function bodies, for example `qwen2.5-coder:3b`
`BRICO_LOCAL_URL`	`http://localhost:11434/v1`	OpenAI-compatible endpoint (Ollama by default)
`BRICO_LOCAL_API_KEY`	—	Key for that endpoint, if it needs one
`BRICO_LOCAL_TOOLS`	`on`	Set to `off` if your local model doesn’t support tool calls

When a provider fails (rate limit, no quota, outage or timeout), the step moves to the next model in the chain without showing an error. openrouter/free is resolved into a ranked list of free chat models from OpenRouter’s public catalogue, refreshed hourly.

Server and access

Variable	Description
`BRICO_APP_URL`	Public URL of the Builder, for example `http://localhost:3000`
`BRICO_BUILDER_ACCESS_KEY`	Optional shared key for the Builder endpoints. The UI asks for it once per tab
`BRICO_ACCESS_MODE`	`token` requires a personal invite to use the Builder. The Vault stays public
`BRICO_SESSION_SECRET`	Secret that signs invite sessions in token mode
`BRICO_REQUEST_ACCESS_URL`	Where the access page sends people without an invite
`BRICO_PUBLIC_DEMO`	`true` marks the Builder as a shared demo and applies per-person limits: 3 builds an hour, 40 interview steps and 6 gate re-runs every 10 minutes
`BRICO_MAX_GENERATED`	In public demo mode, keep at most this many generated bricks and remove the oldest. Shipped bricks are never removed

apps/workbench/.env.local

BRICO_AI_PROVIDER=openrouter
BRICO_AI_MODEL=openrouter/free
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-…
MISTRAL_API_KEY=…                    # becomes a fallback automatically
BRICO_LOCAL_MODEL=qwen2.5:3b         # last resort, on your machine
BRICO_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

Managing invites

With BRICO_ACCESS_MODE=token, create, list and revoke invites on the server:

bash

node scripts/brico-access.mjs create "Ada Lovelace" --days 30   # prints a one-time link
node scripts/brico-access.mjs list
node scripts/brico-access.mjs revoke <id-or-name>

Only a hash of each invite is stored. The link sets a signed, HttpOnly cookie that lasts until the invite expires (at most 30 days per sign-in). Revoking takes effect on the person’s next request. Rate limits apply per person, and each build records who ran it.

Worker

Variable	Required	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	yes	Postgres connection string. Use a least-privileged role
`MISTRAL_API_KEY`	yes	Key for code generation
`MISTRAL_MODEL`	no	Defaults to `codestral-latest`
`BRICO_VAULT`	no	Where finished bricks are published

Missing values are read from db/.env.local. Command-line flags are in Worker.

This website

Variable	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_BUILDER_URL`	Builder used by `/builder`. Default `https://builder.bricowerx.com`