Environment variables

Configure Pods with environment variables for settings, secrets, and runtime information.

Environment variables are key-value pairs accessible within your container. Use them to pass configuration settings, secrets, and runtime information without hardcoding values into your code or container image.

Set environment variables

You can configure up to 50 environment variables per Pod.

During Pod creation:

1. Click Edit Template and expand Environment Variables.
2. Click Add Environment Variable and enter the key-value pair.

In Pod templates:

1. Navigate to My Templates.
2. Create or edit a template and add variables in the Environment Variables section.

Using secrets:

Reference Runpod secrets for sensitive data:

API_KEY={{ RUNPOD_SECRET_my_api_key }}
DATABASE_PASSWORD={{ RUNPOD_SECRET_db_password }}

Update environment variables

1. Go to Pods and click the three dots next to your Pod.
2. Select Edit Pod and expand Environment Variables.
3. Add or update variables and click Save.

Updating environment variables restarts your Pod, clearing all data outside your volume mount path (/workspace by default).

Access environment variables

In your Pod’s terminal:

echo $VARIABLE_NAME     # View specific variable
env | grep RUNPOD       # List Runpod variables

In your code:

Python

import os

model_name = os.environ.get('MODEL_NAME', 'default-model')
api_key = os.environ['API_KEY']  # Raises error if not set

JavaScript

const modelName = process.env.MODEL_NAME || 'default-model';
const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

Bash

MODEL_NAME=${MODEL_NAME:-"default-model"}
echo "Using model: $MODEL_NAME"

Runpod-provided variables

Runpod automatically sets these environment variables:

Variable	Description
RUNPOD_POD_ID	Unique Pod identifier.
RUNPOD_DC_ID	Data center identifier.
RUNPOD_POD_HOSTNAME	Server hostname.
RUNPOD_GPU_COUNT	Number of GPUs available.
RUNPOD_CPU_COUNT	Number of CPUs available.
RUNPOD_PUBLIC_IP	Public IP address (if available).
RUNPOD_TCP_PORT_22	Public port mapped to SSH.
RUNPOD_VOLUME_ID	Attached network volume ID.
RUNPOD_API_KEY	Pod-scoped API key.
PUBLIC_KEY	Authorized SSH public keys.
CUDA_VERSION	Installed CUDA version.
PYTORCH_VERSION	Installed PyTorch version.

Best practices

• Use secrets for sensitive data: Never hardcode API keys or passwords. Use Runpod secrets.
• Validate required variables: Check that critical variables are set before your application starts.
• Provide defaults: Use fallback values for non-critical configuration.
• Use descriptive names: Prefer DATABASE_PASSWORD over DB_PASS.
• Group related variables: Use consistent prefixes like DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_NAME.