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openai-serve is configured via environment variables. You can use apps/openai-serve/.envrc.sample (direnv) for local development.

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Environment variables

NameDefaultNotes
OPENAI_SERVE_HTTP_ADDR127.0.0.1:8080HTTP listen host:port
OPENAI_SERVE_LCPD_GRPC_ADDR127.0.0.1:50051lcpd-grpcd gRPC address
OPENAI_SERVE_API_KEYS(empty)If set, require Authorization: Bearer ...
OPENAI_SERVE_DEFAULT_PEER_ID(empty)Default LCP peer id (66 hex chars)
OPENAI_SERVE_MODEL_MAP(empty)model=peer_id;model2=peer_id
OPENAI_SERVE_MODEL_ALLOWLIST(empty)Comma-separated model IDs
OPENAI_SERVE_ALLOW_UNLISTED_MODELSfalseIf true, skip model validation
OPENAI_SERVE_MAX_PRICE_MSAT0If >0, reject quotes exceeding this
OPENAI_SERVE_TIMEOUT_QUOTE5sgRPC quote timeout
OPENAI_SERVE_TIMEOUT_EXECUTE120sgRPC execute timeout
OPENAI_SERVE_LOG_LEVELinfodebug, info, warn, error

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Logging (privacy)

openai-serve logs are intentionally designed to avoid persisting raw user content.
  • Logs MUST NOT contain raw prompts (messages[].content) or raw model outputs.
  • info logs include request/job metadata (model, peer/job ids, price, timings, byte/token counts).
  • debug may include HTTP request logs (including client_ip); treat debug logs as more sensitive.

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Routing and peer selection

For a given model, the Provider peer is selected in this order:
  1. OPENAI_SERVE_MODEL_MAP (if the mapped peer is connected/LCP-ready)
  2. OPENAI_SERVE_DEFAULT_PEER_ID (if set and connected/LCP-ready)
  3. A peer that advertises the model in its manifest supported_tasks (if any)
  4. Fallback to the first connected peer
If there are no connected LCP peers, the request fails.

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Model validation

Model validation is designed to prevent accidental misrouting or unexpected charges.
  • If OPENAI_SERVE_MODEL_ALLOWLIST is set: model must be in the allowlist unless OPENAI_SERVE_ALLOW_UNLISTED_MODELS=true.
  • Otherwise: if any connected peers advertise supported_tasks, the model must be advertised by at least one peer. If no peers advertise supported_tasks, validation is skipped to keep the gateway usable.

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Safety limits

  • OPENAI_SERVE_MAX_PRICE_MSAT: upper-bound quote prices (rejects quotes above this value)
  • OPENAI_SERVE_TIMEOUT_QUOTE / OPENAI_SERVE_TIMEOUT_EXECUTE: bounds quote/execution duration

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Authentication

If OPENAI_SERVE_API_KEYS is set (comma-separated keys), all /v1/* endpoints require: 
Authorization: Bearer <key>
/healthz is intentionally not protected (useful for local probes); protect it at the reverse-proxy layer if needed.