Environment Variables Reference

2 min read

Consolidated environment variables that affect Web Search. Exact Helm value paths vary by chart version — confirm against the Search Proxy and assistants-core charts for your release.

Path	Pod	What to put here
Search Proxy (recommended)	`search-proxy`	Provider secrets and corporate egress from `web/settings`
Legacy	`assistants-core`	Provider secrets and `PROXY_*` when Search Proxy is not enabled
Client / config (both modes)	`assistants-core`	`SEARCH_PROXY_BASE_URL`, activation lists, modes, kill switch, Custom API

Core / activation (`assistants-core`)

Variable	Typical location	Purpose
`SEARCH_PROXY_BASE_URL`	assistants-core	Enables Search Proxy client (e.g. `http://search-proxy.<ns>.svc.cluster.local`)
`ACTIVE_SEARCH_ENGINES`	assistants-core	Visibility list: `google`, `brave`, `perplexity`, `bing`, `vertexai`, `custom_api`
`ACTIVE_INHOUSE_CRAWLERS`	assistants-core	Built-in readers; default `basic` (no `crawl4ai`)
`WEB_SEARCH_MODE`	assistants-core	Default `v1` / `v2` / `v3`
`DISABLE_WEB_SEARCH_TOOL`	assistants-core	Kill switch

Search Proxy (recommended)

Source: Search Proxy client unique_search_proxy_client/web/settings.

Standard search variables (Search Proxy)

Variable	Engine
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY`	Google
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID`	Google
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_ENDPOINT`	Google (optional)
`BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY`	Brave (proxy-only)
`BRAVE_SEARCH_API_ENDPOINT`	Brave (optional)
`PERPLEXITY_SEARCH_API_KEY`	Perplexity (proxy-only)
`PERPLEXITY_SEARCH_API_ENDPOINT`	Perplexity (optional)

Grounding variables (Search Proxy)

Bing (`BING_AGENT_*`)

Variable	Purpose
`BING_AGENT_ENDPOINT`	Foundry / project endpoint
`BING_AGENT_BING_RESOURCE_CONNECTION_STRING`	Bing grounding connection
`BING_AGENT_BING_AGENT_MODEL`	Auto-provision model deployment
`BING_AGENT_AGENT_ID`	Optional agent id
`BING_AGENT_AZURE_IDENTITY_CREDENTIAL_TYPE`	Azure identity mode
`BING_AGENT_AZURE_IDENTITY_VALIDATE_TOKEN_URL`	Optional token audience
`BING_AGENT_USE_PRIVATE_ENDPOINT_TRANSPORT`	Optional private-endpoint transport
`BING_AGENT_DEFAULT_MARKET`	Fallback Bing market when Preferred region and language is not configured for the Space (for example, `fr-CH`); the Space setting takes precedence.

VertexAI (`VERTEXAI_AGENT_*`)

Variable	Purpose
`VERTEXAI_AGENT_CREDENTIAL_TYPE`	`workload_identity` or `service_account`
`VERTEXAI_AGENT_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_CREDENTIALS`	Optional; base64-encoded SA JSON when using `service_account`
`VERTEXAI_AGENT_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_SCOPES`	Optional

Reader variables (Search Proxy)

Variable	Reader
`FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`	Firecrawl
`FIRECRAWL_API_ENDPOINT`	Firecrawl (optional)
`FIRECRAWL_API_VERSION`	Firecrawl (optional)
`JINA_API_KEY`	Jina
`JINA_DEPLOYMENT`	Jina (optional)
`JINA_API_DOMAIN`	Jina (optional)
`TAVILY_API_KEY`	Tavily
`TAVILY_API_ENDPOINT`	Tavily (optional)

Corporate HTTP proxy (Search Proxy) — `HTTP_CLIENT_*`

See Proxy Configuration.

HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_AUTH_MODE, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_PROTOCOL, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_HOST, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_PORT, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_HEADERS, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_SSL_CA_BUNDLE_PATH, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_USERNAME, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_PASSWORD, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_SSL_CERT_PATH, HTTP_CLIENT_PROXY_SSL_KEY_PATH, HTTP_CLIENT_POOL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, HTTP_CLIENT_MAX_CONNECTIONS, HTTP_CLIENT_MAX_KEEPALIVE_CONNECTIONS

Direct provider access from `assistants-core`

Use when SEARCH_PROXY_BASE_URL is unset. Brave / Perplexity are not available.

Standard search / readers (direct from `assistants-core`)

Variable	Engine / reader
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY`	Google
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID`	Google
`GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_ENDPOINT`	Google (optional)
`FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`	Firecrawl reader
`JINA_API_KEY`	Jina reader
`JINA_SEARCH_API_ENDPOINT`	Jina (optional, older core)
`JINA_READER_API_ENDPOINT`	Jina (optional, older core)
`TAVILY_API_KEY`	Tavily reader

Grounding (direct from `assistants-core`)

Bing

Variable	Purpose
`AZURE_AI_PROJECT_ENDPOINT`	Foundry endpoint
`AZURE_AI_ASSISTANT_ID`	Optional agent id
`AZURE_AI_BING_RESOURCE_CONNECTION_STRING`	Bing connection
`AZURE_AI_BING_AGENT_MODEL`	Auto-provision model
`BING_AGENT_DEFAULT_MARKET`	Fallback Bing market when Preferred region and language is not configured for the Space (for example, `fr-CH`); the Space setting takes precedence.
`DEFAULT_AZURE_IDENTITY_CREDENTIAL_TYPE`	Azure identity mode
`DEFAULT_AZURE_IDENTITY_CREDENTIALS_VALIDATE_TOKEN_URL`	Optional token audience
`UNIQUE_PRIVATE_ENDPOINT_TRANSPORT_ENABLED`	Optional private-endpoint transport

VertexAI

Variable / mechanism	Purpose
GCP Workload Identity / ADC	Production auth without SA JSON
`VERTEXAI_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_CREDENTIALS`	Dev/alternate; SA JSON
`VERTEXAI_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_SCOPES`	Optional

Corporate HTTP proxy (`assistants-core`) — `PROXY_*`

See Proxy Configuration.

PROXY_AUTH_MODE, PROXY_PROTOCOL, PROXY_HOST, PROXY_PORT, PROXY_HEADERS, PROXY_SSL_CA_BUNDLE_PATH, PROXY_USERNAME, PROXY_PASSWORD, PROXY_SSL_CERT_PATH, PROXY_SSL_KEY_PATH

Custom API (always on `assistants-core`)

Variable	Purpose
`CUSTOM_WEB_SEARCH_API_*`	Custom API search (never via Search Proxy)

Removed / obsolete for search

Do not treat JINA_* / TAVILY_* / FIRECRAWL_* as search engine activation — they activate readers.
Do not document crawl4ai in ACTIVE_INHOUSE_CRAWLERS.

Environment Variables Reference

Core / activation (assistants-core)

Search Proxy (recommended)

Standard search variables (Search Proxy)

Grounding variables (Search Proxy)

Bing (BING_AGENT_*)

VertexAI (VERTEXAI_AGENT_*)

Reader variables (Search Proxy)

Corporate HTTP proxy (Search Proxy) — HTTP_CLIENT_*

Direct provider access from assistants-core

Standard search / readers (direct from assistants-core)

Grounding (direct from assistants-core)