# Configuration and environment

Agent Mission Control developer docs > Claude skill, self-hosted

> The two credential paths and every environment variable the generated agent reads.

**Before you start:** A generated agent directory with `.env.example`.

Copy `.env.example` to `.env` for local runs. `__main__.py` and every test script load it. In a deployed container, set the same variables as Container Apps secrets and env vars, or pass `--env-file` to `docker run`.

## Claude credentials: pick one path

### Path A: Anthropic API direct

`.env`
```bash
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<your-anthropic-api-key>
```

### Path B: Claude on Microsoft Foundry

`.env`
```bash
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY=1
ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_RESOURCE=<your-foundry-resource-name>
ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY=<your-foundry-resource-key>
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<the-same-foundry-resource-key>
```

- `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_RESOURCE` is the resource **name** only: no URL, no protocol. The SDK builds `https://<name>.services.ai.azure.com/anthropic/` itself.
- Set `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` to the same value as `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY`. The bundled Claude Code CLI reads that name even in Foundry mode, and the health probe requires it.
- The auth header on the wire is Anthropic-style `x-api-key`, not Azure's `api-key`.

## Every variable

| Variable | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` | none | Required on both paths. |
| `CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY` | unset | `1` switches to Microsoft Foundry. |
| `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_RESOURCE` | none | Foundry resource name (Path B). |
| `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY` | none | Foundry resource key (Path B). |
| `AGENT_HOST` | `0.0.0.0` | Bind address (plain-HTTP surface). |
| `AGENT_PORT` | `{{PORT}}` | Listen port (plain-HTTP surface). |
| `AGENT_MAX_CONCURRENCY` | `3` | Concurrent `/execute` streams per process. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_CWD` | `/app` | Working directory; the SDK looks for `.claude/skills/` here. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_MODEL` | `claude-sonnet-4-6` | Model id. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_MAX_TURNS` | `50` | Tool-call turns per run. Raise it if you see `approaching cap` warnings; lower it for stricter cost control. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_MAX_BUDGET_USD` | unset (no ceiling) | Hard per-run cost ceiling, passed as `max_budget_usd`. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_EFFORT` | unset (SDK default) | `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, or `max`. Other values are ignored. |
| `CLAUDE_AGENT_MAX_BUFFER_BYTES` | unset (SDK's 1 MiB) | Raise for file-heavy skills, for example `67108864`. See below. |
| `CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_RETRIES` | `5` | Bounded CLI retries. |
| `<SKILL>_OUTPUTS_DIR` | `/outputs` | Only if the skill writes files; named by you, for example `REPORT_OUTPUTS_DIR`. |
| `EMIT_STEP_ACTIVITY_LOG` | your choice | AMC variant only: turns the thinking and tool detail rows on or off. |

> **Important:** The SDK frames its stdout at 1 MiB per message. Parallel tool results arrive as one message, so a file-heavy skill can exceed the limit and die with `JSON message exceeded maximum buffer size` after the orchestration was already paid for. Set `CLAUDE_AGENT_MAX_BUFFER_BYTES` for those skills.

## Env vars for the skill's own scripts

The CLI runs the skill's scripts with the `env=` dict from `ClaudeAgentOptions`. Put anything the scripts read there through `{{SKILL_ENV_VARS}}`, for example `"REPORT_OUTPUTS_DIR": OUTPUTS_DIR` for a skill that writes files or `"REPORT_DIR": "/mnt/report"` for one that reads tokens from a mounted share.

## Where each value is set

| Set in | Values |
| --- | --- |
| `Dockerfile` `ENV` | `HOME`, `AGENT_PORT`, `AGENT_HOST`, `CLAUDE_AGENT_CWD`, `CLAUDE_AGENT_MODEL`, and the outputs or token directory variables. Never secrets. |
| Runtime (secrets) | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_API_KEY`. |
| Runtime (plain env) | `CLAUDE_CODE_USE_FOUNDRY`, `ANTHROPIC_FOUNDRY_RESOURCE`, and any tuning knob you want to change without a rebuild. |

## Related

- [Build the Docker image](https://www.agentmissioncontrol.ai/developers/self-hosted-docker/)
- [Test the agent locally](https://www.agentmissioncontrol.ai/developers/self-hosted-testing/)
- [The agent core and prompt strategies](https://www.agentmissioncontrol.ai/developers/self-hosted-agent-core/)

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Source: https://www.agentmissioncontrol.ai/developers/self-hosted-configuration/ · Last updated 2026-10-21 · Full index: https://www.agentmissioncontrol.ai/llms.txt