> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.algoward.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Environment Variables

> Every variable Ward's CLI, self-hosted facilitator, and hosted verification server read.

`.env.example` is the source of truth — copy it before doing anything else:

```bash theme={null}
cp .env.example .env
```

Every variable below is grouped by which part of Ward actually reads it.

## Ward CLI — the host-side test harness

| Variable                  | Required | Default                              | Purpose                                                                                                                   |
| ------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `FACILITATOR_URL`         | No       | `http://localhost:4022`              | The facilitator `ward test` runs the full guarantee suite against.                                                        |
| `WARD_NETWORK`            | No       | `testnet`                            | `testnet` or `mainnet`.                                                                                                   |
| `ALGOD_TESTNET_URL`       | No       | `https://testnet-api.algonode.cloud` | Public algod endpoint Ward reads chain state from.                                                                        |
| `ALGOD_TOKEN`             | No       | `""`                                 | Only needed for a private/authenticated algod endpoint.                                                                   |
| `USDC_ASSET_ID`           | No       | `10458941`                           | TestNet USDC's ASA id — the asset Ward's happy-path payments use.                                                         |
| `WARD_CLIENT_PRIVATE_KEY` | **Yes**  | —                                    | Base64 algosdk secret key for the account Ward signs test payments from.                                                  |
| `WARD_PAYTO_ADDRESS`      | **Yes**  | —                                    | The seller/resource-owner stand-in Ward pays.                                                                             |
| `WARD_PAYTO_PRIVATE_KEY`  | No       | —                                    | Only needed if you want `ward init` to opt this address into the test ASA for you.                                        |
| `WARD_FUNDER_PRIVATE_KEY` | No       | —                                    | Funds `WARD_CLIENT` and A3's disposable throwaway accounts via `ward init`. Omit to fund those addresses by hand instead. |

## Self-hosted facilitator (`docker-compose.yml`)

| Variable          | Required | Default                              | Purpose                                                                                                                                                          |
| ----------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `AVM_PRIVATE_KEY` | **Yes**  | —                                    | The facilitator's own fee-payer signing key. Needs its own TestNet ALGO balance to co-sign settlement fee-payer transactions.                                    |
| `ALGOD_SERVER`    | No       | `https://testnet-api.algonode.cloud` | The algod endpoint the containerized facilitator itself talks to.                                                                                                |
| `EVM_PRIVATE_KEY` | **Yes**  | —                                    | Any well-formed throwaway hex key. Required by the upstream multi-chain facilitator example to start, but never exercised — Ward only tests the Algorand scheme. |
| `SVM_PRIVATE_KEY` | **Yes**  | —                                    | Any well-formed throwaway base58 key. Same as above, for the Solana scheme.                                                                                      |

<Warning>
  `docker-compose.yml` uses Compose's `${VAR:?message}` syntax for `AVM_PRIVATE_KEY`,
  `EVM_PRIVATE_KEY`, and `SVM_PRIVATE_KEY` — Compose refuses to start with a clear error if any is
  unset, rather than starting the facilitator in a broken state.
</Warning>

## Hosted verification server (`src/server`)

| Variable                  | Required | Default                               | Purpose                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `SERVER_PAY_TO_ADDRESS`   | **Yes**  | —                                     | Receives this service's own x402 payments for `POST /verify-facilitator`. Deliberately separate from the `WARD_*` test-harness accounts above — this is service revenue, not a test fixture.          |
| `SERVER_PORT`             | No       | `4030`                                | Local-dev only. Deployed instances bind to `PORT`, assigned by the host platform.                                                                                                                     |
| `PAYMENT_FACILITATOR_URL` | No       | `https://facilitator.goplausible.xyz` | The facilitator that processes payment **to** this service — never the facilitator being tested. See [Deployment](/server/deployment#why-payment_facilitator_url-defaults-to-the-public-facilitator). |

## Generating everything at once

```bash theme={null}
npx tsx scripts/fund-accounts.ts
```

Prints a fresh keypair (address + base64 secret key) for `WARD_FUNDER`, `WARD_CLIENT`,
`WARD_PAYTO`, and `AVM_PRIVATE_KEY`, plus throwaway well-formed `EVM_PRIVATE_KEY` /
`SVM_PRIVATE_KEY` values — paste all of it straight into `.env`. See the
[Quickstart](/quickstart#3-generate-accounts) for the full walkthrough, including the one manual
funding step this script can't automate.

<Card title="Fund the accounts this script generates" icon="key" href="/quickstart#4-fund-the-two-bootstrap-accounts" horizontal />