Environment variables

Environment variables let you change how C5 behaves without editing any files. You set them before the command, like this:

bash

PORT=5000 growther

Or you can set them for your whole terminal session:

bash

export PORT=5000
growther

The variables #

Variable	What it does	Default
`GROWTHER_HOME`	Where C5 keeps all your data.	`~/.growther`
`PORT`	Which port the C5 server listens on.	`4299`
`GROWTHER_CHANNEL`	Which releases you get: stable, beta, or dev.	`stable`
`GROWTHER_NO_SELF_INSTALL`	Set to `1` to run the program where it sits.	off
`GROWTHER_NO_MODIFY_PATH`	Set to `1` so C5 never edits your shell files.	off

Common things people do #

Use a different port #

If something else on your computer already uses port 4299:

bash

PORT=5000 growther

Keep your data somewhere else #

Handy if you want your C5 data on an external drive, or you want two separate setups that do not share anything:

bash

GROWTHER_HOME=/Volumes/Work/growther growther

Warning Each data folder is its own separate world. Chats, tasks, and settings in one folder are not visible from another.

Try early versions #

bash

GROWTHER_CHANNEL=beta growther update

Switch back with GROWTHER_CHANNEL=stable growther update.

Keep C5 out of your shell files #

Some people manage their PATH by hand and do not want any program editing their shell setup:

bash

GROWTHER_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1 growther

You will then need to add C5 to your PATH yourself.

What is in your data folder #

Everything C5 knows lives in GROWTHER_HOME (by default ~/.growther):

Your chats, tasks, and their whole history
Files your agents made
Your settings and API keys — see Config files
Backups

The databases are encrypted, and your key file lives in this same folder — so a copy of the folder is a copy of everything, key included. See Local encryption before you back it up anywhere shared.

Backing up this one folder backs up your entire C5 setup.