Environment variables

This page lists the environment variables the droneship CLI reads on your machine, with their defaults. You don’t need to set any of them for normal use.

Variable	Default	What it does
DRONESHIP_PROFILE	default	Which stored login to use. Same as --profile.
DRONESHIP_API_URL	https://api.highflame.ai	The Droneship service a profile talks to.
DRONESHIP_AUTH_URL	https://auth.highflame.ai	Where you sign in.
DRONESHIP_NO_AUTO_UPDATE	unset (auto-update on)	Any non-empty value other than 0 turns off the hourly self-update.
DRONESHIP_UPDATE_URL	https://droneship.run/cli/latest.json	Where the CLI looks for a newer release.
DRONESHIP_DEBUG	unset	Set to 1 to see the full traceback of an unexpected error.

DRONESHIP_PROFILE

To use one profile for every command in a shell, set the variable instead of passing --profile each time:

export DRONESHIP_PROFILE=work
droneship whoami

--profile takes precedence over the variable. With neither, the CLI uses default. See Sign in and use profiles.

DRONESHIP_API_URL and DRONESHIP_AUTH_URL

Set these only when your team runs its own deployment. Set them when you sign in, and the profile stores both:

DRONESHIP_API_URL=https://<api-host> DRONESHIP_AUTH_URL=https://<auth-host> droneship --profile staging login

The --api-url and --auth-url flags on droneship login do the same. The CLI picks an endpoint in this order: the login flag, then the variable, then what the profile stored, then the default.

The CLI sends a token only to the deployment that issued it. If a variable later points a signed-in profile somewhere else, the CLI stops before any request: unset the variable, or sign in there under another profile. droneship whoami warns about the mismatch. A variable also can’t move a signed-in profile at login: login stops unless you use another profile or pass --force. See Sign in and use profiles. Both endpoints must use https://, except on your own machine (localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1).

DRONESHIP_NO_AUTO_UPDATE

A CLI installed with the install script checks for a new release at most once an hour, and updates itself before running your command. To turn that off:

export DRONESHIP_NO_AUTO_UPDATE=1

Any non-empty value other than 0 turns it off. It’s also off when CI is set and when you run as root. droneship update still updates on demand. See droneship update.

DRONESHIP_UPDATE_URL

Points the updater at a different release manifest. It must be an https:// URL (plain http:// works only for localhost). With any other URL the hourly check is skipped, and droneship update says:

droneship: DRONESHIP_UPDATE_URL must be an https URL

Set it only if Highflame gives you a manifest URL.

DRONESHIP_DEBUG

On an unexpected error, the CLI prints one line that names this variable:

This is a bug in droneship. Re-run with DRONESHIP_DEBUG=1 for the traceback, and include it if you report this.

DRONESHIP_DEBUG=1 droneship list

Next

• Sign in and use profiles: profiles and other deployments.
• Install: install and update the CLI.
• Troubleshooting: common errors and fixes.