Environment Variables

An environment variable is a dynamic-named value that can affect the way running processes will behave on a computer. They are part of the environment in which a process runs.

The secret credentials like API_ID and API_HASH are stored as environment variables.

All env vars

Env Var	Value	Requirement
API_ID	obtain it from my.telegram.org	always required
API_HASH	obtain it from my.telegram.org	always required
TGCF_MODE	past or live	only required if you don't have interactive shell while running tgcf.
BOT_TOKEN	obtained from @BotFather	required if you are runningtgcfwith a bot account.
SESSION_STRING	obtained after login	only required if you are using tgcfwith user account.
TGCF_CONFIG	contents of tgcf.config.yml	only required if you cant edit files in your cloud deploy (digital ocean app or heroku dyno)

Setting env vars

There are various methods to set env vars

.env File

You can easily set environment variables for tgcf using a .env file in the directory from which tgcf is invoked.

API_ID=543213
API_HASH=uihfuiwruiw28490238huawfiuhf
# put your real values here

Cloud Deploys

When you are deploying to a cloud platform, and you cant create files (Heroku or digital ocean apps), you can set environment variables using the GUI provided by the platforms. Please read platform-specific guides in the wiki for more details.

When you are deploying on a cloud platform, you can configure tgcf using environment variables. The contents of tgcf.config.yml can be put inside the environment variable called TGCF_CONFIG.