Environment Variables

All environment variables are optional. The defaults provide sensible behavior for local usage.

Audio Routing

Variable	Default	Description
`SCITEX_AUDIO_MODE`	`auto`	Audio mode: `local`, `remote`, or `auto`
`SCITEX_AUDIO_RELAY_URL`	(auto)	Full relay URL (e.g., `http://localhost:31293`)
`SCITEX_AUDIO_RELAY_HOST`	(none)	Relay host (combined with port to build URL)
`SCITEX_AUDIO_RELAY_PORT`	`31293`	Relay server port
`SCITEX_AUDIO_HOST`	`0.0.0.0`	Relay server bind host

Backend Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
`SCITEX_AUDIO_ELEVENLABS_API_KEY`	(none)	ElevenLabs API key for premium TTS
`ELEVENLABS_API_KEY`	(none)	Alternative ElevenLabs API key variable

General

Variable	Default	Description
`SCITEX_DIR`	`~/.scitex`	Base directory for audio cache and reference files
`SCITEX_CLOUD`	(none)	Set to `true` for browser relay mode (OSC escape)

Port Convention

The default port 31293 encodes “sa-i-te-ku-su” (サイテクス) in Japanese phone keypad mapping. Other SciTeX ports follow the same scheme:

Port	Service
31291	crossref-local API
31292	openalex-local API
31293	Audio relay
31294	scitex-cloud staging

ENV_SRC Pattern

Instead of setting individual environment variables, you can use a .src file:

# Generate a template
scitex-audio env-template -o ~/.scitex/audio/local.src

# Point to it
export SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC=~/.scitex/audio/local.src

The loader (_env_loader.py) parses export VAR=value lines, expands $VAR / ${VAR} references, and strips quotes. This is especially useful for MCP servers where you can set a single env var in .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "scitex-audio": {
      "command": "scitex-audio",
      "args": ["mcp", "start"],
      "env": {
        "SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC": "${SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Switch environments via your shell profile:

# Local machine (has speakers)
export SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC=~/.scitex/audio/local.src

# Remote server (no speakers, uses relay)
export SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC=~/.scitex/audio/remote.src

Variable	Description
`SCITEX_AUDIO_ENV_SRC`	Path to a `.src` file or directory of `.src` files

Example Shell Configuration

# Local machine (has speakers)
export SCITEX_AUDIO_MODE=local
export SCITEX_AUDIO_RELAY_PORT=31293

# Remote server (no speakers, uses SSH tunnel)
export SCITEX_AUDIO_MODE=remote
export SCITEX_AUDIO_RELAY_PORT=31293

# ElevenLabs (optional, for premium quality)
export SCITEX_AUDIO_ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="your-key-here"