Environment variables

PreviewWindowsmacOSLinuxShips in the preview channel only. Not a stable release.

Every environment variable Harmony reads, what it changes, and which ones are validated rather than trusted.

Runtime isolation

Variable	Effect
`NALA_DATA_SUFFIX`	Namespaces the entire runtime: data directory, socket, auth token, pipes
`WMUX_DATA_SUFFIX`	The same mechanism under the historical name

Development builds set -dev. This is why a development build and a packaged build coexist without interfering — and the first thing to check when the CLI reports it cannot reach a daemon that is plainly running.

harmony doctor --json

Compare the resolved data directory against the application you expect to reach.

Privacy

Variable	Effect
`NALA_TELEMETRY`	Set to `0` to disable lifecycle reporting

$env:NALA_TELEMETRY = "0"

For a persistent preference, use harmony telemetry rather than an environment variable. Lifecycle reporting is bounded and identifier-free either way.

Variable	Effect
`NALA_CRASH_REPORTING`	`0`, `false`, `off` or `no` forces crash reports off; `1`, `true`, `on` or `yes` forces them on. It overrides the saved preference

Crash reports are off unless you turn them on with harmony crash-reporting on. While this variable is set, harmony crash-reporting status says that it overrides the saved preference.

Terminal and accessibility

These change how the terminal agent (harmony tui) draws.

Variable	Effect
`NALA_SCREEN_READER`	`1` or `true` switches to linear plain-text output for screen readers
`NALA_MOTION`	`full`, `reduced` or `off`. Wins over the motion setting
`NALA_REDUCED_MOTION`	`1` or `true` reduces motion, when `NALA_MOTION` is not set
`NALA_HIGH_LATENCY`	Any value redraws less often, for slow links. Also on automatically over SSH
`NALA_NO_BANNER`	`1` hides the start-up banner

$env:NALA_SCREEN_READER = "1"
harmony tui

Process resolution

Variable	Effect	Trust
`NALA_DESKTOP_PATH`	Installer-owned hint to the desktop executable	Validated
`NALA_CLI_PATH`	Path to the CLI bundle, injected at launch	Injected
`WMUX_INVOKED_AS`	Which binary name the CLI was invoked as	Internal

SECURITY

NALA_DESKTOP_PATH is treated as a hint, not an instruction. It is used only after validating that it is an absolute path to an existing file with the expected executable name. An environment variable must not be able to redirect the CLI into launching an arbitrary binary.

Build-time

Variable	Effect
`NALA_REQUIRE_PI_RUNTIME`	Set to `1` so a build fails loudly when the Pi runtime is absent

WARNING

An empty vendor/ directory silently produces a build without the Pi runtime. Always build with NALA_REQUIRE_PI_RUNTIME=1. See testing.

Precedence

An explicit variable set in the invoking process.
Installer-provided values.
Built-in defaults.

A variable set in a shell profile reaches processes that shell starts. It does not reach a process launched by the desktop application, which is the usual reason a provider works in your terminal and not under Harmony.

What is not configured this way

Provider credentials are not Harmony environment variables. Each provider authenticates through its own mechanism, and Harmony does not collect, proxy, or store them.