Configuration

Environment Variables (.env)

# ── Database (required) ──
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/openmlr"

# ── LLM providers (at least one required) ──
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-...

# ── Local models (OpenAI-compatible APIs) ──
# Ollama
OLLAMA_API_BASE=http://localhost:11434/v1
OLLAMA_MODEL=llama3.1

# LM Studio
LMSTUDIO_API_BASE=http://localhost:1234/v1
LMSTUDIO_MODEL=default

# Any OpenAI-compatible API (vLLM, TGI, etc.)
LOCAL_API_BASE=http://localhost:8000/v1
LOCAL_MODEL=local/my-model
LOCAL_API_KEY=not-needed

# ── Background jobs (optional) ──
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0
USE_BACKGROUND_JOBS=true
USE_REDIS_PUBSUB=true

# ── Search & research (optional) ──
BRAVE_API_KEY=...                    # web search
OPENALEX_EMAIL=you@example.com       # polite pool (no key needed)

# ── GitHub (optional) ──
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_...                 # improves code search rate limits

# ── Auth ──
JWT_SECRET_KEY=change-me-in-production

# ── Docker execution ──
OPEN_MLR_DOCKER_IMAGE=python:3.12-slim  # default container image

# ── Modal sandbox (optional) ──
MODAL_TOKEN_ID=...
MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET=...

Per-User Settings

After login, click the gear icon in the sidebar to open Settings:

Tab	What you can configure
Providers	API keys for all services (stored encrypted in DB, override .env)
Agent	Default model, research model, YOLO mode
Sandbox	Default execution environment (local/SSH/Modal), Modal credentials
Writing	Citation style (APA/IEEE/ACM/Chicago), export format

Model Selection

Models are auto-detected based on which API keys/URLs are configured:

Cloud Providers

Key set	Default model
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	anthropic/claude-sonnet-4
OPENAI_API_KEY	openai/gpt-4o
OPENROUTER_API_KEY	openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4

Local Models

Config	Model prefix
OLLAMA_MODEL	ollama/llama3.1
LMSTUDIO_API_BASE	lmstudio/default
LOCAL_API_BASE	local/my-model

Override via Settings > Agent > Default Model, or by clicking the model button in the header.

Local Model Setup

Ollama

# Install and start Ollama
ollama serve

# Pull a model
ollama pull llama3.1

# Configure
OLLAMA_MODEL=llama3.1
# OLLAMA_API_BASE defaults to http://localhost:11434/v1

Use as ollama/llama3.1 in the model selector.

LM Studio

1. Download and install LM Studio
2. Load a model and start the server
3. Configure:

LMSTUDIO_API_BASE=http://localhost:1234/v1
LMSTUDIO_MODEL=default

Use as lmstudio/default in the model selector.

vLLM / text-generation-inference / Other

Any server that exposes an OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint:

LOCAL_API_BASE=http://localhost:8000/v1
LOCAL_MODEL=local/my-model-name
LOCAL_API_KEY=not-needed   # or your auth token

Use as local/my-model-name in the model selector.

Background Jobs

Enable persistent task tracking that survives browser refreshes:

REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/0
USE_BACKGROUND_JOBS=true
USE_REDIS_PUBSUB=true

When enabled:

• Tasks and resources persist to the database
• Agent processing continues even if you close the browser
• Reconnecting shows full progress history
• Multiple browser tabs receive live updates via Redis pub/sub

Requires a running Redis server. Use make infra to start one with Docker.

Agent Config File

backend/configs/agent_config.yaml controls defaults:

model_name: ""              # empty = auto-detect
max_iterations: 300
stream: true
paper_search_budget: 25     # API calls per session
require_plan_approval: true