OpenBB/website/content/platform/usage/settings_and_environment_variables.md

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User Settings & Environment Variables	3	This section details configuring the OpenBB Platform settings and environment variables.	OpenBB Platform Python client getting started OpenBB Hub local environment environment variables

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This page outlines configuring the OpenBB Platform with user settings and environment variables.

User Settings

User preferences are stored locally, ~/.openbb_platform/, as a JSON file, user_settings.json. It is read upon initializing the Python client, or when the Fast API is authorized. If the file does not exist, it will be created on the first run.

Preference	Default	Options	Description
data_directory	/home/OpenBBUserData	Any path.	When launching the application for the first time this directory will be created. It serves as the default location where the application stores usage artifacts such as logs and exports.
export_directory	/home/OpenBBUserData/exports	Any path.	The OpenBB Charting Extension provides the capability to export images in various formats. This is the directory where it attempts to save such exports.
cache_directory	/home/OpenBBUserData/cache	Any path.	The directory where http requests and database caches are stored, for functions with caching.
user_styles_directory	/home/OpenBBUserData/styles/user	Any path.	The OpenBB Charting Extension supports custom stylization. This directory is the location where it looks for user-defined styles. If no user styles are found in this directory the application will proceed with the default styles.
charting_extension	openbb_charting	["openbb_charting"]	Name of the charting extension to be used with the application.
chart_style	dark	["dark", "light"]	The default color style to use with the OpenBB Charting Extension plots. Options include "dark" and "light".
plot_enable_pywry	True	[True, False]	Whether the application should enable PyWry. If PyWry is disabled the image will open in your default browser otherwise it will be displayed within your editor or in a separate PyWry window.
plot_pywry_width	1400	Any positive integer.	PyWry window width.
plot_pywry_height	762	Any positive integer.	PyWry window height.
plot_open_export	False	[True, False]	Controls whether the "Save As" window should pop up as soon as the image is displayed."
table_style	dark	["dark", "light"]	"The default color style to use with the OpenBB Charting Extension tables. Options are "dark" and "light""
request_timeout	15	Any positive integer.	Specifies the timeout duration for HTTP requests.
metadata	True	[True, False]	Enables or disables the collection of metadata which provides information about operations including arguments duration route and timestamp. Disabling this feature may improve performance in cases where contextual information is not needed or when the additional computation time and storage space are a concern.
output_type	OBBject	["OBBject", "dataframe", "numpy", "dict", "chart", "polars"]	Specifies the type of data the application will output when a command or endpoint is accessed. Note that choosing data formats only available in Python such as dataframe, numpy or polars will render the application's API non-functional.
show_warnings	True	[True, False]	Enables or disables the display of warnings.

Notes on Preferences

:::note

• If a OpenBBUserData folder in not in the home directory, the application will create one on first run. The user preferences with paths all default to this folder, be it exports, styles or data - this can be changed at any time to suit.
• The OpenBBUserData will still be created even if preferences are not pointing to it, this is because the application needs a place to store logs and other artifacts.
• One way to export files or images from the OpenBB Platform is to leverage that functionality from the OpenBB Charting Extension. The export_directory preference is the location where the extension will attempt to save CSV and image files. :::

{
    "preferences": {
        "data_directory": "~/OpenBBUserData",
        "export_directory": "~/OpenBBUserData/exports",
        "cache_directory": "~/OpenBBUserData/cache",
        "user_styles_directory": "~/OpenBBUserData/styles/user",
        "charting_extension": "openbb_charting",
        "chart_style": "dark",
        "plot_enable_pywry": true,
        "plot_pywry_width": 1400,
        "plot_pywry_height": 762,
        "plot_open_export": false,
        "table_style": "dark",
        "request_timeout": 15,
        "metadata": true,
        "output_type": "OBBject"
}
}


## Environment Variables

Environment variables are defined in a `.env` file. If this file does not exist, create it inside the same folder `user_settings.json` is located.

- `OPENBB_DEBUG_MODE`: enables verbosity while running the program
- `OPENBB_DEVELOP_MODE`: points hub service to .co or .dev
- `OPENBB_AUTO_BUILD`: enables automatic SDK package build on import
- `OPENBB_CHARTING_EXTENSION`: specifies which charting extension to use
- `OPENBB_API_AUTH_EXTENSION`: specifies which authentication extension to use
- `OPENBB_API_AUTH`: enables API authentication for command endpoints
- `OPENBB_API_USERNAME`: sets API username
- `OPENBB_API_PASSWORD`: sets API password

Variables can be defined for current session only.

```python
import os
os.environ["OPENBB_DEBUG_MODE"] = "True"
from openbb import obb

Proxy Networks

An environment variable can be set, in the .env file, to direct the Requests library to a specific address and port.

HTTP_PROXY="<ADDRESS>" or HTTPS_PROXY="<ADDRESS>”

For example:

HTTP_PROXY="http://10.10.10.10:8000"