Environment Variables

Council respects several environment variables for configuration, testing, and accessibility.

Configuration

COUNCIL_HOME

Override the default runtime directory (~/.council/). Used by --ephemeral mode and tests to isolate state.

Default: ~/.council/

Example:

export COUNCIL_HOME=/tmp/council-test
council convene "Review request" --panel tech-review

COUNCIL_DATA_HOME

Override the default data directory (~/Council/) for expert and panel YAML files.

Default: ~/Council/ (or config.paths.dataHome if set in config.yaml)

Example:

export COUNCIL_DATA_HOME=~/my-councils
council expert list

Precedence:

1. COUNCIL_DATA_HOME environment variable
2. config.paths.dataHome in ~/.council/config.yaml
3. Default: ~/Council/

Terminal UI

On an interactive terminal, a bare council (no subcommand) launches Council Console, the full-screen TUI, by default. These variables control that behavior.

COUNCIL_NO_TUI

When set (any non-empty value), a bare council skips the TUI and uses the classic CLI. Equivalent to passing --no-tui. Subcommands (council convene …) are unaffected — they never launch the TUI.

Default: (unset) — bare council launches the TUI on an interactive TTY

Example:

export COUNCIL_NO_TUI=1
council            # classic CLI banner + help, no TUI

COUNCIL_TUI

Legacy opt-in that forces the TUI for a bare council when set to 1. Now that the TUI is the default, this is redundant but still honored so older setups keep working. COUNCIL_NO_TUI and --no-tui take precedence.

Default: (unset)

Example:

COUNCIL_TUI=1 council   # force the TUI (redundant with the default)

Non-interactive environments

The TUI never launches when stdout is not a TTY (piped or redirected output) or when CI is set, so scripts and CI fall back to the classic CLI automatically — no flag required.

Rendering & Accessibility

NO_COLOR

When set (any non-empty value), disables ANSI color codes in output. Follows the NO_COLOR standard.

Example:

export NO_COLOR=1
council convene "Review this API design" --panel tech-review --format plain

Effect:

• Color output disabled
• ASCII charset used (block art retained for banners)
• Spinner/progress indicators simplified

COUNCIL_ASCII

Force ASCII-only charset. Disables Unicode box-drawing characters and emoji.

Example:

export COUNCIL_ASCII=1
council convene "Review request" --panel tech-review

Use Cases:

• Legacy terminals without Unicode support
• Screen readers and accessibility tools
• Log files and CI environments
• TERM=dumb is automatically detected

GitHub Copilot Integration

COPILOT_CLI_PATH

Override the auto-detected path to @github/copilot/npm-loader.js. Council auto-detects the bundled loader; use this only when troubleshooting authentication or installation issues.

Default: Auto-detected from @github/copilot package

Example:

export COPILOT_CLI_PATH=/custom/path/to/npm-loader.js
council doctor

When to Use:

• Custom Copilot CLI installations
• Debugging authentication failures
• Non-standard Node.js module resolution

Internal / Testing

TERM

Standard terminal type variable. Council detects TERM=dumb and automatically switches to ASCII-only charset.

Example:

TERM=dumb council convene "Review request" --panel tech-review

Auto-Detection:

• TERM=dumb → ASCII charset, no color
• Modern terminals → Unicode + color

Full reference

Canonical reference

The complete, always-up-to-date table of every environment variable — including non-interactive and rendering toggles such as CI, ACCESSIBILITY, VISUAL, and EDITOR — is auto-generated from the CLI source. See the Config & Environment Reference.

Related

• Config & Environment Reference — Auto-generated config + env table
• Use the terminal UI — COUNCIL_NO_TUI / COUNCIL_TUI in context
• Configuration — config.yaml settings
• Data Locations — Directory structure
• Troubleshooting — Common issues