The Docent SDK authenticates via API keys. You can provide your key in several ways,
listed here in order of precedence.
API Key
1. Direct Parameter
from docent import Docent
client = Docent(api_key="your-api-key")
2. Environment Variable
export DOCENT_API_KEY="your-api-key"
from docent import Docent
client = Docent() # Reads DOCENT_API_KEY from environment
3. Config File
Create a docent.env file in your project directory:
DOCENT_API_KEY=your-api-key
DOCENT_COLLECTION_ID=my-default-collection
docent.env starting from the current working directory and traversing up
the directory tree. You can also specify an explicit path:
client = Docent(config_file="/path/to/my-config.env")
Configuration Priority
The SDK resolves each setting using a priority order. The exact order varies slightly
by setting:
| Setting | Priority (highest to lowest) |
|---|
api_key | Direct parameter → config file → DOCENT_API_KEY env var |
api_url / frontend_url | Direct parameter → DOCENT_API_URL / DOCENT_FRONTEND_URL env var → config file |
domain | Direct parameter → DOCENT_DOMAIN env var → config file → "docent.transluce.org" |
collection_id | Direct parameter → config file |
collection_id is not read from environment variables — set it via a direct parameter
or in your docent.env config file.
Environment Variables
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|
DOCENT_API_KEY | API key for authentication | Required |
DOCENT_API_URL | Direct API server URL | Derived from domain |
DOCENT_FRONTEND_URL | Direct frontend URL | Derived from domain |
DOCENT_DOMAIN | Docent instance domain | docent.transluce.org |
DOCENT_API_KEY=your-api-key
DOCENT_API_URL=https://api.docent.transluce.org
DOCENT_FRONTEND_URL=https://docent.transluce.org
DOCENT_DOMAIN=docent.transluce.org
DOCENT_COLLECTION_ID=my-collection
Self-Hosted Instances
For self-hosted Docent instances, set both the API and frontend URLs:
client = Docent(
api_key="your-api-key",
api_url="https://api.my-docent.example.com",
frontend_url="https://my-docent.example.com",
)
export DOCENT_API_URL="https://api.my-docent.example.com"
export DOCENT_FRONTEND_URL="https://my-docent.example.com"
Local domains (localhost, 127.0.0.1) require explicit api_url and frontend_url.
The SDK cannot derive URLs from local domains automatically.
