Worker environment variables

Set a value in the worker file before it sources tick.sh and it overrides the default. The only line that has to be there is the source line. Everything below is optional. The source itself is in tick.sh.

This chapter covers settings that change how workers behave. Do not put secret values a session needs, such as an API token, here. Register them in Environment variables in the project settings instead (the Project environment variables section of Screens; the commands to use them are in the dira env section of CLI).

Worker settings

Variable	Default	What it does
`TICKET_NAME`	the worker filename (without `.sh`)	Log prefix, and how the ticket's `owner` is written
`TICKET_CWD`	the parent of the queue root	The working directory of a dispatched session
`TICKET_PERSONAS`	`<root>/personas`	The persona profile directory
`TICKET_ONTOLOGY`	`<root>/ontology`	The ontology directory. You can redefine it as an absolute path outside this worktree
`TICKET_PROTOCOLS`	`<root>/protocols`	The collaboration protocol directory. The `AGENTS.md` inside it is inlined into every prompt
`TICKET_CONTEXT`	(none)	A `("<path>\|<description>" ...)` array. It is attached to the tail of the prompt as reference material. A path that does not exist is skipped with only a `WARN`
`TICKET_ENGINE`	`(claude -p --session-id "{sid}" --dangerously-skip-permissions --input-format stream-json --output-format stream-json --verbose)`	The argv of the engine to run. `{prompt}` and `{sid}` are substituted right before the run. The default engine takes streaming input, so even the first prompt arrives on stdin (a FIFO). Talking to a running session is that channel
`TICKET_PROMPT_FMT`	`%s 티켓을 확인해 주세요. (...)`	A printf format. `%s` is the ticket hash and nothing else
`TICKET_INPROGRESS`	`.wip`	The filename suffix for the in-progress state
`TICKET_DONE`	`.done`	The filename suffix for the done state
`TICKET_MAXRUN`	`5400` (seconds)	The cap on one session's run. Past it, TERM → KILL, then back to the backlog
`TICKET_FEED_TIMEOUT`	`120` (seconds)	How long to wait for the first prompt to get all the way through the FIFO. Streaming-input engines only; if the engine does not read stdin within it, the run fails as `STALL`
`TICKET_REUSE`	`1`	Session reuse. A session that finishes one ticket does not die, and takes the next ticket where it stands. `0` turns it off, and a new session starts for every ticket
`TICKET_REUSE_CTX`	`100000`	The context cap for allowing a handover. If the last assistant turn of the stretch that just ended used more context than this (`input` + `cache_creation` + `cache_read`), the session ends instead of taking another ticket

There is no setting for the queue root. Where the worker file sits decides the root on its own. Reading the real session_id out of the response JSON and correcting the frontmatter with it is a claude-only step, so another engine simply skips it.

A persona overrides the engine once more. After the ticket's persona: is settled, if a <persona directory>/<name>/engine file exists, that file is read and this array is built again from it (Personas, §Dispatch policy). What you wrote in the worker file survives only for personas that have no such file.

Machine-local state

This one changes only through the environment at the moment of the call. It is not a value you write in the worker file.

Variable	Default	What it does
`TICKET_LOCAL`	`~/.config/dira`	Where the token (`oauth-token`) and the worker lock (`run/`) are kept. Even when the queue root is on a shared drive, this belongs to this machine alone
`DIRA_APM_NO_INSTALL`	(none)	With `1`, when the package check before a claim finds a mismatch, the worker does not try an install and stops right away. The check itself still runs. Use it in tests to keep installs off the network (Install)

Where dira installs its tools

dira installs the apm command that installs persona and protocol packages itself, and never uses an apm on your PATH. The version is the one line in the engine's apm-version file (0.33.0 today).

Path	What it is
`~/.config/dira/tools/apm/<version>/bin/apm`	The `apm` executable dira calls
`~/.config/dira/tools/apm/<version>/tools/`	The tool environment when installed with `uv` (`UV_TOOL_DIR`)
`~/.config/dira/tools/apm/<version>/venv/`	The virtual environment when there was no `uv` and a `python3.x` of 3.10 or later was used

When apm-version changes, a new version folder appears and the old one stays. You can delete it; the next install fetches only the version it needs. The location does not follow TICKET_LOCAL; it is always ~/.config/dira/tools/.

Next is CLI.