Configuration

Last updated: February 16, 2026

Sweatpants is configured via environment variables with the SWEATPANTS_ prefix.

Environment Variables

Directories

Variable	Default	Description
`SWEATPANTS_DATA_DIR`	`/var/lib/sweatpants`	Data directory for all persistent storage
`SWEATPANTS_MODULES_DIR`	`/var/lib/sweatpants/modules`	Installed modules directory
`SWEATPANTS_DB_PATH`	`/var/lib/sweatpants/sweatpants.db`	SQLite database path
`SWEATPANTS_MODULES_CONFIG_PATH`	`/var/lib/sweatpants/modules.yaml`	Module sources configuration

API Server

Variable	Default	Description
`SWEATPANTS_API_HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	API bind host
`SWEATPANTS_API_PORT`	`8420`	API port
`SWEATPANTS_API_AUTH_TOKEN`	(empty)	API authentication token

Proxy

Variable	Default	Description
`SWEATPANTS_PROXY_URL`	(required)	Full proxy URL: `http://user:pass@host:port`
`SWEATPANTS_PROXY_ROTATION_URL`	(optional)	URL pattern for sticky sessions with `{session}` placeholder

Browser Pool

Variable	Default	Description
`SWEATPANTS_BROWSER_POOL_SIZE`	`3`	Number of browser instances
`SWEATPANTS_BROWSER_RESTART_HOURS`	`4`	Browser restart interval in hours

Logging

Variable	Default	Description
`SWEATPANTS_LOG_LEVEL`	`INFO`	Log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR)

Module Sources Configuration

The modules.yaml file configures git repositories for sweatpants module sync:

yaml

module_sources:
  - repo: https://github.com/org/sweatpants-modules
    modules:
      - image-generator
      - chart-generator
      - web-scraper
  
  - repo: https://github.com/org/private-modules
    modules:
      - custom-module

Fields:

repo — Git repository URL (supports HTTPS and SSH)
modules — List of subdirectory names containing modules. Omit for single-module repos.

systemd Service

Sweatpants does not require root, but the default data paths (like /var/lib/sweatpants) are typically root-owned. If you’re running the service as a non-root user, make sure you override SWEATPANTS_DATA_DIR (and related directory settings) to a writable location.

Example (non-root install)

ini

[Unit]
Description=Sweatpants Automation Engine
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
Environment=HOME=/home/openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw/services/sweatpants
ExecStart=/home/openclaw/services/sweatpants/.venv/bin/sweatpants serve
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

# Non-root friendly data paths
Environment=SWEATPANTS_DATA_DIR=/home/openclaw/data
Environment=SWEATPANTS_MODULES_DIR=/home/openclaw/data/modules
Environment=SWEATPANTS_DB_PATH=/home/openclaw/data/sweatpants.db
Environment=SWEATPANTS_MODULES_CONFIG_PATH=/home/openclaw/data/modules.yaml

# Optional
# Environment=SWEATPANTS_PROXY_URL=http://user:[email protected]:8080

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Example (root install)

ini

[Unit]
Description=Sweatpants Automation Engine
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=sweatpants
WorkingDirectory=/opt/sweatpants
ExecStart=/opt/sweatpants/.venv/bin/sweatpants serve
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Environment=SWEATPANTS_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/sweatpants
Environment=SWEATPANTS_PROXY_URL=http://user:[email protected]:8080

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

.env File

By default, Sweatpants does not probe for a .env file relative to the current working directory.

To load environment variables from a .env file, set SWEATPANTS_ENV_FILE to an absolute path (for example via systemd Environment= or your shell).

Tip: If you’re running as a non-root user, prefer storing the env file somewhere under that user’s home directory (for example /home/openclaw/.sweatpants.env).

bash

# /home/openclaw/.sweatpants.env
SWEATPANTS_DATA_DIR=/home/openclaw/data
SWEATPANTS_PROXY_URL=http://user:[email protected]:8080
SWEATPANTS_BROWSER_POOL_SIZE=5

# then:
export SWEATPANTS_ENV_FILE=/home/openclaw/.sweatpants.env

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