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Constructor options

Pass configuration directly when creating a client instance. Any option you provide takes precedence over the corresponding environment variable. 
import { OpenBat } from 'openbat';

const client = new OpenBat({
  apiKey: "ob_live_...",       // defaults to OPENBAT_API_KEY env var
  baseUrl: "https://...",      // defaults to OPENBAT_BASE_URL or "https://app.openbat.dev"
  enabled: true                // defaults to OPENBAT_ENABLED env var (true unless "false" or "0")
});
OptionTypeDefaultDescription
apiKeystringOPENBAT_API_KEY env varYour chatbot’s API key. Required either here or as an environment variable.
baseUrlstringOPENBAT_BASE_URL or https://app.openbat.devThe OpenBat API base URL.
enabledbooleantrue (unless env var is "false" or "0")When false, all SDK methods become no-ops.
If no arguments are passed, the SDK reads everything from environment variables: 
const client = new OpenBat(); // uses OPENBAT_API_KEY, OPENBAT_BASE_URL, OPENBAT_ENABLED

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Environment variables

VariableDescriptionDefault
OPENBAT_API_KEYYour chatbot’s API key (ob_live_...)Required if not in constructor
OPENBAT_BASE_URLAPI base URLhttps://app.openbat.dev
OPENBAT_ENABLEDSet to "false" or "0" to disabletrue
Constructor values always take precedence over environment variables.

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API key format

API keys follow this format: 
ob_live_<32 lowercase hex characters>
For example: 
ob_live_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4
The prefix ob_live_a1b2c3 (roughly the first 14 characters) is stored in the dashboard so you can identify which key is active. The full key is hashed with SHA-256 before storage — only the hash is persisted on the server. You can only view the full key at creation or rotation time.

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Disabling the SDK

There are two ways to disable the SDK: Environment variable — set OPENBAT_ENABLED to "false" or "0" in your environment:
.env.test
OPENBAT_ENABLED=false
Constructor option — pass enabled: false when creating the client: 
const client = new OpenBat({ enabled: false });
When disabled, recordMessages becomes a no-op. It resolves immediately without making any network requests or throwing errors. This is useful for test and CI environments where you do not want SDK traffic.