Configuration

boincrs is configured entirely through environment variables. When a .env file exists in the working directory it is loaded automatically at startup; existing environment variables always win.

Environment variables

Variable	Required?	Purpose
BOINCRS_ENDPOINT	Optional	BOINC GUI RPC endpoint. Default: 127.0.0.1:31416.
BOINCRS_PASSWORD	Either/or	GUI RPC password as a literal value. Prefer BOINCRS_PASSWORD_FILE.
BOINCRS_PASSWORD_FILE	Either/or	Path to gui_rpc_auth.cfg. Preferred over inlining the password.
BOINCRS_PRIMEGRID_ACCOUNT_KEY	Optional	PrimeGrid account authenticator for auto-attach on startup.
BOINCRS_ASTEROIDS_ACCOUNT_KEY	Optional	Asteroids@home account authenticator for auto-attach on startup.
BOINCRS_ATTACH_PROJECTS	Optional	Custom attach list: url1|key1;url2|key2.
NO_COLOR	Optional	When set, disables color accents. Labels and cues remain unchanged.

GUI RPC password

Use BOINC's GUI RPC password, not project website passwords.

• On Linux the file is commonly /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg.
• On macOS and Windows the path depends on your BOINC install location.
• Either point BOINCRS_PASSWORD_FILE at the file or set BOINCRS_PASSWORD directly (avoid the latter in committed configs).

Project auto-attach

When any of BOINCRS_PRIMEGRID_ACCOUNT_KEY, BOINCRS_ASTEROIDS_ACCOUNT_KEY, or BOINCRS_ATTACH_PROJECTS is set, boincrs performs the equivalent of project_attach followed by project_update for each entry on startup.

PrimeGrid

Grab your account key from the PrimeGrid project preferences page. It is listed as account key / authenticator, not your password.

Asteroids@home

Grab your account key from the Asteroids@home account page.

Custom attach list

BOINCRS_ATTACH_PROJECTS takes one or more url|key pairs separated by ;:

BOINCRS_ATTACH_PROJECTS="https://www.primegrid.com/|PRIMEGRID_KEY;https://asteroidsathome.net/boinc/|ASTEROIDS_KEY"

See PrimeGrid + Asteroids beta for the exact attach flow and verification test.

.env template

BOINCRS_ENDPOINT=127.0.0.1:31416
BOINCRS_PASSWORD_FILE=/etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg
BOINCRS_PRIMEGRID_ACCOUNT_KEY=PUT_PRIMEGRID_AUTHENTICATOR_HERE
BOINCRS_ASTEROIDS_ACCOUNT_KEY=PUT_ASTEROIDS_AUTHENTICATOR_HERE

Security

Never commit real .env contents, password files, or project authenticators. boincrs treats these as secrets; you should too. See Support & security.

Next: Usage.