Variables & Templates

Aegis uses Tera templates for config files that need per-machine customization.

Defining variables

In aegis.toml:

[variables]
hostname = { source = "command", value = "hostname" }
user = { source = "env", value = "USER" }
llm_port = { source = "static", value = "8080" }

Variable sources

Source	Description	Example
`env`	Reads an environment variable	`{ source = "env", value = "HOME" }`
`command`	Runs a shell command, captures stdout	`{ source = "command", value = "hostname -f" }`
`static`	A literal string value	`{ source = "static", value = "us-east-1" }`

Profile overrides

Profile-level variables take precedence:

[profiles.workstation]
variables = { gpu_available = "true", llm_port = "8081" }

Using variables in templates

Set a config’s strategy to template:

[[configs]]
source = "ares-config.toml.tmpl"
target = "~/.config/ares/config.toml"
strategy = "template"

Then use Tera syntax in the source file:

[server]
host = "{{ hostname }}"
port = {{ llm_port }}

{% if gpu_available == "true" %}
[gpu]
enabled = true
{% endif %}

Resolution order

Profile variables override manifest variables
Missing env vars resolve to empty strings (with a warning)
Failed commands resolve to empty strings (with a warning)

module.toml