Populating Secrets - Quick Start Guide

Before running PyRIT, you need to configure access to AI targets. This guide will help you get started quickly.

Fastest Way to Get Started¶

The simplest way to configure PyRIT requires just two environment variables and three lines of code:

from pyrit.setup import initialize_pyrit_async
from pyrit.setup.initializers import SimpleInitializer

await initialize_pyrit_async(memory_db_type="InMemory", initializers=[SimpleInitializer()])

This sets up PyRIT with sensible defaults using in-memory storage. You just need to set two environment variables:

OPENAI_CHAT_ENDPOINT - Your AI endpoint URL
OPENAI_CHAT_KEY - Your API key

With this setup, you can run most PyRIT notebooks and examples!

Setting Up Environment Variables¶

PyRIT loads secrets and endpoints from environment variables or .env files. The .env_example file shows the format and available options.

Environment Variable Precedence¶

When initialize_pyrit_async runs, environment variables are loaded in a specific order. Later sources override earlier ones:

Default behavior (no env_files argument):

Priority	Source	Description
Lowest	System environment variables	Always loaded as the baseline
Medium	`~/.pyrit/.env`	Default config file (loaded if it exists)
Highest	`~/.pyrit/.env.local`	Local overrides (loaded if it exists)

Custom behavior (with env_files argument): Only your specified files are loaded, in order. Default paths are completely ignored.

Creating Your .env File¶

Copy .env_example to .env in your home directory in ~/.pyrit/.env
Add your API credentials. For example, for Azure OpenAI:

OPENAI_CHAT_ENDPOINT="https://your-resource.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/your-deployment/chat/completions"
OPENAI_CHAT_KEY="your-api-key-here"

To find these values in Azure Portal: Azure Portal > Azure AI Services > Azure OpenAI > Your OpenAI Resource > Resource Management > Keys and Endpoint

Using .env.local for Overrides¶

You can use ~/.pyrit/.env.local to override values in ~/.pyrit/.env without modifying the base file. This is useful for:

Testing different targets
Using personal credentials instead of shared ones
Switching between configurations quickly

Simply create .env.local in your ~/.pyrit/ directory and add any variables you want to override.

Custom Environment Files¶

You can also specify exactly which .env files to load using the env_files parameter:

from pathlib import Path
from pyrit.setup import initialize_pyrit_async

await initialize_pyrit_async(
    memory_db_type="InMemory",
    env_files=[Path("./project-config.env"), Path("./local-overrides.env")]
)

When env_files is provided:

Only the specified files are loaded (default paths are skipped entirely)
Files are loaded in order—later files override earlier ones
A ValueError is raised if any specified file doesn’t exist

The CLI also supports custom environment files via the --env-files flag.

Authentication Options¶

API Keys (Default)¶

The simplest approach is using API keys as shown above. Most targets support this method.

Azure Entra Authentication (Optional)¶

For Azure resources, you can use Entra auth instead of API keys. This requires:

Install Azure CLI for your OS:
Log in to Azure:
```
az login
```

When using Entra auth, you don’t need to set API keys for Azure resources.

Next Steps¶

For detailed configuration options, see the Configuration Guide
For database options beyond in-memory storage, see the Memory Documentation