Environment Variables

Real environment variables that affect Ameow's development and diagnostics behavior, and how they differ from message marker constants.

Ameow uses AMEOW_-prefixed environment variables to control development behavior and diagnostic modes. These variables are read from process.env; most can only be enabled via the environment, while AMEOW_FORCE_DEV_PREFLIGHT can also be triggered by passing --force when running the preflight script directly (see Local Development).

Environment Variables

Variable	Purpose	Source File
`AMEOW_ELECTRON_DEV_SERVER_URL`	Dev server URL injected into Electron	`scripts/run-electron-dev.mjs`
`AMEOW_FRONTEND_URL`	Override the renderer URL for an unpackaged Electron process (ignored by packaged apps)	`electron/windowRouting.mts`
`AMEOW_FORCE_DEV_PREFLIGHT`	Force preflight to re-verify Python runtime (`1`/`true`/`yes`/`on`)	`scripts/dev-preflight.mjs`
`AMEOW_STARTUP_DIAGNOSTICS`	Enable startup diagnostics in a packaged Windows app (window screenshot + pixel transparency analysis)	`electron/windowVisibility.mts`
`AMEOW_FORCE_OPAQUE_WINDOW`	Force an opaque window in a packaged Windows app (experimental, for diagnosing transparency issues)	`electron/windowVisibility.mts`
`AMEOW_DOCS_SCREENSHOT_TARGET`	Docs screenshot: target screenshot ID	`electron/main.mts`
`AMEOW_DOCS_SCREENSHOT_OUTPUT`	Docs screenshot: output path	`electron/main.mts`
`AMEOW_DOCS_SCREENSHOT_DEVICE_SCALE_FACTOR`	Docs screenshot: device pixel ratio	`electron/main.mts`
`AMEOW_DOCS_SCREENSHOT_USER_DATA`	Docs screenshot: user data path	`electron/main.mts`

The AMEOW_DOCS_SCREENSHOT_* variables are an internal environment protocol read directly by the Electron main process at startup: set target / output / DPR / userData to request one capture. There is no screenshot orchestration script on current main. They are not maintainer-facing configuration. See the maintainer runbook.

Message Markers Are Not Environment Variables

The repository also contains many AMEOW_-prefixed strings, such as:

AMEOW_PINTEREST_DRAG
AMEOW_WEIBO_VIDEO_VARIANTS
AMEOW_XIAOHONGSHU_NOTE_LINKS

These are message marker constants used for communication between content scripts and the background script. They are not environment variables — they are not read from process.env, and setting them has no effect.