Configuration

Authentication

hlz needs a private key for trading operations. Market data commands work without auth.

Encrypted Keystore (Recommended)

# Generate a new key
hlz keys new trading
 
# Import an existing key
hlz keys import trading --private-key 0xYOUR_KEY
 
# Set as default
hlz keys default trading
 
# List all keys
hlz keys ls

Keys are stored encrypted at ~/.hlz/keys/. Use --key-name to select a specific key per command.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
`HL_KEY`	Private key (raw hex, no 0x prefix)
`HL_PASSWORD`	Keystore password (for `--key-name`)
`HL_ADDRESS`	Default wallet address (for read-only queries)
`HL_CHAIN`	Default chain: `mainnet` (default) or `testnet`
`HL_OUTPUT`	Default output format: `json`, `pretty`, or `csv`
`NO_COLOR`	Disable colored output

Config Files

hlz loads config from key=value files (same format as .env):

Project-level — .env in the current directory:

HL_KEY=your_private_key_hex
HL_ADDRESS=0xYourAddress
HL_CHAIN=mainnet

System-level — ~/.hl/config (used as fallback if no .env found):

HL_KEY=your_private_key_hex
HL_ADDRESS=0xYourAddress
HL_CHAIN=mainnet

Supported keys: HL_KEY, TRADING_KEY, HL_ADDRESS, ADDRESS, HL_CHAIN, CHAIN.

Priority Order

Command-line flags (--key, --key-name, --chain)
Environment variables (HL_KEY, HL_CHAIN)
.env file in current directory
~/.hl/config file
Defaults (mainnet, no key)

Testnet

Add --chain testnet to any command:

hlz buy BTC 0.1 @50000 --chain testnet

Or set globally:

export HL_CHAIN=testnet

Output Formats

Flag	When	Format
(none, TTY)	Interactive terminal	Colored tables
(none, piped)	`hlz price BTC \| jq`	JSON (auto-detected)
`--json`	Explicit	JSON
`--output pretty`	Explicit	Formatted tables
`--output csv`	Explicit	CSV
`--quiet` / `-q`	Minimal	Just the value