> For clean Markdown content of this page, append .md to this URL. For the complete documentation index, see https://docs.nvidia.com/dynamo/llms.txt. For full content including API reference and SDK examples, see https://docs.nvidia.com/dynamo/llms-full.txt. # Runtime Configuration (DynamoRuntimeConfig) `DynamoRuntimeConfig` holds the configuration that is **common to every Dynamo process** — the frontend, the standalone router, and all three backend workers (vLLM, SGLang, TRT-LLM) parse this same argument group. Most fields, types, defaults, and choices on this page come from the [`DynamoRuntimeArgGroup` and `DynamoRuntimeConfig`](https://github.com/ai-dynamo/dynamo/blob/main/components/src/dynamo/common/configuration/groups/runtime_args.py) definitions. The page also catalogs runtime environment-only controls implemented below the Python argument layer. These are the **shared** Dynamo runtime flags. Each backend also has its own backend-specific flags: [vLLM Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/v-llm-configuration), [SGLang Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/sg-lang-configuration), and [TensorRT-LLM Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/tensor-rt-llm-configuration). This page covers neither native engine arguments nor backend-specific `DYN_*` prefixed flags — only the flags from `DynamoRuntimeArgGroup`. ## How the config is loaded Unless a field is marked environment-only, it has both a CLI flag and an environment variable. The CLI flag takes precedence; the environment variable is the fallback. Boolean fields are negatable — `--dyn-enable-structural-tag` sets it on, `--no-dyn-enable-structural-tag` sets it off. #### Kubernetes Set flags in **any** component container's `args` and environment variables in its `env`, under a service of a [DynamoGraphDeployment](/dynamo/dev/reference/api/kubernetes/dynamo-graph-deployment) (DGD). To set a `DYN_*` variable across **all** components at once, use the graph-level `spec.envs` field. ```yaml spec: # Graph-level: applies to every component in the deployment envs: - name: DYN_ENDPOINT_TYPES value: chat services: VllmWorker: extraPodSpec: mainContainer: args: - --dyn-tool-call-parser - llama3_json - --engine-request-limit - "32" env: - name: DYN_MULTIMODAL_EMBEDDING_CACHE_CAPACITY_GB value: "4.0" ``` On Kubernetes, several of these variables are **auto-injected** by the Dynamo operator into every container — see the individual field notes below. #### Local Pass the flags directly on the command line of any Dynamo component: ```bash # Frontend python -m dynamo.frontend \ --namespace my-cluster \ --discovery-backend etcd \ --endpoint-types chat # vLLM worker python -m dynamo.vllm \ --namespace my-cluster \ --model meta-llama/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct \ --dyn-tool-call-parser llama3_json \ --exclude-tools-when-tool-choice-none # SGLang worker python -m dynamo.sglang \ --namespace my-cluster \ --model-path Qwen/Qwen3-32B ``` ## Model discovery and namespace **`--namespace`** `string` — default: dynamo Dynamo namespace that scopes service discovery. All components in a deployment must share the same namespace to find each other. If `DYN_NAMESPACE_WORKER_SUFFIX` is also set, `-{suffix}` is automatically appended to the resolved value to support multiple worker pools serving the same model. On Kubernetes the operator sets this automatically to `{k8s_namespace}-{dgd_name}`; override only deliberately. Environment variable: `DYN_NAMESPACE` --- **`--endpoint`** `string` — default: null Dynamo endpoint string in `dyn://namespace.component.endpoint` format, for example `dyn://dynamo.backend.generate`. When unset, the endpoint address is inferred from the component's registration in the discovery backend. Environment variable: `DYN_ENDPOINT` --- **`--endpoint-types`** `string` — default: chat,completions Comma-separated list of OpenAI-compatible endpoint types to enable. Use `completions` alone for models that do not have a chat template. The obsolete alias `--dyn-endpoint-types` is accepted for backward compatibility. Environment variable: `DYN_ENDPOINT_TYPES` --- ## Communication planes **`--discovery-backend`** `string` — default: etcd Service discovery backend. `kubernetes` uses the K8s API; `etcd` uses a distributed key-value store (configured via `ETCD_*` env vars such as `ETCD_ENDPOINTS`); `file` uses the local filesystem (path from `DYN_FILE_KV`, defaulting to `$TMPDIR/dynamo_store_kv`); `mem` uses an in-memory store suitable for single-process development. See [Discovery Plane](/dynamo/dev/knowledge-base/concepts/communication-planes/discovery-plane) for design details. On Kubernetes the operator sets this automatically to `kubernetes`; override only deliberately. Allowed values: kubernetes etcd file mem Environment variable: `DYN_DISCOVERY_BACKEND` --- **`--request-plane`** `string` — default: tcp Transport used to distribute requests from routers to workers. `tcp` provides the lowest latency and is recommended for production. `nats` uses NATS messaging. See [Request Plane](/dynamo/dev/knowledge-base/concepts/communication-planes/request-plane) for design details. Allowed values: tcp nats Environment variable: `DYN_REQUEST_PLANE` --- **`DYN_REQUEST_PLANE_CODEC`** `string` — default: msgpack Preferred payload codec advertised by every request-plane endpoint served by this process. Clients select the codec independently for each destination endpoint. They use the destination's advertised codec, or `json` when a legacy destination does not advertise one. Setting this variable does not force the codec for outbound requests from the process. Dynamo caches this process-wide value on its first codec lookup. Restart the process after changing it. Allowed values: json msgpack --- **`--event-plane`** `string` — default: zmq Event publishing transport. ZMQ is the default for every discovery backend; select `nats` explicitly to use NATS Core. See [Event Plane](/dynamo/dev/knowledge-base/concepts/communication-planes/event-plane) for design details. Allowed values: nats zmq Environment variable: `DYN_EVENT_PLANE` --- **`--connector`** `string` — default: null KV-cache transfer connector. Accepts zero or more values. Deprecated for vLLM — use `--kv-transfer-config` instead. For TRT-LLM, valid options are `nixl`, `lmcache`, `kvbm`, `null`, and `none`. Environment variable: `DYN_CONNECTOR` --- ## Parsing **`--dyn-tool-call-parser`** `string` — default: null Tool call parser name for the model. When unset, the backend's default tool call parsing is used. Valid parser names are determined at runtime by the installed `dynamo._core` extension — run `python -m dynamo.vllm --help` to see the available choices on your installation. Environment variable: `DYN_TOOL_CALL_PARSER` --- **`--dyn-reasoning-parser`** `string` — default: null Reasoning/chain-of-thought parser name for the model. When unset, no reasoning parsing is performed. Valid parser names are determined at runtime by the installed `dynamo._core` extension — run `python -m dynamo.vllm --help` to see the available choices on your installation. Environment variable: `DYN_REASONING_PARSER` --- **`--dyn-default-thinking-mode`** `string` — default: null Thinking mode to apply when a request omits an explicit thinking control. Request-level `thinking`, `reasoning_effort`, and controls in `chat_template_args` or `chat_template_kwargs` take precedence. When unset, Dynamo preserves the model or chat template's native default. See [Deployment-Level Thinking Default](/dynamo/dev/parsing/reasoning-parsing#deployment-level-thinking-default) for examples and precedence details. Allowed values: enabled disabled Environment variable: `DYN_DEFAULT_THINKING_MODE` --- **`--exclude-tools-when-tool-choice-none`** `boolean` — default: true Exclude tool definitions from the chat template when `tool_choice='none'`. Prevents models from generating unsolicited raw XML tool calls in the content field. This flag controls the Rust-native chat template path; a matching flag in `FrontendArgGroup` controls the Python processor side independently. Environment variable: `DYN_EXCLUDE_TOOLS_WHEN_TOOL_CHOICE_NONE` --- **`--dyn-enable-structural-tag`** `boolean` — default: false Enable structural tag guided decoding for tool calls. When enabled, configure activation scope and parameter schema strictness with `--dyn-structural-tag-scope` and `--dyn-structural-tag-schema`. Environment variable: `DYN_ENABLE_STRUCTURAL_TAG` --- **`--dyn-structural-tag-scope`** `string` — default: auto Controls when structural tags are activated. `auto` activates them for required or named `tool_choice`, or when any tool has `strict=true` or `parallel_tool_calls` is false. `always` additionally activates them for `tool_choice=auto` without those conditions. `tool_choice=none` is unaffected by either setting. Only meaningful when `--dyn-enable-structural-tag` is set. Allowed values: auto always Environment variable: `DYN_STRUCTURAL_TAG_SCOPE` --- **`--dyn-structural-tag-schema`** `string` — default: auto Controls parameter schema strictness inside structural tags. `auto` applies the real parameter schema only to tools with `strict=true`, leaving all other tools syntactically constrained but schema-unconstrained. `strict` applies the real parameter schema to every tool. Only meaningful when `--dyn-enable-structural-tag` is set. Allowed values: auto strict Environment variable: `DYN_STRUCTURAL_TAG_SCHEMA` --- **`--custom-jinja-template`** `string` — default: null Path to a custom Jinja template file to override the model's default chat template. This template takes precedence over any template found in the model repository. Environment variable: `DYN_CUSTOM_JINJA_TEMPLATE` --- ## Multimodal and media output **`--multimodal-embedding-cache-capacity-gb`** `number` — default: 0 Capacity of the multimodal embedding cache in GB. Set to `0` to disable the cache entirely. Increase this for workloads with repeated image or audio inputs to avoid redundant re-encoding. Environment variable: `DYN_MULTIMODAL_EMBEDDING_CACHE_CAPACITY_GB` --- **`--output-modalities`** `string` — default: text Space-separated list of output modalities for omni or diffusion mode, for example `--output-modalities text image`. Defaults to `text` only. Use `image`, `video`, or `audio` when deploying image/video/audio generation models. Allowed values: text image video audio Environment variable: `DYN_OUTPUT_MODALITIES` --- **`--media-output-fs-url`** `string` — default: file:///tmp/dynamo\_media Filesystem URL for storing generated images and videos. Accepts a local `file://` path or a remote object-storage URL such as `s3://bucket/path`. Environment variable: `DYN_MEDIA_OUTPUT_FS_URL` --- **`--media-output-http-url`** `string` — default: null Base HTTP URL for rewriting media file paths in API responses, for example `http://localhost:8000/media`. When unset, raw filesystem paths are returned in the response body. Environment variable: `DYN_MEDIA_OUTPUT_HTTP_URL` --- ## Fault tolerance **`DYN_RUNTIME_INHIBITED_DURATION_SECS`** `integer` — default: 5 Maximum number of seconds that a runtime client locally removes a worker from normal routing after a request-path failure while service discovery propagates the worker state. Set to `0` to disable local inhibition. The process reads this value once when the first client initializes; restart the process after changing it. Discovery updates remain authoritative, and direct dispatch bypasses the local inhibited set while the selected worker remains in discovery. --- ## Operations **`--dump-config-to`** `string` — default: null Dump the fully resolved configuration to the specified file path at startup. Useful for auditing the effective values after all env-var and CLI overrides have been applied. Environment variable: `DYN_DUMP_CONFIG_TO` --- **`--health-check-payload`** `string` — default: null Override the runtime health-check canary payload used by the unified backend's `Worker`. Accepts a JSON object string, for example `'{"token_ids": [1], "stop_conditions": {"max_tokens": 1}}'`, or a file reference prefixed with `@`, for example `@/path/to/payload.json`. Takes precedence over the engine's default `health_check_payload()`. Applies to the unified backend only. Environment variable: `DYN_HEALTH_CHECK_PAYLOAD` --- **`--engine-request-limit`** `integer` — default: null Maximum requests handled concurrently by the engine. Setting a positive integer enables worker-side admission control. When the engine slots and the Dynamo overflow queue are full, the worker rejects the request and the Frontend returns the configured overload status, 529 by default. Environment variable: `DYN_ENGINE_REQUEST_LIMIT` --- **`DYN_DYNAMO_REQUEST_QUEUE_LIMIT`** `integer` — default: 16 Advanced overflow-queue size for requests waiting in Dynamo before entering the engine. Applies only when `--engine-request-limit` or `DYN_ENGINE_REQUEST_LIMIT` is set. Must be at least `2`; the effective per-worker cap is the engine limit plus this queue limit. --- ## Related pages #### [vLLM Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/v-llm-configuration) Dynamo wrapper flag reference for the vLLM backend (`DYN_VLLM_*`). #### [SGLang Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/sg-lang-configuration) Dynamo wrapper flag reference for the SGLang backend (`DYN_SGL_*`). #### [TensorRT-LLM Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/backends/tensor-rt-llm-configuration) Dynamo wrapper flag reference for the TensorRT-LLM backend. #### [Frontend Configuration](/dynamo/dev/reference/components/frontend-configuration) Configuration reference for the Dynamo HTTP frontend component.