[T011+] Env config: uv venv, .env loader, remote Ollama host + model

- app/config.py: dependency-free .env loader (OLLAMA_HOST/MODEL_ID/MODEL_PROVIDER)
- .env.example committed; .env gitignored (points at remote 192.168.0.233:11434,
MODEL_ID=qwen3.5:4b — qwen2.5:7b absent on host)
- app.py loads .env at startup; tests/conftest.py loads it for test runs
- venv recreated with uv

Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

.env.example

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Refuge — environment configuration. Copy to `.env` (gitignored) and edit.
+# These are read at startup by app/config.py (no python-dotenv dependency).
+
+# Ollama server base URL. Leave unset for a local daemon (http://127.0.0.1:11434).
+OLLAMA_HOST=http://127.0.0.1:11434
+
+# Model to use. Must be a tool-calling-capable instruct model, <=32B.
+# Spec default is qwen2.5:7b; pick what your Ollama host actually has.
+MODEL_ID=qwen2.5:7b
+
+# LLM provider: "ollama" (default) or a litellm provider name.
+MODEL_PROVIDER=ollama

app/app.py

@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@ sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
 
 import gradio as gr  # noqa: E402
 
+from app.config import load_env  # noqa: E402
 from app.design_tokens import root_css  # noqa: E402
 
+# Load .env (OLLAMA_HOST, MODEL_ID, …) before anything reads the environment.
+load_env()
+
 # Web fonts: Fraunces (display serif) + Inter (UI sans) per DESIGN.md §3.
 FONT_IMPORT = (
     "@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?"

app/config.py

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+"""app/config.py — minimal, dependency-free environment loading.
+
+Reads a ``.env`` file at the repo root into ``os.environ`` (without overriding
+values already set in the real environment). Avoids adding python-dotenv just to
+read a handful of keys.
+
+Recognised keys (see ``.env.example``):
+  * ``OLLAMA_HOST``    — base URL of the Ollama server (e.g. http://host:11434)
+  * ``MODEL_ID``       — model name to use (default ``qwen2.5:7b``)
+  * ``MODEL_PROVIDER`` — ``ollama`` (default) or a litellm provider
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+ENV_FILE = REPO_ROOT / ".env"
+
+
+def load_env(env_file: Path | None = None) -> None:
+    """Load KEY=VALUE lines from ``.env`` into os.environ (non-overriding)."""
+    path = env_file or ENV_FILE
+    if not path.exists():
+        return
+    for raw in path.read_text(encoding="utf-8").splitlines():
+        line = raw.strip()
+        if not line or line.startswith("#") or "=" not in line:
+            continue
+        key, _, value = line.partition("=")
+        key = key.strip()
+        value = value.strip().strip('"').strip("'")
+        if key and key not in os.environ:
+            os.environ[key] = value
+
+
+__all__ = ["load_env", "ENV_FILE", "REPO_ROOT"]

tests/conftest.py

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+"""Shared pytest fixtures / setup.
+
+Loads the repo `.env` (OLLAMA_HOST, MODEL_ID, …) so tests that hit the real
+model use the same configuration as the running app.
+"""
+
+from app.config import load_env
+
+load_env()