Configuration

Configure Penelope’s behavior through agent initialization, environment variables, or programmatic configuration.

Agent Configuration

agent_config.py
from rhesis.sdk.models import AnthropicLLM
from rhesis.penelope import PenelopeAgent

agent = PenelopeAgent( # Optional: Model (defaults to Vertex AI / gemini-2.0-flash)
model=AnthropicLLM(),

  # Optional: Stopping conditions
  max_iterations=20,        # Defaults to 10
  timeout_seconds=300,      # No timeout by default

  # Observability
  enable_transparency=True,
  verbose=True,

  # Optional: Custom tools
  tools=[],

)

Default Model

Penelope uses Vertex AI with Gemini 2.0 Flash by default. Configure globally:

Environment Variables:

Terminal
export PENELOPE_DEFAULT_MODEL=anthropic
export PENELOPE_DEFAULT_MODEL_NAME=claude-4

Programmatic:

config.py
from rhesis.penelope import PenelopeConfig

PenelopeConfig.set_default_model("anthropic", "claude-4")

# Now all agents use this default

agent = PenelopeAgent() # Uses anthropic/claude-4

Supported Providers

Penelope works with any Rhesis SDK model:

vertex_ai - Google Vertex AI (Gemini models)
anthropic - Anthropic (Claude models)
openai - OpenAI (GPT models)
openai_compatible - Any OpenAI-compatible API

different_models.py
from rhesis.sdk.models import VertexAILLM, AnthropicLLM, OpenAILLM

# Vertex AI

agent = PenelopeAgent(model=VertexAILLM(model_name="gemini-pro"))

# Anthropic

agent = PenelopeAgent(model=AnthropicLLM(model_name="claude-4"))

# OpenAI

agent = PenelopeAgent(model=OpenAILLM(model_name="gpt-4"))

Max Iterations

Default: 10. Configure globally or per-agent:

Environment Variable:

Terminal
export PENELOPE_DEFAULT_MAX_ITERATIONS=20

Programmatic:

config.py
from rhesis.penelope import PenelopeConfig

PenelopeConfig.set_default_max_iterations(20)
agent = PenelopeAgent() # Uses 20

Per Agent:

agent.py
agent = PenelopeAgent(max_iterations=30)  # Overrides defaults

Choosing Max Iterations: Start with 10 for simple tests. Increase to 20-30 for complex multi-turn scenarios or exploratory testing.

Timeout

Set execution timeout to prevent runaway tests:

timeout.py
agent = PenelopeAgent(
  timeout_seconds=300,  # 5 minutes
  max_iterations=50
)

result = agent.execute_test(
target=target,
goal="Complex long-running test"
)

# result.status will be 'timeout' if time limit exceeded

Transparency & Verbosity

Control output detail level:

output_control.py
# Full transparency - see all reasoning
agent = PenelopeAgent(
  enable_transparency=True,  # Show reasoning boxes
  verbose=True               # Print all details
)

# Quiet mode - minimal output

agent = PenelopeAgent(
enable_transparency=False,
verbose=False
)

# Results only - no execution details

agent = PenelopeAgent(verbose=False)

Test-Level Configuration

Override settings per test:

test_config.py
# Different max_turns for specific test
result = agent.execute_test(
  target=target,
  goal="Short simple test",
  max_turns=5  # Override agent's max_iterations for this test
)

Log Level

Control logging verbosity:

Environment Variable:

Terminal
export PENELOPE_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG  # DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL

Programmatic:

logging.py
from rhesis.penelope import PenelopeConfig

PenelopeConfig.set_log_level("DEBUG") # Shows all logs including external libraries
PenelopeConfig.set_log_level("INFO") # Standard logging (default)
PenelopeConfig.set_log_level("WARNING") # Only warnings and errors

Complete Configuration Example

complete_config.py
from rhesis.sdk.models import AnthropicLLM
from rhesis.penelope import PenelopeAgent, PenelopeConfig

# Global defaults

PenelopeConfig.set_default_model("anthropic", "claude-4")
PenelopeConfig.set_default_max_iterations(20)
PenelopeConfig.set_log_level("INFO")

# Agent with custom config

agent = PenelopeAgent(
model=AnthropicLLM(model_name="claude-4"),
max_iterations=30,
timeout_seconds=600,
enable_transparency=True,
verbose=True,
tools=[] # Add custom tools here
)

# Execute test

result = agent.execute_test(
target=target,
goal="Comprehensive test",
instructions="Detailed instructions...",
context={"environment": "staging"},
max_turns=25 # Test-specific override
)

Next: Learn how to Extend Penelope with custom tools and architecture details, or explore Examples for practical use cases.