nautechsystems/nautilus_trader · critical · anyhow::Error

password not set nor available in env TWS_PASSWORD

Error message

password not set nor available in env TWS_PASSWORD

What it means

DockerizedIBGateway::new requires the IB Gateway password, taken from DockerizedIBGatewayConfig.password with fallback to the TWS_PASSWORD environment variable. If neither is set, construction fails with this error so no gateway container is ever started without credentials.

Source

Thrown at crates/adapters/interactive_brokers/src/gateway/dockerized.rs:186

    /// * `config` - Configuration for the gateway
    ///
    /// # Errors
    ///
    /// Returns an error if:
    /// - Username or password is not provided and not available in environment variables
    /// - Docker client creation fails
    pub fn new(mut config: DockerizedIBGatewayConfig) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
        let username = config
            .username
            .take()
            .or_else(|| std::env::var("TWS_USERNAME").ok().map(SecretString::from))
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("username not set nor available in env TWS_USERNAME"))?;

        let password = config
            .password
            .take()
            .or_else(|| std::env::var("TWS_PASSWORD").ok().map(SecretString::from))
            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("password not set nor available in env TWS_PASSWORD"))?;

        // Connect to Docker
        let docker = Docker::connect_with_local_defaults().context(
            "Failed to connect to the local Docker daemon. Ensure Docker is running and the local Docker socket is available",
        )?;

        // Determine port based on trading mode
        let mode_str = match config.trading_mode {
            crate::config::TradingMode::Paper => "Paper",
            crate::config::TradingMode::Live => "Live",
        };
        let port = Self::host_port_for_mode(config.trading_mode);

        // Generate container name
        let container_name = format!("{}-{}", Self::CONTAINER_NAME, mode_str).to_lowercase();

        Ok(Self {
            config,

View on GitHub (pinned to 18893faf8b)

Solutions

1. Set TWS_PASSWORD in the environment before starting the process.
2. Set `password` explicitly on DockerizedIBGatewayConfig.
3. Inject the password via your secret manager / CI secrets into the process environment.
4. Double-check both TWS_USERNAME and TWS_PASSWORD are present — construction requires both.

Example fix

// before
let gateway = DockerizedIBGateway::new(DockerizedIBGatewayConfig::default())?;
// after
let gateway = DockerizedIBGateway::new(DockerizedIBGatewayConfig {
    password: Some(SecretString::from("my_password")),
    ..Default::default()
})?;

if std::env::var("TWS_PASSWORD").is_err() {
    panic!("TWS_PASSWORD must be set (or pass password in DockerizedIBGatewayConfig) before starting the gateway");
}

match DockerizedIBGateway::new(config) {
    Ok(gw) => (),
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("password not set nor available in env TWS_PASSWORD") => {
        return Err(anyhow!("gateway credentials missing: set TWS_PASSWORD or config.password"));
    }
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling DockerizedIBGateway::new with config.password == None while TWS_PASSWORD is not present in the process environment.

Common situations: Setting TWS_USERNAME but forgetting TWS_PASSWORD; running in CI where only one secret was injected; password defined in a secret manager not wired into the process environment.

Understand the failure class

Background: "environment variable is not set" and "Missing keys in environment" errors: what missing required env var messages mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• username not set nor available in env TWS_USERNAME
• Gateway `{}` not ready after {} seconds
• Redis config error: username supplied without password. Eith
• Missing Betfair credentials in config and environment
• Invalid Betfair credentials: username provided but password

AI-assisted analysis of nautechsystems/nautilus_trader@18893faf8b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/174a8a87929819b9. Report an issue: GitHub.