Documentation: add documentation for non-experimental environment variables

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ulascansenturk

environment_variables.md

@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+# gRPC-Go Environment Variables
+
+This document lists the environment variables supported by the grpc-go
+implementation.
+
+Variables whose names contain `EXPERIMENTAL` are intentionally not documented
+here: they guard features that are still in development, and they may change
+behavior, change defaults, or be removed entirely in any release without
+notice.
+
+Unless stated otherwise, boolean variables are case-insensitive and only the
+values `true` and `false` are recognized; any other value leaves the default
+in effect.
+
+## Logging
+
+See [Log Levels](Documentation/log_levels.md) for a description of the log
+severities and how they are used.
+
+*   `GRPC_GO_LOG_SEVERITY_LEVEL`
+
+    The minimum severity of log messages written to stderr by the default
+    logger. One of `ERROR`, `WARNING` or `INFO` (e.g. `INFO` enables info,
+    warning and error logs). Defaults to `ERROR`. Has no effect if the
+    application replaces the default logger via
+    [`grpclog.SetLoggerV2`](https://pkg.go.dev/google.golang.org/grpc/grpclog#SetLoggerV2).
+
+*   `GRPC_GO_LOG_VERBOSITY_LEVEL`
+
+    The verbosity of info log messages, as a non-negative integer. Info logs
+    at verbosity levels less than or equal to this value are emitted (subject
+    to `GRPC_GO_LOG_SEVERITY_LEVEL` enabling info logs). Defaults to `0`.
+
+*   `GRPC_GO_LOG_FORMATTER`
+
+    Set to `json` to make the default logger emit log messages as JSON
+    objects. Any other value uses the default plain-text format.
+
+## Binary logging
+
+*   `GRPC_BINARY_LOG_FILTER`
+
+    Enables binary logging and selects which methods are logged, as described
+    in [gRFC A16](https://github.com/grpc/proposal/blob/master/A16-binary-logging.md).
+    The value is a comma-separated list of method patterns, e.g. `*` (all
+    methods), `package.Service/Method`, `package.Service/*`, or
+    `-package.Service/Method` to exclude a method. A pattern may be suffixed
+    with `{h[:len]}`, `{m[:len]}` or `{h[:len];m[:len]}` to limit the logged
+    header and message sizes. Unset or empty disables binary logging.
+
+## Name resolution
+
+*   `GRPC_ENABLE_TXT_SERVICE_CONFIG`
+
+    Whether the DNS resolver performs TXT record lookups to retrieve the
+    service config, as described in
+    [gRFC A2](https://github.com/grpc/proposal/blob/master/A2-service-configs-in-dns.md).
+    Defaults to `true`.
+
+*   `GRPC_GO_IGNORE_TXT_ERRORS`
+
+    Whether the DNS resolver ignores errors from TXT record lookups. When
+    `true`, TXT lookup failures are logged but resolution proceeds without a
+    service config; when `false`, the error is reported to the channel.
+    Defaults to `true`.
+
+## xDS
+
+*   `GRPC_XDS_BOOTSTRAP`
+
+    Path to a file containing the xDS bootstrap configuration in JSON format.
+    Takes precedence over `GRPC_XDS_BOOTSTRAP_CONFIG` if both are set.
+
+*   `GRPC_XDS_BOOTSTRAP_CONFIG`
+
+    The xDS bootstrap configuration itself, in JSON format. Used only if
+    `GRPC_XDS_BOOTSTRAP` is unset.
+
+## Load balancing
+
+*   `GRPC_RING_HASH_CAP`
+
+    The maximum ring size for the
+    [`ring_hash`](https://github.com/grpc/proposal/blob/master/A42-xds-ring-hash-lb-policy.md)
+    load balancing policy. Configured ring sizes are capped at this value.
+    Defaults to `4096`; values are clamped to the range `[1, 8388608]` (8M).
+    This does not affect config validation, which rejects ring sizes larger
+    than 8M.
+
+*   `GRPC_XDS_ENDPOINT_HASH_KEY_BACKWARD_COMPAT`
+
+    Set to `true` to restore the behavior that predates the endpoint hash key
+    support from
+    [gRFC A76](https://github.com/grpc/proposal/blob/master/A76-ring-hash-improvements.md),
+    ignoring the hash key from EDS endpoint metadata. Defaults to `false`.
+    This variable is transitional and will be removed in a future release.
+
+## Security
+
+*   `GRPC_ENFORCE_ALPN_ENABLED`
+
+    Whether TLS connections to peers that do not negotiate ALPN are rejected.
+    HTTP/2 requires ALPN; this variable exists only for backward compatibility
+    with non-compliant peers, and may be removed in a future release. Defaults
+    to `true`.
+
+*   `GRPC_ALTS_MAX_CONCURRENT_HANDSHAKES`
+
+    The maximum number of concurrent ALTS handshakes. Defaults to `100`;
+    values are clamped to the range `[1, 100]`.
+
+## Server
+
+*   `GRPC_GO_SERVER_GOROUTINE_LABELS`
+
+    Controls the [runtime/pprof labels](https://pkg.go.dev/runtime/pprof#Labels)
+    set on goroutines spawned by `grpc.Server` to handle incoming requests.
+    The value is a comma-separated list of `label=true|false` entries;
+    `grpc.method` is currently the only supported label. The values `all` and
+    `none` enable and disable all supported labels. Defaults to no labels.
+
+## GCP observability
+
+Used by the [gcp/observability](https://pkg.go.dev/google.golang.org/grpc/gcp/observability)
+package; see its documentation for the configuration schema.
+
+*   `GRPC_GCP_OBSERVABILITY_CONFIG_FILE`
+
+    Path to a file containing the observability configuration in JSON format.
+    Takes precedence over `GRPC_GCP_OBSERVABILITY_CONFIG` if both are set.
+
+*   `GRPC_GCP_OBSERVABILITY_CONFIG`
+
+    The observability configuration itself, in JSON format. Used only if
+    `GRPC_GCP_OBSERVABILITY_CONFIG_FILE` is unset.