Configuration

Configure the database, authentication, origins and runtime limits.

Set secrets through your deployment’s secret manager. For local development, copy .env.example to .env. The UI and API have separate environments.

API

Variable	Purpose
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string.
AUTH_KEY	Primary high-entropy Bearer key with full ledger access and API-key administration.
ROOT_EMAIL, ROOT_PASSWORD	Configure both to enable browser sign-in, key issuance and OAuth consent. Leave both empty to disable new issuance and sign-in.
PORT	API listening port; default 3000.
NODE_ENV	Use production in deployed services.
PUBLIC_BASE_URL	Exact public API origin used for OAuth discovery. HTTPS is required except on loopback.
UI_BASE_URL	Exact trusted UI origin for sign-in, key creation and OAuth consent requests.
ALLOWED_ORIGINS	Exact origins of browser MCP clients that need CORS. Keep this list limited to intended clients.
OAUTH_CLIENTS	Optional JSON array of pre-registered clients. The default empty array permits supported metadata-document and dynamic registration flows.
RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE	General request limit per connecting IP address; default 600. Root sign-in and client registration have additional limits.

Root credentials are used for issuance and consent. They cannot authenticate health requests directly. Changing root credentials affects new sign-ins and issuance after the API restarts; revoke existing keys and sessions separately if needed.

Address-based limits use the IP address connecting directly to the API. Requests through one proxy may share a bucket; supplied client-address headers do not change it.

The API derives accepted hosts from PUBLIC_BASE_URL and fixed loopback readiness addresses. The account timezone is saved in Account Settings → Preferences and defaults to UTC. It controls timestamp display, daily grouping and goal dates across the UI, REST and MCP. Instants remain stored in UTC; date-only records retain their original calendar dates. Changes apply without restarting the API.

Web app

Variable	Purpose
API_BASE_URL	Public API origin used by browser sessions, dashboard reads, account settings, key management, MCP setup and OAuth.
UI_BASE_URL	The web app’s exact public origin.
DOCS_BASE_URL	Optional documentation origin override. Defaults to https://www.vitalog.dev; the account menu opens the home page and MCP Guide opens /mcp-guide.
PORT	Web server listening port inside the service. Compose exposes UI_PORT on the host, default 3001.

The UI does not need AUTH_KEY, database credentials or root credentials in its environment. Origin settings are read at runtime, so the same image can serve different installations.

See API keys for issuance and management, and MCP OAuth for client registration, token lifetimes and scopes.

Attachment storage

Set optional S3_BUCKET, S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID, S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, S3_ENDPOINT, S3_REGION, S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE and S3_PREFIX on the API. A private bucket enables reusable image/PDF uploads capped at 20 MB per file. See attachments for provider setup, private URLs, backups and cleanup. The web app does not receive these credentials.