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Environment & Configuration

Environment Variables

All configuration is done via environment variables in your .env file at the project root.

Required

Variable	Description	Example
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection string	`postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/mydb`
`JWT_SECRET`	Secret key for signing JWT tokens. Use a strong random string (min 32 chars).	`a1b2c3d4e5...`

Frontend

Variable	Description	Default
`VITE_API_URL`	Backend API URL. Used by the client SDK.	`http://localhost:3001`
`VITE_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID`	Google OAuth client ID. Enables “Sign in with Google”.	—

Backend

Variable	Description	Default
`PORT`	Port for the backend HTTP server	`3001`
`LOG_LEVEL`	Logging verbosity: `error`, `warn`, `info`, `debug`	`info`
`NODE_ENV`	Environment: `development` or `production`	`development`

Authentication

Variable	Description	Default
`JWT_SECRET`	Secret for JWT signing (required if auth is enabled)	—
`ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRES_IN`	Access token lifetime	`1h`
`REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRES_IN`	Refresh token lifetime	`30d`
`ALLOW_REGISTRATION`	Allow new users to register (`true`/`false`). First user can always register.	`false`
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID`	Google OAuth client ID (backend validation)	—

Storage

Variable	Description	Default
`STORAGE_TYPE`	Storage backend: `local` or `s3`	`local`
`STORAGE_BASE_PATH`	Base path for local storage	`./uploads`
`S3_BUCKET`	S3 bucket name (when `STORAGE_TYPE=s3`)	—
`S3_REGION`	AWS region	—
`S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	AWS access key	—
`S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS secret key	—
`S3_ENDPOINT`	Custom S3 endpoint (for MinIO, Cloudflare R2, etc.)	—

Email (Optional)

Variable	Description
`SMTP_HOST`	SMTP server host
`SMTP_PORT`	SMTP server port
`SMTP_USER`	SMTP username
`SMTP_PASS`	SMTP password
`EMAIL_FROM`	Sender address for system emails

Backend Config Object

The RebaseBackendConfig passed to initializeRebaseBackend() provides programmatic control:

await initializeRebaseBackend({
    app,
    server,
    collections,
    basePath: "/api",        // Base path for all API routes (default: "/api")

    driver: {                // PostgreSQL driver config
        connection: db,
        schema: { tables, enums, relations }
    },

    auth: {                  // Authentication config
        jwtSecret: process.env.JWT_SECRET!,
        accessExpiresIn: "1h",
        refreshExpiresIn: "30d",
        requireAuth: true,    // Require auth for data API (default: true)
        allowRegistration: false,
        google: {
            clientId: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
        }
    },

    storage: {               // File storage config
        type: "local",
        basePath: "./uploads"
    },

    history: true,           // Enable entity change history

    enableSwagger: true,     // Enable OpenAPI docs at /api/data/docs

    logging: {
        level: "info"
    }
});

Next Steps

Deployment — Production deployment guide
Backend Overview — Full backend configuration reference