<!-- generated-by: gsd-doc-writer -->

# FamilySync — Configuration Reference

All runtime configuration is supplied via environment variables. There are no JSON or YAML config files beyond Docker Compose. Copy `.env.example` to `.env` at the repo root and fill in the values before starting any service.

---

## Environment Variables

### Database

| Variable           | Required     | Default      | Description                                                                                                              |
| ------------------ | ------------ | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `DB_HOST`          | Yes          | `localhost`  | MariaDB hostname. Use `mariadb` inside Docker Compose; use `localhost` (or `127.0.0.1`) for host-side dev runs.          |
| `DB_PORT`          | No           | `3306`       | MariaDB port.                                                                                                            |
| `DB_USER`          | No           | `familysync` | Database user.                                                                                                           |
| `DB_PASSWORD`      | **Required** | _(none)_     | Database password. Also used by the `mariadb` service as `MARIADB_PASSWORD`.                                             |
| `DB_NAME`          | No           | `familysync` | Database name.                                                                                                           |
| `DB_ROOT_PASSWORD` | **Required** | _(none)_     | MariaDB root password. Used only by the `mariadb` Docker service (`MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD`). Not read by the API process. |

Five of these variables — `DB_HOST`, `DB_USER`, `DB_PASSWORD`, `DB_NAME`, `DB_PORT` — are read by `drizzle.config.ts` when running migrations (`db:generate` / `db:migrate`) and by the API process to build its connection pool. `DB_ROOT_PASSWORD` is **not** read by either; it is consumed only by the `mariadb` Docker service.

**Important:** Do not use `drizzle-kit push` against this MariaDB. The `mysql` dialect mis-reads MariaDB 11.x metadata and schedules false destructive operations. Always use `db:generate` + `db:migrate`.

---

### OIDC / Authelia Authentication

| Variable                 | Required     | Default                                  | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------ | ------------ | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `OIDC_AUTH_SECRET`       | **Required** | `placeholder_change_me` (Docker default) | 32+ character random string used to sign the `oidc-auth` session JWT cookie. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`.                                                                                                                                                             |
| `OIDC_ISSUER`            | **Required** | _(none)_                                 | Authelia base URL, e.g. `https://auth.DOMAIN`. The middleware fetches `/.well-known/openid-configuration` from this URL.                                                                                                                                                          |
| `OIDC_CLIENT_ID`         | No           | `familysync`                             | Registered client ID in Authelia.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET`     | **Required** | _(none)_                                 | Plaintext client secret matching the pbkdf2 hash stored in Authelia's `configuration.yml`. Do **not** use the hash here.                                                                                                                                                          |
| `OIDC_REDIRECT_URI`      | **Required** | _(none)_                                 | Full callback URL registered in Authelia, e.g. `https://familysync.DOMAIN/callback`.                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `OIDC_AUTH_EXTERNAL_URL` | **Required** | _(none)_                                 | Public-facing base URL of the app, e.g. `https://familysync.DOMAIN`. **Mandatory behind the Pangolin/Newt tunnel.** Without it, `@hono/oidc-auth` builds the redirect URI from the internal container hostname, which will not match the registered URI and breaks the OIDC flow. |
| `OIDC_SCOPES`            | No           | `openid profile email offline_access`    | Space-separated list of OIDC scopes to request. `offline_access` is required for refresh-token session persistence. Authelia rejects unknown scopes, so do not add scopes that are not configured on the Authelia client.                                                         |
| `OIDC_AUTH_EXPIRES`      | No           | `86400`                                  | Session cookie `Max-Age` in seconds (default 1 day). Governs the persistent session cookie set by `persistSessionCookie` middleware.                                                                                                                                              |
| `OIDC_COOKIE_NAME`       | No           | `oidc-auth`                              | Name of the session cookie. Override only if you need to run multiple instances under the same domain.                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `OIDC_COOKIE_PATH`       | No           | `/`                                      | Cookie `Path` attribute.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| `OIDC_COOKIE_DOMAIN`     | No           | _(not set)_                              | Cookie `Domain` attribute. Set this when the API and PWA are served from different subdomains under the same apex domain. Must match the Authelia and app domains (same-parent-domain requirement).                                                                               |

**Locked Authelia client parameters** (these are fixed by the project; do not change):

- `response_types: [code]`
- `grant_types: [authorization_code, refresh_token]`
- `require_pkce: true`, `pkce_challenge_method: S256`
- `token_endpoint_auth_method: client_secret_basic`

---

### Broker Encryption

| Variable                      | Required     | Default  | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------------- | ------------ | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `APP_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTION_KEY` | **Required** | _(none)_ | 64-character hex string (32 bytes) used as the AES-256-GCM key for encrypting Fastmail app passwords at rest. Generate with: `node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"`. Startup throws if this is missing or the wrong length. |

---

### Web Push (VAPID)

| Variable            | Required | Default  | Description                                                                                                                                |
| ------------------- | -------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY`  | No\*     | _(none)_ | URL-safe base64 VAPID public key. Served to the PWA via `GET /api/push/vapid-public-key`. Non-secret.                                      |
| `VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY` | No\*     | _(none)_ | URL-safe base64 VAPID private key. Used server-side to sign push requests. **Never expose to clients.**                                    |
| `VAPID_SUBJECT`     | No\*     | _(none)_ | Contact URI identifying the operator, e.g. `mailto:admin@example.com` or `https://familysync.DOMAIN`. Must be a `mailto:` or `https:` URL. |

\*All three VAPID variables are optional in the sense that the server starts without them, but push notifications will not function. A startup warning is logged if any are missing. Generate a key pair with:

```bash
npx web-push generate-vapid-keys --json
```

---

### Runtime Mode

| Variable          | Required | Default     | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ----------------- | -------- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `NODE_ENV`        | No       | _(not set)_ | Set to `production` in the production Docker Compose. When `production`, the dev-auth bypass is unconditionally disabled regardless of `DEV_AUTH_BYPASS`.                                                                   |
| `DEV_AUTH_BYPASS` | No       | _(not set)_ | Set to `true` to bypass OIDC authentication for local development without a live Authelia instance. **Only active when `NODE_ENV !== 'production'`.** The production `docker-compose.yml` must never include this variable. |

---

## Defaults Summary

Variables with non-empty defaults do not cause startup failure if absent, but should be reviewed for production:

| Variable            | Default                               | Source                                      |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `DB_HOST`           | `localhost`                           | `apps/api/src/db/client.ts`                 |
| `DB_PORT`           | `3306`                                | `apps/api/src/db/client.ts`                 |
| `DB_USER`           | `familysync`                          | `apps/api/src/db/client.ts`                 |
| `DB_NAME`           | `familysync`                          | `apps/api/src/db/client.ts`                 |
| `OIDC_CLIENT_ID`    | `familysync`                          | `docker-compose.yml`                        |
| `OIDC_SCOPES`       | `openid profile email offline_access` | `docker-compose.yml`                        |
| `OIDC_AUTH_EXPIRES` | `86400`                               | `apps/api/src/auth/persistSessionCookie.ts` |
| `OIDC_COOKIE_NAME`  | `oidc-auth`                           | `apps/api/src/auth/persistSessionCookie.ts` |
| `OIDC_COOKIE_PATH`  | `/`                                   | `apps/api/src/auth/persistSessionCookie.ts` |

---

## Per-Environment Configuration

### Production (Docker Compose)

`docker-compose.yml` sets `NODE_ENV=production` and injects all secrets via `${VAR}` interpolation from a `.env` file on the Docker host. No `.env` file is committed to the repository.

Minimum production `.env`:

```dotenv
# Database
DB_PASSWORD=<strong-password>
DB_ROOT_PASSWORD=<strong-root-password>

# OIDC
OIDC_AUTH_SECRET=<openssl rand -base64 32>
OIDC_ISSUER=https://auth.DOMAIN
OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET=<plaintext secret>
OIDC_REDIRECT_URI=https://familysync.DOMAIN/callback
OIDC_AUTH_EXTERNAL_URL=https://familysync.DOMAIN

# Broker encryption
APP_PASSWORD_ENCRYPTION_KEY=<64-hex-chars>

# VAPID push (optional but recommended)
VAPID_PUBLIC_KEY=<base64>
VAPID_PRIVATE_KEY=<base64>
VAPID_SUBJECT=mailto:admin@example.com
```

### Local Development (host-side)

The dev Docker Compose override (`docker-compose.dev.yml`) exposes MariaDB on `localhost:3306` and Redis on `localhost:6379`. To run the API and PWA directly on the host:

```bash
# Build the API first (dev script runs compiled output)
pnpm --filter @familysync/api build

# Source .env, then override DB_HOST and activate the bypass
set -a; source .env; set +a && DEV_AUTH_BYPASS=true DB_HOST=localhost pnpm --filter @familysync/api dev
```

```bash
# PWA (separate terminal)
pnpm --filter @familysync/pwa dev
```

The `DB_HOST` override is necessary because `.env` sets `DB_HOST=mariadb` (the Docker network hostname), which does not resolve on the host. The `set -a; source .env; set +a` idiom exports all variables; the `DB_HOST=localhost` prefix on the same line overrides that one variable for the child process.

**`DEV_AUTH_BYPASS=true` is a local-only option.** The API hard-checks `NODE_ENV === 'production'` before reading `DEV_AUTH_BYPASS` — the bypass has zero effect in a production container even if the variable is present.

### Test

Integration tests targeting the real database require the dev MariaDB running with the host port exposed and the following overrides:

```bash
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1 DB_PORT=3306 DB_USER=familysync DB_NAME=familysync DB_PASSWORD=<value>
```

See `docs/deployment.md` for the full `drizzle-kit migrate` command used to prepare the test database.

---

## Config File Reference

There are no application-level JSON/YAML config files. The two config files that read environment variables at dev/build time are:

| File                         | Purpose                                                          |
| ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `apps/api/drizzle.config.ts` | Drizzle Kit migration config — reads `DB_*` variables            |
| `apps/pwa/vite.config.ts`    | Vite build config — no env var reads; proxy rules for dev server |

The PWA Vite dev server proxies `/health`, `/api`, and `/callback` to `http://localhost:3000` so the frontend and API can be developed without CORS configuration.
