Environment Variables

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in the values before starting the app:

cp .env.example .env

Application

Variable	Description
`NODE_ENV`	Runtime environment. Use `development` locally and `production` for deployments.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_HOST`	The public base URL of the app, e.g. `http://localhost:3000`. Used to build absolute URLs.

Database

The database connection is built from the individual DB_* variables. No separate DATABASE_URL is required.

[!IMPORTANT] If your app and Postgres run in Docker Compose, set DB_HOST to the Postgres service name (usually postgres), not localhost. Inside containers, localhost points to the same container and causes Prisma P1001 errors. For internal Docker network connections without Postgres TLS enabled, use DB_SSLMODE=disable.

Variable	Description
`DB_USER`	PostgreSQL username.
`DB_PASS`	PostgreSQL password.
`DB_HOST`	Database host. Use `localhost` for a host-local database, or the Postgres service name (e.g. `postgres`) when both app and DB run in Docker Compose.
`DB_PORT`	Database port. Defaults to `5432`.
`DB_NAME`	Name of the PostgreSQL database.
`DB_SSLMODE`	SSL mode for the connection. Use `disable` for internal Docker network DB connections without TLS, and `require` only when your Postgres endpoint is configured for TLS. Accepted values: `disable`, `require`, `prefer`, `allow`, `verify-full`, `verify-ca`.

Authentication

GoLiveKit uses Better Auth for authentication.

Variable	Description
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	The full URL of your app, used by Better Auth for callbacks. Should match `NEXT_PUBLIC_BASE_HOST`.
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	A random secret used to sign auth tokens. Generate one with `openssl rand -hex 32`.
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID`	OAuth client ID from Google Cloud Console. Required for Google sign-in.
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET`	OAuth client secret from Google Cloud Console. Required for Google sign-in.

Email

Used for transactional emails (magic links, welcome emails, etc.). Any SMTP provider works.

Variable	Description
`EMAIL_SERVER_USER`	SMTP username / login for your email provider.
`EMAIL_SERVER_PASSWORD`	SMTP password for your email provider.
`EMAIL_SERVER_HOST`	SMTP host, e.g. `smtp.resend.com` or `smtp.gmail.com`.
`EMAIL_SERVER_PORT`	SMTP port, typically `465` (SSL) or `587` (STARTTLS).
`EMAIL_FROM`	The sender address shown to recipients, e.g. `no-reply@example.com`.

Storage (S3)

File uploads are stored in an S3-compatible bucket. Works with AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, and others.

Variable	Description
`S3_REGION`	AWS region or equivalent, e.g. `eu-central-1`.
`S3_BUCKET`	Name of your S3 bucket.
`S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	Access key ID for your S3-compatible provider.
`S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	Secret access key for your S3-compatible provider.
`S3_ENDPOINT`	(Optional) Custom endpoint URL for S3-compatible providers (e.g. Cloudflare R2, MinIO). Leave unset for AWS S3.
`S3_PUBLIC_BASE_URL`	(Optional) Public base URL for accessing uploaded files, e.g. a CloudFront distribution or R2 public URL.

Analytics

Variable	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_ID`	(Optional) Google Analytics 4 measurement ID, e.g. `G-XXXXXXXXXX`. Find it in your GA4 property settings. Leave unset to disable analytics.