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Environment Variables

Configure your Ever Works deployment with the right environment variables.

Required Variables​

Application Settings​

# Application Environment
NODE_ENV=production

# Application URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL=https://your-api.com
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://your-domain.com

Database Configuration​

# PostgreSQL Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@host:port/database

# Alternative: Supabase
SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-anon-key
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your-service-role-key

Authentication​

# NextAuth Secret (generate with: openssl rand -base64 32)
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key

# OAuth Providers
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret

GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your-github-client-id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your-github-client-secret

Optional Variables​

Email Configuration​

# SMTP Settings
SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-email@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSWORD=your-app-password

# SendGrid (alternative)
SENDGRID_API_KEY=your-sendgrid-api-key

Analytics​

# Google Analytics
NEXT_PUBLIC_GA_ID=G-XXXXXXXXXX

# Plausible Analytics
NEXT_PUBLIC_PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN=your-domain.com

Storage​

# AWS S3
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_S3_BUCKET=your-bucket-name

# Cloudinary (alternative)
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your-cloud-name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your-api-key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your-api-secret

Platform-Specific Setup​

Vercel​

Add environment variables in your Vercel dashboard:

  1. Go to your project settings
  2. Navigate to "Environment Variables"
  3. Add each variable with appropriate scope (Production, Preview, Development)

Netlify​

Add environment variables in Netlify:

  1. Go to Site settings → Environment variables
  2. Add each variable
  3. Redeploy your site

Docker​

Create a .env file:

# .env
NODE_ENV=production
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@db:5432/everworks
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-secret
# ... other variables

Use with Docker Compose:

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    build: .
    env_file:
      - .env
    # ... other config

Security Best Practices​

1. Never Commit Secrets​

Add to .gitignore:

# Environment variables
.env
.env.local
.env.production
.env.staging

2. Use Different Values per Environment​

  • Development: Use test/dummy values
  • Staging: Use staging environment values
  • Production: Use production values

3. Rotate Secrets Regularly​

  • Change API keys periodically
  • Update database passwords
  • Regenerate JWT secrets

4. Use Secret Management​

For production deployments, consider:

  • AWS Secrets Manager
  • Azure Key Vault
  • Google Secret Manager
  • HashiCorp Vault

Validation​

Create an environment validation script:

// scripts/validate-env.js
const requiredEnvVars = [
  'DATABASE_URL',
  'NEXTAUTH_SECRET',
  'NEXTAUTH_URL'
];

requiredEnvVars.forEach(envVar => {
  if (!process.env[envVar]) {
    console.error(`Missing required environment variable: ${envVar}`);
    process.exit(1);
  }
});

console.log('✅ All required environment variables are set');

Run before deployment:

node scripts/validate-env.js

Next Steps​