Configuration

All server configuration is done via environment variables. Copy .env.example to .env for local Docker Compose, or manage secrets through Doppler for development and production deploys.

Infrastructure variables for Postgres, PgBouncer, and Redis are in .env.infra.example (used by docker-compose.infra.yml).

Required (API server)

Variable	Description
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string — connect via PgBouncer, not Postgres directly (e.g. postgresql://unqueue:password@pgbouncer:5432/unqueue)
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET	Random secret for session signing — generate with openssl rand -base64 32 (minimum 32 characters)
BETTER_AUTH_URL	Public URL of the API server (e.g. https://api.your-domain.com)
PLATFORM_URL	Public URL of the platform UI (e.g. https://app.your-domain.com) — used for CORS and email links
ENCRYPTION_KEYS	JSON array of encryption keys for stored Redis credentials — see below

REDIS_URL is optional on the server but recommended in production for discovery caching.

Required (platform build)

These are baked into the platform Docker image at build time:

Variable	Description
VITE_API_URL	Public URL of the API server (e.g. https://api.your-domain.com). Required for production builds. Leave empty for local dev — the platform defaults to http://localhost:3001.

Optional (API server)

Variable	Default	Description
REDIS_URL	—	Redis URL for unqueue’s internal services (discovery cache). Separate from Redis instances you monitor in the dashboard
PORT	3001	Port the API server listens on
NODE_ENV	development	development, production, or test
LOG_LEVEL	debug (dev) / info (prod)	Log verbosity — debug, info, warn, or error
COOKIE_DOMAIN	—	Parent domain for auth cookies across subdomains (e.g. .your-domain.com)
SMTP_HOST	—	SMTP server hostname for transactional email
SMTP_PORT	587	SMTP port
SMTP_USER	—	SMTP username
SMTP_PASS	—	SMTP password
SMTP_FROM	—	From address for outgoing email (e.g. [email protected])

Encryption keys

Redis connection credentials are encrypted at rest using ENCRYPTION_KEYS. Generate a key:

node -e "console.log(JSON.stringify([{keyId:1,key:require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('base64')}]))"

Set the output as the ENCRYPTION_KEYS environment variable. The highest keyId is used for new encryptions; older keys remain valid for decryption during rotation.

Email

Email is used for sign-up verification and password reset. If SMTP is not configured, unqueue logs email content to the console instead — useful for local development.

SMTP_HOST=smtp.postmarkapp.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=your-api-token
SMTP_PASS=your-api-token
SMTP_FROM=[email protected]

Redis URL format

The REDIS_URL variable (for unqueue’s internal services) accepts standard Redis URL syntax:

# Plain
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

# With password
REDIS_URL=redis://:password@localhost:6379

# With TLS
REDIS_URL=rediss://user:[email protected]:6380/0

This is separate from the Redis instances you add inside the unqueue dashboard for BullMQ monitoring. See Connecting Redis for monitored instance setup.

Local development defaults

When running pnpm dev locally:

Service	URL
Platform	http://localhost:5174
API	http://localhost:3001

Leave VITE_API_URL empty — the platform calls the API at http://localhost:3001 directly in dev mode.