Environment Setup

Dirstarter requires several environment variables to function properly. This guide explains how to set them up.

Setup

Create a .env file in the root directory of your project. You can copy the example file as a starting point:

terminal

cp .env.example .env

Never commit your .env file to version control. It contains sensitive information that should be kept private.

Environment Variables

Core Configuration

Variable	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL`	The public URL of your site (e.g., `http://localhost:3000` for development)
`NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_EMAIL`	The contact email for your site

Cron Jobs

Learn how to set up cron jobs in the Cron Jobs guide.

Variable	Description
`CRON_SECRET`	A random string used to secure cron jobs

Database

Learn how to set up a database in the Database Setup guide.

Variable	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL database connection URL

Authentication

Learn how to set up authentication in the Authentication guide.

Variable	Description
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	A random string used to hash tokens and sign cookies
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	The URL of your site (same as `NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL`)
`AUTH_GOOGLE_ID`	Google OAuth client ID
`AUTH_GOOGLE_SECRET`	Google OAuth client secret

Redis

Learn how to set up Redis in the Rate Limiting guide.

Variable	Description
`REDIS_URL` (optional)	Redis connection URL (format: `redis://[username:password@]host:port`). Falls back to in-memory rate limiting if not set.

Email Service

Learn how to set up an Resend email service in the Email guide.

Variable	Description
`RESEND_API_KEY`	API key for Resend email service
`RESEND_SENDER_EMAIL`	Default sender email address
`RESEND_AUDIENCE_ID`	Audience ID for Resend marketing email service

Storage

Learn how to set up a S3 storage service in the Storage guide.

Variable	Description
`S3_BUCKET`	Name of your S3 bucket
`S3_REGION`	AWS region for your S3 bucket
`S3_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS access key ID
`S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS secret access key

Analytics

Learn how to set up an analytics service in the Analytics guide.

Variable	Description
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PLAUSIBLE_DOMAIN`	Your Plausible domain
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PLAUSIBLE_URL`	Plausible instance URL
`PLAUSIBLE_API_KEY`	Plausible API key

AI & Web Scraping

Learn how to set up an AI and web scraping service in the Automation guide or use the Media guide.

Variable	Description
`GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY`	Google Gemini API key for AI features
`JINA_API_KEY` (optional)	Jina API key for web scraping
`SCREENSHOTONE_ACCESS_KEY`	ScreenshotOne API key

Payments

Learn how to set up a payment service in the Payments guide.

Variable	Description
`STRIPE_SECRET_KEY`	Stripe secret key
`STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Stripe webhook signing secret

Type-Safe Validation

Dirstarter uses the T3 Env package for type-safe environment variable validation. The validation is configured in env.ts and ensures that:

All required environment variables are present
Variables have the correct type (string, number, etc.)
URLs are properly formatted
Email addresses are valid
No empty strings are allowed (they're treated as undefined)

To skip validation during builds (useful for Docker), set SKIP_ENV_VALIDATION flag:

npm run build SKIP_ENV_VALIDATION=1

Environment-Specific Variables

Development Environment

For development, you can use local services or development credentials:

.env

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL="http://localhost:3000"
BETTER_AUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"

Production Environment

For production, use secure, production-ready services and ensure all required variables are set with proper values.

Verifying Your Environment

To verify that your environment variables are correctly set up, run:

npm run dev

If everything is configured correctly, your application should start without any environment-related errors.

What's Next?

Now that your environment is set up, learn how to create your first directory entry in the First Steps guide.

Documentation