nocodb/packages/noco-docs/docs/020.getting-started/050.self-hosted/020.environment-variables.md

title	description	tags	keywords
Environment variables	Environment Variables for NocoDB!	[Open Source]	[NocoDB Environment Variables NocoDB env variables NocoDB envs NocoDB .env]

For production use cases, it is crucial to set all environment variables marked as "Mandatory" to ensure optimal performance, security, and functionality of NocoDB.

Database

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_DB	Yes	The primary database where all NocoDB metadata and data are stored. Example format: pg://host.docker.internal:5432?u=username&p=password&d=database_name.	A local SQLite database will be created in the root folder if NC_DB is not specified.
NC_DB_JSON	No	Allows setting the database connection using a valid knex connection JSON string instead of NC_DB.
NC_DB_JSON_FILE	No	A path to a knex connection JSON file can be used to specify the database connection, as an alternative to NC_DB.
DATABASE_URL	No	A JDBC URL string can be used for the database connection instead of NC_DB.
DATABASE_URL_FILE	No	A path to a file containing a JDBC URL can be specified for the database connection as an alternative to NC_DB.

Authentication

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_AUTH_JWT_SECRET	Yes	This JWT secret is utilized for generating authentication tokens and encrypting credentials for external databases.	A random secret will be generated automatically.
NC_JWT_EXPIRES_IN	No	Specifies the expiration time for JWT tokens.	Defaults to 10h.
NC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	No	Google client ID required to activate Google authentication.
NC_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	No	Google client secret required to activate Google authentication.
NC_ADMIN_EMAIL	No	Super admin email address. This is useful in case you need to recover your username and password.	An initial prompt for email and password is required when accessing the UI for the first time.
NC_ADMIN_PASSWORD	No	Super admin password. Must be at least 8 characters long, including one uppercase letter, one number, and one special character from $&+,:;=?@#'.^*()%!_-\". This is useful for username and password recovery.
NC_DISABLE_EMAIL_AUTH	No	Disables email and password-based authentication, intended for use when Google authentication variables are configured.

Storage

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_S3_BUCKET_NAME	No	The name of the AWS S3 bucket used for the S3 storage plugin.
NC_S3_REGION	No	The AWS S3 region where the S3 storage plugin bucket is located.
NC_S3_ENDPOINT	No	S3 endpoint for S3 storage plugin.	Defaults to s3.<region>.amazonaws.com
NC_S3_ACCESS_KEY	No	The AWS access key ID required for the S3 storage plugin.
NC_S3_ACCESS_SECRET	No	The AWS access secret associated with the S3 storage plugin.
NC_S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE	No	Whether to force path-style requests for the S3 storage plugin.
NC_S3_ACL	No	The ACL for the objects in S3
NC_ATTACHMENT_FIELD_SIZE	No	Maximum file size allowed for attachments in bytes.	Defaults to 20971520 (20 MiB).
NC_MAX_ATTACHMENTS_ALLOWED	No	Maximum number of attachments allowed per cell.	Defaults to 10.
NC_ATTACHMENT_RETENTION_DAYS	No	Number of days to retain attachment on storage after all references deleted. (Set 0 to keep forever)	Defaults to 10.
NC_SECURE_ATTACHMENTS	No	Enables access to attachments only through pre-signed URLs. Set to true to activate; all other values are treated as false. ⚠ Note: Enabling this will make existing links inaccessible.	Defaults to false.
NC_ATTACHMENT_EXPIRE_SECONDS	No	Time in seconds after which pre-signed URLs for attachments start to expire. The actual expiration will occur after this time plus an additional 10 minutes. Only applicable if NC_SECURE_ATTACHMENTS is enabled.	Defaults to 7200 (2 hours).

Email Notifications

• The following SMTP variables are used to send email notifications to users, e.g., invites.

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_SMTP_FROM	Yes	The email address used as the sender for the SMTP plugin.
NC_SMTP_HOST	Yes	The hostname of the email server for the SMTP plugin.
NC_SMTP_PORT	Yes	The network port of the email server for the SMTP plugin.
NC_SMTP_USERNAME	Yes	The username for authentication with the SMTP plugin.
NC_SMTP_PASSWORD	Yes	The password for authentication with the SMTP plugin.
NC_SMTP_SECURE	Yes	Enables secure authentication for the SMTP plugin. Set to true to enable; all other values are considered false.
NC_SMTP_IGNORE_TLS	Yes	Ignores TLS for the SMTP plugin. Set to true to ignore TLS; all other values are considered false. For more details, see Nodemailer's SMTP documentation.

Backend

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
PORT	No	Specifies the network port on which NocoDB will run.	Defaults to 8080.
NODE_OPTIONS	No	Node.js options to pass to the instance.

Frontend

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_PUBLIC_URL	No	This is the base URL used for constructing URLs in email templates, generating the Swagger documentation URL, and handling backend URL requirements. It should be set to your public-facing NocoDB URL to ensure consistency across the application.	By default, it infers the URL from the incoming request on the backend. If the server is behind a proxy, this may result in incorrect URLs.
NC_DASHBOARD_URL	No	Defines a custom dashboard URL path.	Defaults to /dashboard.
NUXT_PUBLIC_NC_BACKEND_URL	No	Specifies a custom backend URL.	Defaults to http://localhost:8080.

Cache

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_REDIS_URL	Yes	Specifies the Redis URL used for caching. Eg: redis://:authpassword@127.0.0.1:6380/4	Caching layer of backend

Product Configuration

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
DB_QUERY_LIMIT_DEFAULT	No	Default pagination limit for data tables.	Defaults to 25. Maximum is 100
DB_QUERY_LIMIT_GROUP_BY_GROUP	No	Number of groups per page.	Defaults to 10.
DB_QUERY_LIMIT_GROUP_BY_RECORD	No	Number of records per group.	Defaults to 10.
DB_QUERY_LIMIT_MAX	No	Maximum allowable pagination limit.	Defaults to 1000.
DB_QUERY_LIMIT_MIN	No	Minimum allowable pagination limit.	Defaults to 10
NC_CONNECT_TO_EXTERNAL_DB_DISABLED	No	Disables the ability to create bases on external databases.
NC_INVITE_ONLY_SIGNUP	No	Disables public signup; signup is possible only via invitations. Integrated into the super admin settings menu as of version 0.99.0.
NC_REQUEST_BODY_SIZE	No	Maximum bytes allowed in the request body, based on ExpressJS limits.	Defaults to 1048576 (1 MB).
NC_EXPORT_MAX_TIMEOUT	No	Sets a timeout in milliseconds for downloading CSVs in batches if not completed within this period.	Defaults to 5000 (5 seconds).
NC_ALLOW_LOCAL_HOOKS	No	Allows webhooks to call local network links, posing potential security risks. Set to true to enable; all other values are considered false.	Defaults to false.
NC_SANITIZE_COLUMN_NAME	No	Enables sanitization of column names during their creation to prevent SQL injection and other security issues.	Defaults to true.
NC_TOOL_DIR	No	Specifies the directory to store metadata and app-related files. In Docker setups, this maps to /usr/app/data/ for mounting volumes.	Defaults to the current working directory.
NC_MINIMAL_DBS	No	Enables the minimal database feature of NocoDB. For more details, see Minimal Database behavior.	Enabled by default for PostgreSQL when the database user has schema creation permission. Set to false to disable.
NC_MIGRATIONS_DISABLED	No	Disables NocoDB migrations.
NC_DISABLE_AUDIT	No	Disables the audit log feature.	Defaults to false.
NC_AUTOMATION_LOG_LEVEL	No	Configures logging levels for automation features. Possible values: OFF, ERROR, ALL. More details can be found under Webhooks.	Defaults to OFF.

Minimal Database

This feature organizes base data into smaller, modular structures for PostgreSQL and SQLite databases:

• SQLite: Each base's data is stored as a separate SQLite file, ensuring isolated storage.
• PostgreSQL: A unique schema is created for each base, providing logical separation within the database.

Note: For PostgreSQL, this feature is enabled by default if the user has the required permissions. To disable it, set the NC_MINIMAL_DBS environment variable to false.

Logging & Monitoring

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_SENTRY_DSN	No	Data Source Name (DSN) for integrating with Sentry for monitoring and error tracking.
NC_DISABLE_ERR_REPORTS	No	Disable default Sentry error reporting.	TRUE

Debugging Only

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_DISABLE_CACHE	No	Disables caching to force metadata fetching directly from the database instead of Redis/cache. Recommended only during debugging.	Defaults to false.

Telemetry

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
NC_DISABLE_TELE	No	Disables the telemetry to prevent sending anonymous usage data. Please keep it enabled to help us understand the usage of the product and the impact that any new breaking change can cause.

Litestream

Litestream is used only when NC_DB is set to SQLite. It backs up the SQLite database and stores it in S3.

Variable	Mandatory	Description	If Not Set
LITESTREAM_S3_ENDPOINT	No	URL of an S3-compatible object storage service endpoint for Litestream replication of NocoDB's default SQLite database. Example: s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com.	Defaults to AWS S3.
LITESTREAM_S3_REGION	No	AWS region of the Litestream replication object storage bucket. Note that LITESTREAM_S3_ENDPOINT takes precedence if configured (the endpoint URL includes the region).	Defaults to the default region configured in AWS.
LITESTREAM_S3_BUCKET	No	Name of the object storage bucket to store the Litestream replication in.	Litestream replication is disabled if this variable is not set.
LITESTREAM_S3_PATH	No	Directory path to use within the Litestream replication object storage bucket.	Defaults to nocodb.
LITESTREAM_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	No	Authentication key ID for the Litestream replication object storage bucket.	Litestream replication is disabled if this variable is not set.
LITESTREAM_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	No	Authentication secret for the Litestream replication object storage bucket.	Litestream replication is disabled if this variable is not set.
LITESTREAM_S3_SKIP_VERIFY	No	Whether to disable TLS verification for the Litestream replication object storage service. Useful when testing against a local node such as MinIO and you are using self-signed certificates.	Defaults to false.
LITESTREAM_RETENTION	No	Amount of time Litestream snapshot and WAL files are kept. After the retention period, a new snapshot is created and the old one is removed. WAL files that exist before the oldest snapshot will also be removed.	Defaults to 1440h (60 days).
LITESTREAM_RETENTION_CHECK_INTERVAL	No	Frequency in which Litestream will check if retention needs to be enforced.	Defaults to 72h (3 days).
LITESTREAM_SNAPSHOT_INTERVAL	No	Frequency in which new Litestream snapshots are created. A higher frequency reduces the time to restore since newer snapshots will have fewer WAL frames to apply. Retention still applies to these snapshots.	Defaults to 24h (1 day).
LITESTREAM_SYNC_INTERVAL	No	Frequency in which frames are pushed to the Litestream replica. Increasing this frequency can increase object storage costs significantly.	Defaults to 60s (1 minute).
LITESTREAM_AGE_PUBLIC_KEY	No	age public key generated by age-keygen (age1...) or SSH public key (ssh-ed25519 AAAA..., ssh-rsa AAAA...) used to encrypt the Litestream replication for. Refer to the relevant Litestream documentation for details.	Litestream replication is unencrypted if this variable is not set.
LITESTREAM_AGE_SECRET_KEY	No	age secret key (AGE-SECRET-KEY-1...) used to encrypt the Litestream replication with. Refer to the relevant Litestream documentation for details.	Litestream replication is unencrypted if this variable is not set.
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	No	Deprecated. Please use LITESTREAM_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID instead.
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	No	Deprecated. Please use LITESTREAM_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY instead.
AWS_BUCKET	No	Deprecated. Please use LITESTREAM_S3_BUCKET instead.
AWS_BUCKET_PATH	No	Deprecated. Please use LITESTREAM_S3_PATH instead.