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Work in Progress: This documentation is being actively developed. More content will be added soon!

If you run into any issues, please email rasul@lvtd.dev

Environment Variables

This guide covers all environment variables needed to configure FileBridge.

Required variables

These variables are essential for FileBridge to function:

Core Django settings

ENVIRONMENT - Environment mode for the application - Values: dev or prod - Set to prod for production deployments - Set to dev for local development

SECRET_KEY - Secret key for Django security features - Must be kept confidential in production - Generate one with: python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_urlsafe(50))"

DEBUG - Set to False in production - Set to True only for local development - Never deploy to production with DEBUG=True

SITE_URL - Full URL where your FileBridge instance is accessible - Example: https://yourdomain.com - Used for generating absolute URLs in emails and notifications

ALLOW_SIGNUPS - Set to False to pause new account creation - Defaults to True - Existing users can still log in while signups are paused

ALLOWED_HOSTS - Comma-separated list of domains that can access your application - Example: yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com - Use * for testing only (not secure for production)

Database configuration

POSTGRES_DB - Name of the PostgreSQL database - Example: filebridge_db

POSTGRES_USER - PostgreSQL username - Example: filebridge_user

POSTGRES_PASSWORD - Password for your PostgreSQL database - Use a strong, randomly generated password - Generate one with: openssl rand -base64 32

POSTGRES_HOST - PostgreSQL server hostname - Example: localhost (for local), db (for Docker)

POSTGRES_PORT - PostgreSQL server port - Default: 5432 - Optional - defaults to 5432 if not specified

Redis configuration

REDIS_HOST - Redis server hostname - Example: localhost (for local), redis (for Docker) - Default: localhost

REDIS_PORT - Redis server port - Default: 6379

REDIS_PASSWORD - Password for your Redis instance - Use a strong, randomly generated password - Generate one with: openssl rand -base64 32

REDIS_DB - Redis database number - Default: 0

Optional variables

These variables enhance functionality but aren't required:

Logfire (Monitoring)

LOGFIRE_TOKEN - Token for Logfire monitoring service - Get your token from Logfire - Used for application monitoring and logging - Leave empty to disable Logfire

Sentry (Error Tracking)

SENTRY_DSN - DSN for Sentry error tracking - Get your DSN from Sentry - Used for error monitoring, tracing, profiling, and logs - Leave empty to disable Sentry

SENTRY_RELEASE - Optional release identifier, usually your deployed commit SHA or app version - Enables Sentry release/regression tracking and links issues to deploys

SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE - Performance trace sample rate from 0.0 to 1.0 - Defaults to 1.0 so low-volume/open-source projects get complete traces

SENTRY_PROFILE_SESSION_SAMPLE_RATE - Profiling sample rate for sampled traces from 0.0 to 1.0 - Defaults to 1.0; reduce for high-traffic projects if needed

SENTRY_ENABLE_LOGS - Set to True to enable Sentry structured logs support - Defaults to True

SENTRY_SEND_DEFAULT_PII - Set to True to attach authenticated user/request PII to Sentry events - Defaults to False; only enable when your privacy policy and data handling allow it

SENTRY_INCLUDE_LOCAL_VARIABLES - Set to True to include stack-frame local variables in Sentry events - Defaults to False to avoid accidentally capturing secrets or sensitive form data

SENTRY_MAX_BREADCRUMBS - Number of breadcrumbs kept with each event - Defaults to 100

PostHog (Analytics)

POSTHOG_API_KEY - API key for PostHog analytics - Get your key from PostHog - Used for product analytics and feature flags - Leave empty to disable PostHog

Buttondown (Email Newsletter)

BUTTONDOWN_API_KEY - API key for Buttondown email service - Get your key from Buttondown - Used for managing email newsletters - Leave empty to disable Buttondown integration

Stripe (Payments)

STRIPE_LIVE_SECRET_KEY - Stripe secret key for live/production mode - Get from Stripe Dashboard - Used for processing real payments - Leave empty if only using test mode

STRIPE_TEST_SECRET_KEY - Stripe secret key for test mode - Get from Stripe Dashboard - Used for testing payment flows - Required for development

DJSTRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET - Webhook signing secret from Stripe - Get from Stripe webhook configuration - Used to verify webhook authenticity - Required for handling Stripe events

Email configuration

Configure these to send emails from FileBridge (for notifications, password resets, etc.):

MAILGUN_API_KEY - API key for Mailgun email service - Get your key from Mailgun - Used for sending transactional emails - Leave empty to use console email backend (emails printed to console)

OAuth/Social Authentication

GITHUB_CLIENT_ID - GitHub OAuth application client ID - Get from GitHub Developer Settings - Used for GitHub social login - Leave empty to disable GitHub authentication

GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET - GitHub OAuth application client secret - Get from GitHub Developer Settings - Required if GITHUB_CLIENT_ID is set

Storage configuration

Configure these to use cloud storage for media files:

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID - Your AWS access key ID - Get from AWS IAM console - Required for S3 storage

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY - Your AWS secret access key - Get from AWS IAM console - Required for S3 storage

AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME - Name of your S3 bucket - Create bucket in AWS S3 console

AWS_S3_REGION_NAME - AWS region for your S3 bucket - Example: us-east-1

AWS_S3_ENDPOINT_URL - Custom S3 endpoint URL (optional) - Used for S3-compatible services (DigitalOcean Spaces, Wasabi, etc.) - Leave empty for standard AWS S3

MJML (Email Templates)

MJML_URL - URL for MJML HTTP server - Used for rendering MJML email templates to HTML - Leave empty to use MJML command-line tool

Logging

DJANGO_LOG_LEVEL - Django logging level for production - Values: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL - Default: INFO - Only applies when ENVIRONMENT=prod

Getting the .env.example file

The complete .env.example file with all variables and detailed comments is available in the FileBridge repository.

Download it directly:

wget /raw/main/.env.example -O .env

Or with curl:

curl -o .env /raw/main/.env.example

This file includes all available options with explanations and example values.

Security best practices

Follow these guidelines to keep your FileBridge installation secure:

Never commit .env files - Add .env to your .gitignore - Use environment variables or secret management systems for production

Use strong passwords - Generate random passwords for database and Redis - Use at least 32 characters for production passwords

Keep secrets confidential - Don't share your SECRET_KEY or API keys - Rotate keys immediately if exposed

Use HTTPS in production - Set ALLOWED_HOSTS to specific domains only - Configure SSL/TLS certificates for your domain - Never set DEBUG=True in production

Limit access - Use firewall rules to restrict database and Redis access - Only expose necessary ports to the internet - Use strong authentication for all services