Environment Variables - Launch

Prerequisites

Know which features you plan to enable
Access to your deployment environment for setting secrets

Steps

Copy apps/api/example.env to apps/api/.env
Add required base vars (DATABASE_URL, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET)
Add provider vars only for enabled features
Restart the API server to load changes

Required Variables (Base API)

Variable	Description	Example
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection string	`postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db`
`DATABASE_ORM`	ORM adapter (`prisma` or `drizzle`)	`prisma`
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	Secret for session encryption (32+ chars)	`long-random-string`
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	API base URL for OAuth callbacks (recommended)	`http://localhost:3001`
`MOBILE_APP_URL`	App URL scheme for mobile auth origins	`launch://`

Server & Logging

Variable	Description	Default
`PORT`	API server port	`3001`
`HOST`	API server host	`localhost`
`NODE_ENV`	Environment (`development`/`production`)	`development`
`LOG_LEVEL`	Logging level (`debug`/`info`/`warn`/`error`)	`info`

Authentication Providers

Variable	Description
`APPLE_CLIENT_ID`	Apple Services ID (matches iOS bundle ID)
`APPLE_TEAM_ID`	Apple Developer Team ID
`APPLE_KEY_ID`	Apple Key ID
`APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY`	Private key contents (PEM)
`APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY_BASE64`	Base64-encoded private key (alternative)

Use either APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY or APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY_BASE64.

Variable	Description
`GOOGLE_WEB_CLIENT_ID`	OAuth web client ID
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET`	OAuth client secret

Email & SMS

Variable	Description
`RESEND_API_KEY`	Resend API key (email OTP)
`TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID`	Twilio account SID (SMS OTP)
`TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN`	Twilio auth token
`TWILIO_SERVICE_SID`	Twilio Verify service SID
`SKIP_TWILIO_OTP_VERIFICATION`	Skip SMS verification in dev (`true`/`false`, ignored in production)

Payments (Stripe)

Variable	Description
`STRIPE_SECRET_KEY`	Stripe API secret key
`STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	Stripe publishable key
`STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	Stripe webhook signing secret

AI Providers

Variable	Description
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key
`OPENAI_ORGANIZATION`	OpenAI organization ID (optional)
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic API key (optional)

File Uploads (S3)

Variable	Description	Default
`S3_BUCKET`	S3 bucket name	(none)
`S3_REGION`	AWS region	`us-east-1`
`S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	AWS access key ID	(none)
`S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS secret access key	(none)

Push Notifications

APNS (iOS)

Variable	Description
`APNS_TEAM_ID`	Apple Team ID
`APNS_KEY_ID`	APNS key ID
`APNS_BUNDLE_ID`	iOS bundle identifier
`APNS_PRODUCTION`	`true` for production APNS
`APNS_KEY`	APNS private key contents (PEM)
`APNS_KEY_BASE64`	Base64-encoded APNS key (alternative)

FCM (Android)

Variable	Description
`FCM_PROJECT_ID`	Firebase project ID
`FCM_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_BASE64`	Base64-encoded service account JSON

Push Campaign API

Variable	Description
`PUSH_TOKEN_ADMIN_SECRET`	Bearer token for push campaigns

Notes

The API reads env vars directly at startup. Missing required values will cause runtime errors, so prefer setting envs before boot.
If you don’t need a feature, you can leave its env vars unset and disable the corresponding mobile feature flag.
DATABASE_ORM=drizzle expects a Postgres-compatible database (Neon works well).

Troubleshooting

Server fails on boot: confirm required vars exist
OAuth callbacks fail: verify BETTER_AUTH_URL
File uploads fail: check S3 vars and bucket permissions

Next Steps