Environment variables

This is the quick reference plus a ready-to-copy `.env.example`.

Paste the block below into the variables tab of the service you picked. On Render or Railway, pasting all of it saves each key as its own table row!

# Discord OAuth — the first login (empty database) becomes ADMIN automatically.
DISCORD_CLIENT_ID=
DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET=
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=
NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000

# LiveKit
LIVEKIT_URL=
LIVEKIT_API_KEY=
LIVEKIT_API_SECRET=

# Postgres
DATABASE_URL=

# Storage (optional — without it, chat has no image attachments).
# R2 is the default; for any other S3 endpoint fill in R2_ENDPOINT/R2_REGION
# instead of R2_ACCOUNT_ID.
R2_ACCOUNT_ID=
R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
R2_BUCKET=
NEXT_PUBLIC_R2_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=
R2_ENDPOINT=
R2_REGION=

# Infra dashboard (optional, self-host only)
SERVER_METRICS_INGEST_SECRET=
VPS_SSH_HOST=
VPS_SSH_PORT=22
VPS_SSH_USER=
VPS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY=

# General
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
NEXT_PUBLIC_apiBaseUrl=http://localhost:3000

# Optional
NEXT_PUBLIC_RTC_ENABLED=
APP_COMMIT_SHA=
GIPHY_API_KEY=

Each group below is detailed on its own page.

Discord and session (details)

Variable	Notes
`DISCORD_CLIENT_ID`
`DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET`
`NEXTAUTH_SECRET`	`openssl rand -base64 32`
`NEXTAUTH_URL`	The app's public URL

The first account to sign in on an empty database becomes ADMIN — there is no variable for it.

LiveKit (Cloud or self-host)

Variable	Notes
`LIVEKIT_URL`	`wss://...` — same format for cloud and self-host
`LIVEKIT_API_KEY`
`LIVEKIT_API_SECRET`

Postgres (details)

Variable	Notes
`DATABASE_URL`

General

Variable	Notes
`NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL`	Same URL as `NEXTAUTH_URL`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_apiBaseUrl`	Always the same as `NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL` — Server Actions and Server Components call the app's own API through this absolute URL

Miss this variable and the admin panel breaks

Without NEXT_PUBLIC_apiBaseUrl the admin and user Server Actions fetch undefined/api/... and fail. It is a NEXT_PUBLIC_* variable, so it is baked into the bundle at build time — setting it later and restarting the service does not fix it, it needs a new deploy/build.

Storage (details, optional)

Without these the app still boots — it just does not accept image attachments in chat. The R2_ prefix names the slot, not the provider: the same variables serve Cloudflare R2 and Neon Object Storage.

Variable	Notes
`R2_BUCKET`
`R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID`
`R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_R2_PUBLIC_BASE_URL`	Goes into the client bundle, not a secret
`R2_ACCOUNT_ID`	R2 only — the endpoint is derived from it
`R2_ENDPOINT`	Any non-R2 S3 endpoint (Neon, MinIO). Setting it also switches the client to path-style
`R2_REGION`	Only with `R2_ENDPOINT`. Defaults to `auto`, which is what R2 requires; Neon needs the project's real region

Optional

Variable	Notes
`GIPHY_API_KEY`	Enables the GIF button in chat. Create an app at developers.giphy.com. Never `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` — the search goes through the server
`NEXT_PUBLIC_RTC_ENABLED`	Set to `false`, `0` or `off` to disable voice/video for the whole deploy. Anything else (including unset) keeps it on
`APP_COMMIT_SHA`	The deploy's commit. With it, tabs open during a new deploy get an "update the page" notice. On Railway use `RAILWAY_GIT_COMMIT_SHA`

Infra dashboard (optional — self-host only)

Variable	Notes
`SERVER_METRICS_INGEST_SECRET`	The same value on the app and on the VPS
`VPS_SSH_HOST`	Also the flag that turns on the admin's "Infra" tab
`VPS_SSH_PORT`	Usually `22`
`VPS_SSH_USER`	A restricted user, not root
`VPS_SSH_PRIVATE_KEY`	PEM private key

VULTR_API_KEY (if you use Vultr) does not go in the app — it lives only on the VPS, in the bandwidth collector.