Configuration

Complete reference for all environment variables and settings.

Table of contents

  1. Environment Variables
    1. Required Variables
    2. Database Configuration
    3. Server Configuration
    4. Redis Configuration
  2. Authentication Settings
    1. JWT Configuration
    2. OAuth Providers
    3. SAML/SSO (Enterprise)
  3. AI Provider Configuration
    1. OpenAI
    2. Anthropic
    3. Google AI
    4. Azure OpenAI
    5. AI Settings
  4. Email Configuration
    1. SMTP Settings
    2. Email Providers
  5. File Storage
    1. Local Storage
    2. Amazon S3
    3. Google Cloud Storage
  6. Security Settings
    1. Rate Limiting
    2. Security Headers
    3. Content Security Policy
  7. Logging Configuration
  8. Performance Tuning
    1. Backend
    2. Database
    3. Caching
  9. Feature Flags
  10. Complete Example
  11. Validating Configuration
  12. Next Steps

Environment Variables

All configuration is done through environment variables in the .env file.

Required Variables

These variables must be set before running PulseGen.

Variable Description Example
POSTGRES_PASSWORD PostgreSQL database password secure_random_password
JWT_SECRET Secret for signing JWT tokens (32+ chars) openssl rand -base64 32
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET Secret for refresh tokens (32+ chars) openssl rand -base64 32
ENCRYPTION_KEY AES encryption key (64 hex chars) openssl rand -hex 32

Database Configuration

Variable Description Default
DATABASE_URL PostgreSQL connection string postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/pulsegen
POSTGRES_HOST Database host localhost
POSTGRES_PORT Database port 5432
POSTGRES_DB Database name pulsegen
POSTGRES_USER Database user postgres
DB_POOL_SIZE Connection pool size 10

Server Configuration

Variable Description Default
NODE_ENV Environment mode development
PORT Backend API port 5001
APP_URL Full application URL http://localhost:3001
CORS_ORIGIN Allowed CORS origins http://localhost:3001

Redis Configuration

Variable Description Default
REDIS_URL Redis connection string redis://localhost:6379
REDIS_HOST Redis host localhost
REDIS_PORT Redis port 6379
REDIS_PASSWORD Redis password (if required) -
CACHE_TTL_SECONDS Default cache TTL 3600

Authentication Settings

JWT Configuration

Variable Description Default
JWT_SECRET Access token signing secret required
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET Refresh token signing secret required
JWT_ACCESS_EXPIRY Access token expiry 15m
JWT_REFRESH_EXPIRY Refresh token expiry 7d

OAuth Providers 

# Google OAuth
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

# GitHub OAuth
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your-github-client-id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your-github-client-secret

# Microsoft OAuth
MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID=your-microsoft-client-id
MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET=your-microsoft-client-secret

SAML/SSO (Enterprise) 

SAML_ENABLED=true
SAML_ENTRYPOINT=https://idp.example.com/sso
SAML_ISSUER=pulsegen
SAML_CERT_PATH=/path/to/idp-cert.pem

AI Provider Configuration

OpenAI 

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-4-turbo-preview
OPENAI_MAX_TOKENS=4096

Anthropic 

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
ANTHROPIC_MAX_TOKENS=4096

Google AI 

GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY=AIza...
GOOGLE_AI_MODEL=gemini-pro

Azure OpenAI 

AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key
AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=https://your-resource.openai.azure.com
AZURE_OPENAI_DEPLOYMENT=gpt-4
AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION=2024-02-15-preview

AI Settings 

# Default AI provider
AI_DEFAULT_PROVIDER=anthropic

# Rate limiting
AI_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MINUTE=60

# Caching
AI_CACHE_ENABLED=true
AI_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS=3600

# Privacy
AI_ANONYMIZE_PII=false

Email Configuration

SMTP Settings 

SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=true
SMTP_USER=your-username
SMTP_PASSWORD=your-password
SMTP_FROM_NAME=PulseGen
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@example.com

Email Providers

SendGrid:

SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG.xxxxx
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com

Amazon SES:

AWS_SES_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com

File Storage

Local Storage 

STORAGE_TYPE=local
UPLOAD_DIR=./uploads
MAX_FILE_SIZE_MB=10

Amazon S3 

STORAGE_TYPE=s3
AWS_S3_BUCKET=pulsegen-uploads
AWS_S3_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key

Google Cloud Storage 

STORAGE_TYPE=gcs
GCS_BUCKET=pulsegen-uploads
GCS_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id
GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=/path/to/service-account.json

Security Settings

Rate Limiting 

# General API rate limit
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=100

# Auth endpoints (stricter)
AUTH_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000
AUTH_RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=10

# Response submission
RESPONSE_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000
RESPONSE_RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=60

Security Headers 

# HTTPS enforcement
FORCE_HTTPS=true

# Cookie settings
COOKIE_SECURE=true
COOKIE_SAME_SITE=strict

# Session settings
SESSION_SECRET=your-session-secret
SESSION_MAX_AGE_MS=86400000

Content Security Policy 

CSP_ENABLED=true
CSP_REPORT_URI=/api/csp-report

Logging Configuration 

# Log level: error, warn, info, debug
LOG_LEVEL=info

# Log format: json, pretty
LOG_FORMAT=json

# Log output
LOG_FILE_PATH=/var/log/pulsegen/app.log
LOG_MAX_SIZE_MB=100
LOG_MAX_FILES=10

# Request logging
LOG_REQUESTS=true
LOG_REQUEST_BODY=false

Performance Tuning

Backend 

# Node.js settings
NODE_OPTIONS="--max-old-space-size=4096"

# Cluster mode
CLUSTER_WORKERS=auto

# Request timeout
REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS=30000

Database 

# Connection pool
DB_POOL_SIZE=20
DB_POOL_MIN=5
DB_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MS=10000

# Query logging
DB_LOG_QUERIES=false
DB_SLOW_QUERY_THRESHOLD_MS=1000

Caching 

# Response caching
CACHE_ENABLED=true
CACHE_DEFAULT_TTL=300

# Query result caching
QUERY_CACHE_ENABLED=true
QUERY_CACHE_TTL=60

Feature Flags

Enable or disable specific features:

# AI Features
FEATURE_AI_GENERATION=true
FEATURE_AI_ANALYSIS=true
FEATURE_AI_TRANSLATION=true

# Survey Features
FEATURE_SURVEY_TEMPLATES=true
FEATURE_SURVEY_LOGIC=true
FEATURE_FILE_UPLOADS=true

# Analytics
FEATURE_ADVANCED_ANALYTICS=true
FEATURE_EXPORT_PDF=true

# Integrations
FEATURE_WEBHOOKS=true
FEATURE_API_ACCESS=true

Complete Example

Here’s a complete production .env file:

# ===================
# Required Settings
# ===================
NODE_ENV=production
PORT=5001
APP_URL=https://surveys.yourdomain.com
CORS_ORIGIN=https://surveys.yourdomain.com

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://pulsegen:secure_password@postgres:5432/pulsegen
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secure_password

# Security
JWT_SECRET=your-32-character-jwt-secret-here
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET=your-32-character-refresh-secret
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-64-character-hex-encryption-key

# ===================
# Optional Settings
# ===================

# Redis (recommended for production)
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379

# AI Providers
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
AI_DEFAULT_PROVIDER=anthropic

# Email
SMTP_HOST=smtp.sendgrid.net
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USER=apikey
SMTP_PASSWORD=your-sendgrid-api-key
SMTP_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=info
LOG_FORMAT=json

# Security
FORCE_HTTPS=true
COOKIE_SECURE=true

Validating Configuration

Check your configuration:

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# Validate environment variables
npm run config:validate

# Test database connection
npm run db:check

# Test Redis connection
npm run cache:check

# Test email configuration
npm run email:test

Next Steps