Version: Next

Configurations

Serverpod can be configured in a few different ways. The minimum required settings to provide is the configuration for the API server. If no settings are provided at all, the default settings for the API server are used.

Configuration options

There are three different ways to configure Serverpod: with environment variables, via yaml config files, or by supplying the dart configuration object to the Serverpod constructor. The environment variables take precedence over the yaml configurations but both can be used simultaneously. The dart configuration object will override any environment variable or config file. The tables show all available configuration options provided in the Serverpod core library.

Configuration options for the server

Environment variable	Command line option	Config file option	Default	Description
SERVERPOD_RUN_MODE	`--mode`	N/A	development	Configures the mode of the server instance. Valid options are `development`, `staging`, `production` and `test`.
SERVERPOD_SERVER_ID	`--server-id`	serverId	default	Configures the id of the server instance.
SERVERPOD_SERVER_ROLE	`--role`	role	monolith	Configures the role of the server instance. Valid options are `monolith`, `serverless` and `maintenance`.
SERVERPOD_LOGGING_MODE	`--logging`	logging	normal	Configures the logging level. Valid options are `normal`, and `verbose`.
SERVERPOD_APPLY_MIGRATIONS	`--apply-migrations`	applyMigrations	false	Configures if migrations should be applied when the server starts.
SERVERPOD_APPLY_REPAIR_MIGRATION	`--apply-repair-migration`	applyRepairMigration	false	Configures if repair migrations should be applied when the server starts.

These can be separately declared for each run mode in the corresponding yaml file (development.yaml,staging.yaml, production.yaml and testing.yaml) or as environment variables.

Environment variable	Config file	Default	Description
SERVERPOD_API_SERVER_PORT	apiServer.port	8080	The port number for the API server
SERVERPOD_API_SERVER_PUBLIC_HOST	apiServer.publicHost	localhost	The public host address of the API server
SERVERPOD_API_SERVER_PUBLIC_PORT	apiServer.publicPort	8080	The public port number for the API server
SERVERPOD_API_SERVER_PUBLIC_SCHEME	apiServer.publicScheme	http	The public scheme (http/https) for the API server
SERVERPOD_INSIGHTS_SERVER_PORT	insightsServer.port	-	The port number for the Insights server
SERVERPOD_INSIGHTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_HOST	insightsServer.publicHost	-	The public host address of the Insights server
SERVERPOD_INSIGHTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_PORT	insightsServer.publicPort	-	The public port number for the Insights server
SERVERPOD_INSIGHTS_SERVER_PUBLIC_SCHEME	insightsServer.publicScheme	-	The public scheme (http/https) for the Insights server
SERVERPOD_WEB_SERVER_PORT	webServer.port	-	The port number for the Web server
SERVERPOD_WEB_SERVER_PUBLIC_HOST	webServer.publicHost	-	The public host address of the Web server
SERVERPOD_WEB_SERVER_PUBLIC_PORT	webServer.publicPort	-	The public port number for the Web server
SERVERPOD_WEB_SERVER_PUBLIC_SCHEME	webServer.publicScheme	-	The public scheme (http/https) for the Web server
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_HOST	database.host	-	The host address of the database
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_PORT	database.port	-	The port number for the database connection
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_NAME	database.name	-	The name of the database
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_USER	database.user	-	The user name for database authentication
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_SEARCH_PATHS	database.searchPaths	-	The search paths used for all database connections
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_REQUIRE_SSL	database.requireSsl	false	Indicates if SSL is required for the database
SERVERPOD_DATABASE_IS_UNIX_SOCKET	database.isUnixSocket	false	Specifies if the database connection is a Unix socket
SERVERPOD_REDIS_HOST	redis.host	-	The host address of the Redis server
SERVERPOD_REDIS_PORT	redis.port	-	The port number for the Redis server
SERVERPOD_REDIS_USER	redis.user	-	The user name for Redis authentication
SERVERPOD_REDIS_ENABLED	redis.enabled	false	Indicates if Redis is enabled
SERVERPOD_REDIS_REQUIRE_SSL	redis.requireSsl	false	Indicates if SSL is required for the Redis connection
SERVERPOD_MAX_REQUEST_SIZE	maxRequestSize	524288	The maximum size of requests allowed in bytes
SERVERPOD_SESSION_PERSISTENT_LOG_ENABLED	sessionLogs.persistentEnabled	-	Enables or disables logging session data to the database. Defaults to `true` if a database is configured, otherwise `false`.
SERVERPOD_SESSION_CONSOLE_LOG_ENABLED	sessionLogs.consoleEnabled	-	Enables or disables logging session data to the console. Defaults to `true` if no database is configured, otherwise `false`.
SERVERPOD_SESSION_CONSOLE_LOG_FORMAT	sessionLogs.consoleLogFormat	json	The format for console logging of session data. Valid options are `text` and `json`. Defaults to `text` for run mode `development`, otherwise `json`.
SERVERPOD_FUTURE_CALL_EXECUTION_ENABLED	futureCallExecutionEnabled	true	Enables or disables the execution of future calls.
SERVERPOD_FUTURE_CALL_CONCURRENCY_LIMIT	futureCall.concurrencyLimit	1	The maximum number of concurrent future calls allowed. If the value is negative or null, no limit is applied.
SERVERPOD_FUTURE_CALL_SCAN_INTERVAL	futureCall.scanInterval	5000	The interval in milliseconds for scanning future calls

Secrets

Secrets are declared in the passwords.yaml file. The password file is structured with a common shared section, any secret put here will be used in all run modes. The other sections are the names of the run modes followed by respective key/value pairs. You can also define custom secrets using environment variables.

Built-in Secrets

The following table shows the built-in secrets that Serverpod uses for its core functionality. These can be configured either through environment variables or by adding the corresponding key in a respective run mode or shared section in the passwords file. These are separate from any custom passwords you might define.

Environment variable	Passwords file	Default	Description
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_database	database	-	The password for the database
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_serviceSecret	serviceSecret	-	The token used to connect with insights must be at least 20 chars
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_redis	redis	-	The password for the Redis server

Secrets for First Party Packages

The following secrets are used by official Serverpod packages:

serverpod_cloud_storage_gcp: Google Cloud Storage
serverpod_cloud_storage_s3: Amazon S3
serverpod_auth_server: Serverpod Auth Server

Environment variable	Passwords file	Default	Description
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_HMACAccessKeyId	HMACAccessKeyId	-	The access key ID for HMAC authentication for serverpod_cloud_storage_gcp
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_HMACSecretKey	HMACSecretKey	-	The secret key for HMAC authentication for serverpod_cloud_storage_gcp
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_AWSAccessKeyId	AWSAccessKeyId	-	The access key ID for AWS authentication for serverpod_cloud_storage_s3
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_AWSSecretKey	AWSSecretKey	-	The secret key for AWS authentication for serverpod_cloud_storage_s3
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_serverpod_auth_googleClientSecret	serverpod_auth_googleClientSecret	-	The client secret for Google authentication for serverpod_auth_server
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_serverpod_auth_firebaseServiceAccountKey	serverpod_auth_firebaseServiceAccountKey	-	The service account key for Firebase authentication for serverpod_auth_server

Custom Secrets

You can define your own custom secrets in two ways.

1. Via Passwords File

Add your custom secrets directly to the passwords file under the shared section (available in all run modes) or under specific run mode sections.

shared:
  myCustomSharedSecret: 'secret_key'
  stripeApiKey: 'sk_test_123...'

development:
  database: 'development_password'
  redis: 'development_password'
  serviceSecret: 'development_service_secret'
  twilioApiKey: 'dev_twilio_key'

production:
  database: 'production_password'
  redis: 'production_password'
  serviceSecret: 'production_service_secret'
  twilioApiKey: 'prod_twilio_key'

2. Via Environment Variables

You can also define custom passwords using environment variables with the SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_ prefix. For example, SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_myApiKey will be available as myApiKey (the prefix is stripped). These environment variables will override any passwords defined in the passwords file if the name (after stripping the prefix) matches. Like the shared section in the passwords file, these environment variables are available in all run modes.

Environment variable format	Description
SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_*	Custom password that will be available in the Session.passwords map. The prefix `SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_` will be stripped from the key name.

Example:

To define a custom password through an environment variable:

export SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_stripeApiKey=sk_test_123...

Accessing Custom Passwords:

You can then access any custom password (whether defined in the passwords file or via environment variables) in your endpoint code through the Session.passwords map:

Future<void> processPayment(Session session, PaymentData data) async {
  final stripeApiKey = session.passwords['stripeApiKey'];
  // Use the API key to make requests to Stripe
  ...
}

Config file example

The config file should be named after the run mode you start the server in and it needs to be placed inside the config directory in the root of the server project. As an example, you have the config/development.yaml that will be used when running in the development run mode.

apiServer:
  port: 8080
  publicHost: localhost
  publicPort: 8080
  publicScheme: http

insightsServer:
  port: 8081
  publicHost: localhost
  publicPort: 8081
  publicScheme: http

webServer:
  port: 8082
  publicHost: localhost
  publicPort: 8082
  publicScheme: http

database:
  host: localhost
  port: 8090
  name: database_name
  user: postgres

redis:
  enabled: false
  host: localhost
  port: 8091

maxRequestSize: 524288

sessionLogs:
  persistentEnabled: true
  consoleEnabled: true
  consoleLogFormat: json

futureCallExecutionEnabled: true

futureCall:
  concurrencyLimit: 5
  scanInterval: 2000

Passwords file example

The password file contains the secrets used by the server to connect to different services but you can also supply your secrets if you want. This file is structured with a common shared section, any secret put here will be used in all run modes. The other sections are the names of the run modes followed by respective key/value pairs.

shared:
  myCustomSharedSecret: 'secret_key'

development:
  database: 'development_password'
  redis: 'development_password'
  serviceSecret: 'development_service_secret'
  twilioApiKey: 'dev_twilio_key'

production:
  database: 'production_password'
  redis: 'production_password'
  serviceSecret: 'production_service_secret'
  twilioApiKey: 'prod_twilio_key'

Dart config object example

To configure Serverpod in Dart you simply pass an instance of the ServerpodConfig class to the Serverpod constructor. This config will override any environment variables or config files present. The Serverpod constructor is normally used inside the run function in your server.dart file. At a minimum, the apiServer has to be provided.

Serverpod(
  args,
  Protocol(),
  Endpoints(),
  config: ServerpodConfig(
    apiServer: ServerConfig(
      port: 8080,
      publicHost: 'localhost',
      publicPort: 8080,
      publicScheme: 'http',
    ),
    insightsServer: ServerConfig(
      port: 8081,
      publicHost: 'localhost',
      publicPort: 8081,
      publicScheme: 'http',
    ),
    webServer: ServerConfig(
      port: 8082,
      publicHost: 'localhost',
      publicPort: 8082,
      publicScheme: 'http',
    ),
  ),
);

Default

If no yaml config files exist, no environment variables are configured and no dart config file is supplied this default configuration will be used.

ServerpodConfig(
  apiServer: ServerConfig(
    port: 8080,
    publicHost: 'localhost',
    publicPort: 8080,
    publicScheme: 'http',
  ),
);

Configuration options​

Configuration options for the server​

Secrets​

Built-in Secrets​

Secrets for First Party Packages​

Custom Secrets​

1. Via Passwords File​

2. Via Environment Variables​

Config file example​

Passwords file example​

Dart config object example​

Default​