Environment variables

All configuration lives in .env.local (copied from .env.example). The keys present in your file depend on the features you selected at scaffold time — the scaffolder only writes the vars your build uses.

NEXT_PUBLIC_-prefixed vars are exposed to the browser. Everything else is server-only. Restart the dev server after changing any env var.

Core (always present)

Variable	Required	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	✅	Postgres connection string. Hosted providers usually need `?sslmode=require`.
`TEST_DATABASE_URL`	for tests	Separate DB for integration tests.
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	✅	32-byte secret. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`.
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	✅	Server-side base URL, e.g. `http://localhost:3000`.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_BETTER_AUTH_URL`	✅	Same URL, exposed to the browser auth client.
`EMAIL_PROVIDER`	✅	`console` (dev default — prints emails to stdout) or `resend`.

AI

Variable	Description
`AI_PROVIDER`	Which provider backs chat. See AI providers.
`AI_MODEL`	Model id for that provider. Provider default is used if omitted.
`OPENAI_API_KEY` (etc.)	Only the key for your selected provider is required.

Billing (Stripe)

Variable	Description
`BILLING_PROVIDER`	`stripe`.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_BILLING_PROVIDER`	`stripe` (browser-visible).
`STRIPE_SECRET_KEY`	Your Stripe secret key (`sk_…`).
`STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	`whsec_…` from `stripe listen` (dev) or the dashboard webhook (prod).
`STRIPE_PRICE_PRO`	Price id (`price_…`) for the Pro plan.
`STRIPE_PRICE_TEAM`	Price id (`price_…`) for the Team plan.

Email (Resend)

Only used when EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend.

Variable	Description
`RESEND_API_KEY`	Resend API key.
`EMAIL_FROM`	From address, e.g. `StackBlaze <onboarding@resend.dev>`.

Rate limiting (Upstash Redis)

Optional. When unset, AI-route rate limiting is a no-op — the app runs fine without it.

Variable	Description
`UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL`	From the Upstash console (REST API section).
`UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN`	REST token.

OAuth providers (optional)

A login button appears only when both the id and secret for a provider are set.

Variable	Description
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID` / `GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET`	Google OAuth app.
`GITHUB_CLIENT_ID` / `GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET`	GitHub OAuth app.


${BETTER_AUTH_URL}/api/auth/callback/google
${BETTER_AUTH_URL}/api/auth/callback/github

In production, set BETTER_AUTH_URL / NEXT_PUBLIC_BETTER_AUTH_URL to your real domain and re-register OAuth callback URLs to match — otherwise logins redirect to localhost.