Environment variables

Manifest reads its configuration from environment variables. In the bundled Docker setup these come from ~/manifest/.env. For docker run, pass them with -e. For non-Docker installs, export them in the shell before launching the backend.

This page is for self-hosted instances only. On Manifest Cloud there is no server to configure and no .env to edit — everything you can change lives in the dashboard.

Core

Variable	Required	Default	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	Yes	—	PostgreSQL connection string. Format: `postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/dbname`
`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	Yes	—	Session signing secret. Min 32 chars. Generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`
`BETTER_AUTH_URL`	No	`http://localhost:2099`	Public URL the dashboard is reachable on. Must match the browser URL
`PORT`	No	`2099`	Dashboard port. Under the bundled compose file this sets both the published host port and the internal listener, and `BETTER_AUTH_URL` follows it
`NODE_ENV`	No	`production`	Node environment. Telemetry is disabled when this isn’t `production`. Fixed to `production` by the bundled compose file — the image is a production artifact
`MANIFEST_MODE`	No	—	Marks the install as self-hosted when Manifest can’t tell on its own. Accepted value: `selfhosted` (`local` is a legacy alias with the same effect). Unset, Manifest detects Docker, Podman, and Kubernetes automatically; some platforms hide the container, which is why the Render, Koyeb, Easypanel, and AWS guides set it

Network & security

Variable	Default	Description
`BIND_ADDRESS`	`127.0.0.1`	Interface the server binds to. Set to `0.0.0.0` for LAN access. The Docker image already sets `0.0.0.0`; restrict a container with the compose `ports` line instead
`CORS_ORIGIN`	`http://localhost:3000`	Allowed CORS origin for browser-based dashboard requests. Development only — production uses the built-in allowlist plus `WINGMAN_CORS_ORIGINS`
`API_KEY`	—	Internal API key for system endpoints
`MANIFEST_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	`BETTER_AUTH_SECRET`	Key used to encrypt stored provider credentials at rest. Falls back to `BETTER_AUTH_SECRET` when unset — set a separate 32+ char value so a session-cookie leak doesn’t also decrypt every stored provider key. Set it before first boot
`MANIFEST_DISABLE_HSTS`	—	Set `1` to silence the boot warning about HSTS being unavailable on a plain-HTTP deployment. Prefer an `https://` `BETTER_AUTH_URL` anywhere reachable from the internet
`WINGMAN_CORS_ORIGINS`	—	Extra browser origins allowed to call the gateway, comma-separated. The hosted gateway tester at `wingman.manifest.build` is always allowed
`THROTTLE_TTL`	`60000`	Rate-limit window in milliseconds
`THROTTLE_LIMIT`	`100`	Max requests per window per harness

Database

Variable	Default	Description
`DB_POOL_MAX`	`30`	Max PostgreSQL connections in the main pool
`AUTH_DB_POOL_MAX`	`10`	Separate pool used by Better Auth. Counted on top of `DB_POOL_MAX` when sizing your server’s `max_connections`
`RUN_MIGRATIONS_ON_BOOT`	`true`	Run pending migrations at startup. Set `false` on multi-replica deploys so only one instance migrates
`DB_TUNE_SESSION`	`true`	Apply Manifest’s planner defaults at boot. Set `false` on managed Postgres where your role can’t `ALTER ROLE` itself
`SEED_DATA`	`false`	Seed demo data on first boot. Development only — the seeder refuses to run under `NODE_ENV=production`, so it has no effect on a Docker self-host. Use the first-run setup wizard to create your admin account

LLM proxy

How Manifest talks to upstream providers.

Variable	Default	Description
`PROVIDER_TIMEOUT_MS`	`180000`	Per-attempt timeout (ms) for upstream requests. A hung provider surfaces as a synthetic `504` and triggers the next fallback. Set it strictly below your client’s own timeout; slow local models may need it raised
`STREAM_WARMUP_MS`	`15000`	How long to wait for the first streamed chunk before falling back to the next model
`OLLAMA_HOST`	`http://localhost:11434`	Base URL for a local Ollama server. In Docker, set it to `http://host.docker.internal:11434`

Request recordings

Storage and retention for request logs. The bundled Docker setup already sets the filesystem path and mounts a volume for it, so a default install needs none of these.

Variable	Default	Description
`REQUEST_RECORDING_STORAGE`	`auto`	`auto`, `s3`, `filesystem`, or `disabled`. Under `auto`, any S3 variable being set selects S3; otherwise the filesystem path is used
`REQUEST_RECORDING_FILESYSTEM_PATH`	`/data/request-recordings`	Where recordings are written on disk. Must be a persistent volume
`REQUEST_RECORDING_RETENTION_DAYS`	`365`	Days to keep recordings before the sweep deletes them
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_BUCKET`	—	Bucket name. Required for S3
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_REGION`	—	Region. Use `auto` for R2 and similar. Required for S3
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_ENDPOINT`	—	Custom endpoint for non-AWS S3-compatible storage
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	—	Access key. Omit both key variables to use ambient credentials
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	—	Secret key. Must be set together with the access key ID
`REQUEST_RECORDING_S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE`	`false`	Set `true` for storage that needs path-style bucket addressing (MinIO)

A partial S3 configuration disables recording rather than falling back to local disk. Set bucket and region, and either both access-key variables or neither.

Autofix

Autofix works with zero configuration; AUTOFIX_GLOBAL_ENABLED=false is the kill switch.

Variable	Default	Description
`AUTOFIX_GLOBAL_ENABLED`	`true`	Set `false` to turn Autofix off for the whole deployment. No call reaches the healing service, including the boot health check
`AUTOFIX_TIMEOUT_MS`	`10000`	Timeout per healing call, in milliseconds
`AUTOFIX_REPAIRABLE_STATUSES`	`400,404,422`	Which provider statuses are eligible for a repair
`AUTOFIX_HEALING_API_KEY`	unset	Sent as `x-api-key` to the healing service. Self-hosted installs don’t need it; with no key set, the install announces its anonymous install id instead. Only relevant if Manifest issues you one
`AUTOFIX_REPORT_ALL_4XX`	`false`	Opt-in. Also report request-side 4xx errors (except `401`/`402`/`403`/`429`) from harnesses with Autofix on, as diagnostic evidence with the secret-scrubbed request body. Bodies over 256 KB are dropped, not truncated. No fix comes back from it

Email

Used for both Better Auth transactional emails (signup verification, password reset) and threshold alerts. Set one provider block.

Variable	Description
`EMAIL_PROVIDER`	`resend`, `mailgun`, or `sendgrid`
`EMAIL_API_KEY`	API key for the chosen provider
`EMAIL_DOMAIN`	Sending domain (Mailgun only)
`EMAIL_FROM`	From-address for outbound mail

Without an email provider, signup verification is waived (users are created as unverified-but-usable) and password reset silently no-ops. Hard-limit blocks still work; alerts just don’t email.

Legacy Mailgun-only

Older deployments used these. Kept for backward compatibility; new installs should use EMAIL_* instead.

Variable	Description
`MAILGUN_API_KEY`	Mailgun API key
`MAILGUN_DOMAIN`	Mailgun domain
`NOTIFICATION_FROM_EMAIL`	Sender address for alerts

OAuth logins

Each provider activates automatically when both *_CLIENT_ID and *_CLIENT_SECRET are set. Configure the callback URL in the provider’s console as ${BETTER_AUTH_URL}/api/auth/callback/<provider>.

Variable	Provider
`GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID` / `GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET`	Google
`GITHUB_CLIENT_ID` / `GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET`	GitHub
`DISCORD_CLIENT_ID` / `DISCORD_CLIENT_SECRET`	Discord

Subscription OAuth (ChatGPT, Claude, MiniMax) uses Manifest-side client IDs by default. Override only if you’ve registered your own app:

Variable	Description
`OPENAI_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID`	Custom OpenAI OAuth client ID
`MINIMAX_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID`	Custom MiniMax OAuth client ID

Telemetry

Variable	Default	Description
`MANIFEST_TELEMETRY_DISABLED`	unset	Set to `1` to disable anonymous telemetry
`TELEMETRY_ENDPOINT`	`https://telemetry.manifest.build/...`	Send reports to your own endpoint
`MANIFEST_PUBLIC_STATS`	`false`	Set `true` to expose `/api/v1/public/*` aggregate stats without auth

Error monitoring

Sentry is opt-in and stays off unless you give it a DSN.

Variable	Default	Description
`SENTRY_DSN`	unset	Your Sentry project DSN. Leave it unset to disable Sentry entirely
`SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT`	`NODE_ENV`	Environment tag on reported events
`SENTRY_RELEASE`	unset	Release tag on reported events

Operations

Variable	Default	Description
`SHUTDOWN_DRAIN_MS`	`10000`	How long the server keeps serving traffic after a termination signal while reporting unhealthy, so a load balancer can deregister it first. Set `0` to shut down immediately

Postgres bundled volume

When you run the bundled compose file, Manifest brings up its own Postgres container. To use a stronger password than the default, set both of these. They must agree, and special characters in the password must be percent-encoded in DATABASE_URL:

Variable	Description
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	Password for the bundled Postgres user
`DATABASE_URL`	Connection string with the matching password

Special-char encoding: @ → %40, : → %3A, / → %2F.

Getting Started

Self-hosting

Features

Providers

Reference

Environment variables

Core

Network & security

Database

LLM proxy

Request recordings

Autofix

Email

Legacy Mailgun-only

OAuth logins

Telemetry

Error monitoring

Operations

Postgres bundled volume

​Core

​Network & security

​Database

​LLM proxy

​Request recordings

​Autofix

​Email

​Legacy Mailgun-only

​OAuth logins

​Telemetry

​Error monitoring

​Operations

​Postgres bundled volume

Core

Network & security

Database

LLM proxy

Request recordings

Autofix

Email

Legacy Mailgun-only

OAuth logins

Telemetry

Error monitoring

Operations

Postgres bundled volume