Environment Variables

SIMPLICITY-ADMIN reads the following environment variables. Environment variables override values set in the config file.

Variables

DATABASE_URL

• Config equivalent: database
• Required: Yes (if not set in config)
• Description: PostgreSQL connection string.

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb

SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_DATABASE

• Config equivalent: database
• Required: No
• Description: Alternative to DATABASE_URL. If both are set, SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_DATABASE takes precedence.

SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_PORT

• Config equivalent: port
• Required: No
• Default: 3000
• Description: Server port for standalone mode.

SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_PORT=4000

SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_AUTH_SECRET

• Config equivalent: auth.secret
• Required: Yes (if not set in config)
• Description: Secret key for JWT signing and verification. Use a cryptographically random string of at least 32 characters in production.

SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_AUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key-at-least-32-chars

NODE_ENV

• Config equivalent: none
• Required: No
• Default: 'development'
• Description: Standard Node.js environment variable. Affects behavior:

Value	Effect
development	Verbose logging, GraphiQL enabled, detailed error messages
production	Minimal logging, GraphiQL respects config, generic error messages

Resolution Order

Environment variables sit between the config file and runtime overrides in the resolution chain:

1. Defaults — Built-in values
2. Config file — simplicity-admin.config.ts
3. Environment variables — Override config file values
4. Runtime overrides — Options passed to createAdmin()

For example, if your config file sets port: 3000 but SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_PORT=4000 is set in the environment, the server runs on port 4000.

.env File Support

The init command generates a .env file with placeholder values. SIMPLICITY-ADMIN loads .env files automatically in development. In production, set environment variables through your hosting platform’s configuration.

.env

DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@localhost:5432/mydb
SIMPLICITY_ADMIN_AUTH_SECRET=change-me-to-a-random-secret