Reference

Runtime Environment Variables

You can specify your own custom environment variables that will be available to your app while it is running. For more information on setting custom environment variables, see Customizing Your App Environment. Adaptable templates also automatically provide several pre-set environment variables to your app at runtime.

tip

The variables described here are set for all app types, but the specific template for your app and language may set additional variables. See the template guide for your app for more information.

You can get to this guide by clicking the template name on the status page for your app.

note

Runtime environment variables are not available during your app's build process.

»General Variables

  • ADAPTABLE_TRUST_PROXY_DEPTH: When this variable is set, it indicates that the app is behind one or more reverse proxies. The value is an integer number of proxies that your app may trust in the X-Forwarded-For HTTP request header. If this variable is set, the X-Forwarded-Proto and X-Forwarded-Host HTTP request headers may also be trusted.

  • DATABASE_URL: This is the URL that your app should use to contact the database provisioned alongside your app. It will include the database protocol, port, and hostname, as well as the username, password, and specific database to connect to. It may also have additional query parameters containing database options. This URL can often be used directly by a library such as Sequelize. If you manually parse this URL, be aware that all special characters in each portion of the URL have been URL-encoded and should be decoded before use.
    Example: postgres://dbuser:secret@database-1.adaptable.io:1234/my-app-db?option=enabled

  • EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME: This is the externally visible host and domain name for your app.
    Example: my-app.adaptable.app

  • EXTERNAL_URL: This is the externally visible URL where your app users can contact your app. This will always begin with https://.
    Example: https://my-app.adaptable.app

  • PORT: The TCP port that your app must listen on to receive incoming network requests. Your app is required to listen on this port. See containerized app requirements for more information.

»Postgres Variables

Apps that use a PostgreSQL database will also have the following environment variables set.

warning

We strongly recommend using DATABASE_URL instead of using the PG* variables. Only use these variables if it is not possible for your app to use DATABASE_URL.

  • PGDATABASE: The name of the database to connect to.

  • PGHOST: The hostname of the database cluster.

  • PGPASSWORD: The password to use when connecting to the database. Note that this environment variable may contain special characters.

  • PGPORT: The TCP port number to connect to.

  • PGSSLMODE: Specifies whether to negotiate SSL/TLS with the database cluster. In Adaptable, this will always be verify-full. Adaptable-provisioned PostgreSQL databases require the use of SSL/TLS.

  • PGSSLROOTCERT: Path to a file containing SSL/TLS root certificates associated with the database cluster. In order for your PostgreSQL client to verify the database cluster's certificate, you must correctly configure your PostgreSQL client to verify using this root certificate.

  • PGUSER: The username to use when connecting to the database.

»Microsoft SQL Server Variables

Apps that use a Microsoft SQL Server database will also have the following environment variables set:

warning

We strongly recommend using DATABASE_URL instead of using the MSSQL_* variables. Only use these variables if it is not possible for your app to use DATABASE_URL.

  • MSSQL_DATABASE: The name of the database to connect to.

  • MSSQL_HOST: The hostname of the database cluster.

  • MSSQL_PASSWORD: The password to use when connecting to the database. Note that this environment variable may contain special characters.

  • MSSQL_TCP_PORT: The TCP port number to connect to.

  • MSSQL_USER: The username to use when connecting to the database.