---
title: Environment Variables
description: Configuration reference
---

## Security & Database

| Variable | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `JWT_SECRET` | Yes | Secret key used to sign JWT tokens. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`. | `s3cr3t...` |
| `DB_PASSWORD` | Yes | PostgreSQL database password. Used by the Docker Compose setup. | `changeme123` |
| `DATABASE_URL` | Yes | Full PostgreSQL connection string. Auto-configured in Docker. | `postgresql://plunk:password@postgres:5432/plunk` |
| `REDIS_URL` | Yes | Redis connection string. | `redis://redis:6379` |
| `PORT` | No | Port the API server listens on. | `8080` (default) |

## URLs & Domains

Set your subdomains here. The application automatically derives all internal and client-side URLs from these at container startup — you don't need to set `*_URI` or `NEXT_PUBLIC_*` variables manually.

| Variable | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `API_DOMAIN` | Yes | Subdomain for the API server. | `api.yourdomain.com` |
| `DASHBOARD_DOMAIN` | Yes | Subdomain for the dashboard app. | `app.yourdomain.com` |
| `LANDING_DOMAIN` | Yes | Subdomain for the landing page. | `www.yourdomain.com` |
| `WIKI_DOMAIN` | Yes | Subdomain for the documentation site. | `docs.yourdomain.com` |
| `USE_HTTPS` | No | Set to `true` when running behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. Used to construct URLs with the correct protocol. | `false` (default) |

## AWS SES

| Variable | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `AWS_SES_REGION` | Yes | AWS region where SES is configured. | `us-east-1` |
| `AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_ID` | Yes | AWS access key ID with SES send permissions. | `AKIA...` |
| `AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY` | Yes | AWS secret access key for SES. | `wJalr...` |
| `SES_CONFIGURATION_SET` | No | SES configuration set name used for open/click tracking. | `plunk-configuration-set` (default) |
| `SES_CONFIGURATION_SET_NO_TRACKING` | No | A second SES configuration set without tracking. When set, projects can toggle email tracking on/off. If omitted, the tracking toggle is hidden. | `plunk-no-tracking-configuration-set` (default) |

## Storage (Minio)

The bundled Docker setup includes Minio with defaults that work out of the box. Only change these when connecting to an external S3-compatible bucket.

| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `MINIO_ROOT_USER` | No | Minio root username (Docker Compose only). | `plunk` |
| `MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORD` | No | Minio root password (Docker Compose only). | `plunkminiopass` |
| `MINIO_API_PORT` | No | Port for the Minio API (Docker Compose only). | `9000` |
| `MINIO_CONSOLE_PORT` | No | Port for the Minio console UI (Docker Compose only). | `9001` |
| `S3_ENDPOINT` | No | S3 or Minio endpoint URL. | `http://minio:9000` |
| `S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID` | No | S3 or Minio access key. | — |
| `S3_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET` | No | S3 or Minio secret key. | — |
| `S3_BUCKET` | No | Bucket name for file uploads. | `uploads` |
| `S3_PUBLIC_URL` | No | Publicly accessible base URL for stored files. | — |
| `S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE` | No | Use path-style URLs instead of virtual-hosted. Required for Minio. | `true` |

## SMTP Server

The optional SMTP relay lets you send emails through Plunk via the SMTP protocol.

| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `SMTP_DOMAIN` | No | SMTP relay domain. Required when using Traefik's `acme.json` with multiple certificates so the correct cert can be selected. | `localhost` |
| `SMTP_ENABLED` | No | Explicitly enable SMTP features in the UI. Automatically enabled when `SMTP_DOMAIN` is set to a non-localhost value in production. | `false` |
| `PORT_SECURE` | No | SMTPS port (implicit TLS). | `465` |
| `PORT_SUBMISSION` | No | SMTP submission port (STARTTLS). | `587` |
| `MAX_RECIPIENTS` | No | Maximum number of recipients per email. | `5` |

## OAuth

Enables social login. Register an OAuth app with each provider and add the credentials here.

| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `GITHUB_OAUTH_CLIENT` | No | GitHub OAuth app client ID. |
| `GITHUB_OAUTH_SECRET` | No | GitHub OAuth app client secret. |
| `GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT` | No | Google OAuth app client ID. |
| `GOOGLE_OAUTH_SECRET` | No | Google OAuth app client secret. |

## Stripe

Required if you want to enable billing features. All Stripe variables must be set together for billing to activate.

| Variable | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `STRIPE_SK` | No | Stripe secret key. |
| `STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET` | No | Stripe webhook signing secret for verifying events. |
| `STRIPE_PRICE_ONBOARDING` | No | Stripe price ID for the one-time onboarding fee. |
| `STRIPE_PRICE_EMAIL_USAGE` | No | Stripe price ID for metered pay-per-email usage. |
| `STRIPE_METER_EVENT_NAME` | No | Stripe meter event name. | `emails` (default) |

## Platform Emails

When configured, Plunk will send email notifications to users for critical events (e.g. project disabled, billing limits reached). Without these, only ntfy notifications are sent.

| Variable | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| `PLUNK_API_KEY` | No | API key for a Plunk instance to send transactional emails. | `pk_...` |
| `PLUNK_FROM_ADDRESS` | No | From address used for platform notification emails. | `noreply@yourdomain.com` |

## Notifications (ntfy)

Plunk bundles a self-hosted [ntfy](https://ntfy.sh) server for internal system notifications.

| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `NTFY_PORT` | No | Port for the ntfy web UI (Docker Compose only). | `8080` |
| `NTFY_URL` | No | ntfy topic URL. Change this to use an external ntfy.sh server or your own instance. | `http://ntfy/plunk-notifications` |

## User Management

| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `DISABLE_SIGNUPS` | No | When `true`, the signup endpoint rejects new registrations. Useful for private instances. | `false` |
| `VERIFY_EMAIL_ON_SIGNUP` | No | When `true`, validates emails on signup — checks for disposable domains, plus-addressing, domain existence, and MX records. | `false` |

## Security

| Variable | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| `AUTO_PROJECT_DISABLE` | No | When `true`, projects are automatically suspended when bounce or complaint rate thresholds are exceeded. Set to `false` to manage project status manually. | `true` |
| `EMAIL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_SECOND` | No | Override the email sending rate limit. If not set, Plunk automatically fetches the quota from your AWS SES account. | — |