Environment variables

PetHealth is configured entirely with environment variables. With Docker Compose, put them in a .env file next to docker-compose.yml (env_file: .env), or list them under environment:. Restart the container after changing them.

Core

Variable	Default	Description
`JWT_SECRET`	—	Required. Secret used to sign sessions. Generate it with `openssl rand -hex 32`. The server exits on startup if it’s missing. Changing it signs everyone out.
`TZ`	`UTC`	Server time zone (e.g. `Europe/Madrid`, `America/Bogota`). Used for “today” in emails, the calendar feed and backups. The web app uses each browser’s own date for the dashboard.
`PORT`	`3001`	Port inside the container. You normally change the host side of the port mapping instead (`"8080:3001"`).
`DATA_DIR`	`/app/data`	Where the database, uploads and backups are stored. Mount a volume here.
`NODE_ENV`	`production`	Set by the image. Leave it as is.

Accounts & security

Variable	Default	Description
`ALLOW_REGISTRATION`	`false`	`true` shows “Sign up” on the login screen, so anyone who can reach the app can create an account. Turn it on only while your family creates their accounts.
`LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT`	`10`	Failed sign-in/sign-up attempts allowed per IP every 15 minutes. `0` disables the limit.
`TRUST_PROXY`	`false`	Set to `true` when PetHealth is behind a reverse proxy (e.g. for HTTPS on your LAN), so it uses the real client IP for rate limiting and marks cookies `Secure` over HTTPS. See Remote access & HTTPS.

Data

Variable	Default	Description
`SEED_DEMO`	`true`	Create four demo pets on the very first start. Has no effect on an existing database.
`BACKUP_INTERVAL_HOURS`	`24`	Hours between automatic database snapshots. `0` disables them.
`BACKUP_KEEP`	`7`	How many snapshots to keep in `data/backups/`.

Email reminders

Variable	Default	Description
`SMTP_HOST`	—	SMTP server. Email is turned off when this is empty.
`SMTP_PORT`	`587`	SMTP port.
`SMTP_SECURE`	`false`	`true` for implicit TLS, usually port 465. With `false`, STARTTLS is used when the server offers it.
`SMTP_USER`	—	SMTP username.
`SMTP_PASS`	—	SMTP password (for Gmail, an app password).
`SMTP_FROM`	`SMTP_USER`	Sender, e.g. `PetHealth <[email protected]>`.
`NOTIFY_HOUR`	`8`	Local hour (0–23, in `TZ`) from which the daily digest is sent.
`APP_URL`	—	The address you use to open PetHealth (e.g. `http://192.168.1.50:3000`), used for the “Open PetHealth” button in emails and for links in calendar events. If empty, calendar links use the address the calendar app requested, and emails have no button.

Example `.env`

JWT_SECRET=paste-the-output-of-openssl-rand-hex-32
TZ=America/New_York
ALLOW_REGISTRATION=false
APP_URL=http://192.168.1.50:3000

SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT=465
SMTP_SECURE=true
SMTP_USER=[email protected]
SMTP_PASS=your-app-password
SMTP_FROM=PetHealth <[email protected]>
NOTIFY_HOUR=8

Per-user settings

Some things aren’t environment variables because each user sets them in the app, under My account: currency, language, the reminder email address, and the calendar link.