Environment Variables

This is the single reference page for OpenReader environment variables.

Recommended configuration path

For auth-enabled deployments, use Settings → Admin as the primary source of truth for shared TTS providers and site features. Legacy env vars (API_KEY, API_BASE, and NEXT_PUBLIC_*) are optional first-boot seeds only.

Quick Reference Table

Variable	Area	Default	When to set
ADMIN_EMAILS	Auth/Admin	empty	Comma-separated emails auto-promoted to admin (requires auth enabled)
API_BASE	Legacy bootstrap seed	none	Optional first-boot seed into default-openai; then manage in Settings → Admin → Shared providers
API_KEY	Legacy bootstrap seed	none	Optional first-boot seed into default-openai; then manage in Settings → Admin → Shared providers
NEXT_PUBLIC_* runtime seeds	Legacy bootstrap seed	varies	Optional first-boot seeds for site features; then manage in Settings → Admin → Site features
NEXT_PUBLIC_CHANGELOG_FEED_URL	Legacy bootstrap seed	https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/changelog/manifest.json	Optional first-boot seed for changelog feed URL; then manage in Settings → Admin → Site features
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_USER_SIGNUPS	Legacy bootstrap seed	true	Optional first-boot seed for whether new accounts can be created; then manage in Settings → Admin → Site features
TTS_CACHE_MAX_SIZE_BYTES	TTS caching	268435456 (256 MB)	Tune in-memory TTS cache size
TTS_CACHE_TTL_MS	TTS caching	1800000 (30 min)	Tune in-memory TTS cache TTL
TTS_MAX_RETRIES	TTS retry	2	Tune retry attempts for upstream 429/5xx
TTS_RETRY_INITIAL_MS	TTS retry	250	Tune initial retry delay
TTS_RETRY_MAX_MS	TTS retry	2000	Tune max retry delay
TTS_RETRY_BACKOFF	TTS retry	2	Tune exponential backoff factor
TTS_UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT_MS	TTS request timeout	285000	Set max upstream TTS request duration before fail-fast
TTS_ENABLE_RATE_LIMIT	Rate limiting	false	Set true to enable TTS per-user/IP daily character limits
TTS_DAILY_LIMIT_ANONYMOUS	Rate limiting	50000	Override anonymous per-user daily character limit
TTS_DAILY_LIMIT_AUTHENTICATED	Rate limiting	500000	Override authenticated per-user daily character limit
TTS_IP_DAILY_LIMIT_ANONYMOUS	Rate limiting	100000	Override anonymous IP backstop daily limit
TTS_IP_DAILY_LIMIT_AUTHENTICATED	Rate limiting	1000000	Override authenticated IP backstop daily limit
BASE_URL	Auth	unset	Required (with AUTH_SECRET) to enable auth
AUTH_SECRET	Auth	unset	Required (with BASE_URL) to enable auth
AUTH_TRUSTED_ORIGINS	Auth	empty	Add extra allowed origins
USE_ANONYMOUS_AUTH_SESSIONS	Auth	false	Set true to enable anonymous auth sessions
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID	Auth/OAuth	unset	Set with GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET to enable GitHub sign-in
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET	Auth/OAuth	unset	Set with GITHUB_CLIENT_ID to enable GitHub sign-in
DISABLE_AUTH_RATE_LIMIT	Rate limiting	false	Set true to disable auth-layer rate limiting
POSTGRES_URL	Database	unset (SQLite mode)	Set to switch metadata/auth DB to Postgres
USE_EMBEDDED_WEED_MINI	Storage	true when unset	Set false to use external S3-compatible storage only
WEED_MINI_DIR	Storage	docstore/seaweedfs	Override embedded SeaweedFS data directory
WEED_MINI_WAIT_SEC	Storage	20	Tune SeaweedFS startup wait timeout
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	Storage	auto-generated in embedded mode	Set explicitly for stable/external credentials
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	Storage	auto-generated in embedded mode	Set explicitly for stable/external credentials
S3_BUCKET	Storage	openreader-documents in embedded mode	Required for external S3-compatible storage
S3_REGION	Storage	us-east-1 in embedded mode	Required for external S3-compatible storage
S3_ENDPOINT	Storage	derived in embedded mode	Set for S3-compatible providers (MinIO/SeaweedFS/R2/etc.)
S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE	Storage	true in embedded mode	Set per provider requirement
S3_PREFIX	Storage	openreader	Customize object key prefix
RUN_DRIZZLE_MIGRATIONS	Database migrations	true	Set false to skip startup Drizzle schema migrations
RUN_FS_MIGRATIONS	Storage migrations	true	Set false to skip startup filesystem -> S3/DB migration pass
IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIR	Library import	docstore/library fallback	Set a single server library root
IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIRS	Library import	unset	Set multiple roots (comma/colon/semicolon separated)
WHISPER_CPP_BIN	Word timing	unset	Set to enable whisper.cpp timestamps
FFMPEG_BIN	Audio runtime	auto-detected (ffmpeg-static)	Override ffmpeg binary path

TTS Provider and Request Behavior

API_BASE

Bootstrap base URL for the legacy OpenAI-compatible TTS endpoint.

• Example: http://host.docker.internal:8880/v1
• Seeded on first boot into the auto-created default-openai shared provider, then no longer read by the running app. Manage in Settings → Admin → Shared providers afterwards.
• Related docs: Admin Panel, TTS Providers

API_KEY

Bootstrap API key for the legacy OpenAI-compatible TTS endpoint.

• Example: your provider token, or omit if the provider doesn't require auth
• Seeded on first boot into the auto-created default-openai shared provider (encrypted at rest), then no longer read by the running app. Manage in Settings → Admin → Shared providers afterwards.
• Related docs: Admin Panel, TTS Providers

TTS_CACHE_MAX_SIZE_BYTES

Maximum in-memory TTS audio cache size in bytes.

• Default: 268435456 (256 MB)

TTS_CACHE_TTL_MS

In-memory TTS audio cache TTL in milliseconds.

• Default: 1800000 (30 minutes)

TTS_MAX_RETRIES

Maximum retries for upstream TTS failures (429/5xx).

• Default: 2

TTS_RETRY_INITIAL_MS

Initial retry delay in milliseconds for TTS upstream requests.

• Default: 250

TTS_RETRY_MAX_MS

Maximum retry delay in milliseconds.

• Default: 2000

TTS_RETRY_BACKOFF

Exponential backoff multiplier between retries.

• Default: 2

TTS_UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT_MS

Maximum upstream TTS request timeout in milliseconds.

• Default: 285000 (285 seconds)
• Applies to outbound provider calls from server routes using shared TTS generation
• Increase for slower providers/models; decrease to fail fast and surface retryable errors sooner

TTS_ENABLE_RATE_LIMIT

Controls TTS character rate limiting in the TTS API.

• Default: false (TTS char limits disabled)
• Set to true to enforce TTS_DAILY_LIMIT_* and TTS_IP_DAILY_LIMIT_*
• For behavior details and examples, see TTS Rate Limiting

TTS_DAILY_LIMIT_ANONYMOUS

Anonymous per-user daily character limit.

• Default: 50000

TTS_DAILY_LIMIT_AUTHENTICATED

Authenticated per-user daily character limit.

• Default: 500000

TTS_IP_DAILY_LIMIT_ANONYMOUS

Anonymous IP backstop daily character limit.

• Default: 100000

TTS_IP_DAILY_LIMIT_AUTHENTICATED

Authenticated IP backstop daily character limit.

• Default: 1000000

Auth and Identity

BASE_URL

External base URL for this OpenReader instance.

• Required with AUTH_SECRET to enable auth
• Example: http://localhost:3003 or https://reader.example.com
• Related docs: Auth

AUTH_SECRET

Secret key used by auth/session handling.

• Required with BASE_URL to enable auth
• Generate with openssl rand -hex 32
• Also used to HMAC-hash server-side TTS segment text fingerprints
• Related docs: Auth

AUTH_TRUSTED_ORIGINS

Additional allowed origins for auth requests.

• Comma-separated list
• BASE_URL origin is always trusted automatically
• Related docs: Auth

USE_ANONYMOUS_AUTH_SESSIONS

Controls whether auth-enabled deployments can create/use anonymous sessions.

• Default: false (anonymous sessions disabled)
• Set true to allow anonymous sessions and guest-style flows
• When false, users must sign in or sign up with an account
• Related docs: Auth

GITHUB_CLIENT_ID

GitHub OAuth client ID.

• Enable only with GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET

GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET

GitHub OAuth client secret.

• Enable only with GITHUB_CLIENT_ID

DISABLE_AUTH_RATE_LIMIT

Controls Better Auth rate limiting.

• Default behavior: auth-layer rate limiting enabled
• Set to true to disable auth-layer rate limiting
• This does not affect TTS character rate limiting
• Related docs: Auth

ADMIN_EMAILS

Comma-separated list of email addresses that are auto-promoted to admin.

• Default: empty (no admins)
• Requires auth to be enabled (AUTH_SECRET + BASE_URL).
• Matched emails get user.is_admin = true on every session resolution; removed emails are demoted on the next session resolve.
• Admins see a new Admin tab in Settings exposing shared TTS providers and site-wide feature toggles. Keys for shared providers are stored encrypted in the DB and never returned to the client.
• Example: ADMIN_EMAILS=alice@example.com,bob@example.com
• Related docs: Admin Panel, Auth

Database and Object Blob Storage

POSTGRES_URL

Switches metadata/auth storage from SQLite to Postgres.

• Unset: SQLite at docstore/sqlite3.db
• Set: Postgres mode
• Related docs: Database

USE_EMBEDDED_WEED_MINI

Controls embedded SeaweedFS startup.

• Default behavior: treated as enabled when unset
• Set false to rely on external S3-compatible storage
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

WEED_MINI_DIR

Data directory for embedded SeaweedFS (weed mini).

• Default: docstore/seaweedfs
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

WEED_MINI_WAIT_SEC

Maximum seconds to wait for embedded SeaweedFS startup.

• Default: 20
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID

Access key for S3-compatible storage.

• Auto-generated in embedded mode if unset
• Set explicitly for stable credentials or external providers
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Secret key for S3-compatible storage.

• Auto-generated in embedded mode if unset
• Set explicitly for stable credentials or external providers
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_BUCKET

Bucket name used for document blobs.

• Default in embedded mode: openreader-documents
• Required for external S3-compatible storage
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_REGION

Region used by the S3 client.

• Default in embedded mode: us-east-1
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_ENDPOINT

Endpoint URL for S3-compatible storage.

• In embedded mode, defaults to http://<BASE_URL host>:8333 (or detected host)
• For AWS S3, usually leave unset
• For MinIO/SeaweedFS/R2/B2-style APIs, typically set explicitly
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE

Path-style S3 addressing toggle.

• Default in embedded mode: true
• Set according to provider requirements
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

S3_PREFIX

Prefix prepended to stored object keys.

• Default: openreader
• Related docs: Object / Blob Storage

Migration Controls

RUN_DRIZZLE_MIGRATIONS

Controls startup migration execution in shared entrypoint.

• Default: true
• Set false to skip automatic startup Drizzle schema migrations
• Related docs: Migrations, Database

RUN_FS_MIGRATIONS

Controls startup filesystem-to-object-store migration execution in shared entrypoint.

• Default: true
• Runs scripts/migrate-fs-v2.mjs at startup after DB migrations
• Set false to skip automatic storage migration pass
• Related docs: Migrations, Database, Object / Blob Storage

Library Import

IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIR

Single directory root for server library import.

• Used when IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIRS is unset
• Default fallback root: docstore/library
• Related docs: Server Library Import

IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIRS

Multiple library roots for server library import.

• Separator: comma, colon, or semicolon
• Takes precedence over IMPORT_LIBRARY_DIR
• Related docs: Server Library Import

Audio Tooling and Alignment

WHISPER_CPP_BIN

Absolute path to compiled whisper.cpp binary for word-level timestamps.

• Example: /whisper.cpp/build/bin/whisper-cli
• Required only for optional word-by-word highlighting

FFMPEG_BIN

Absolute path or executable name for the ffmpeg binary used by audiobook/processing routes.

• Resolution order: FFMPEG_BIN -> ffmpeg-static
• Example: /var/task/node_modules/ffmpeg-static/ffmpeg

Legacy First-Boot Runtime Seeds (optional)

These variables exist only as first-boot seeds for the admin-managed runtime config. Prefer changing site features from Settings → Admin → Site features. Keep these only when you need bootstrap defaults before the first admin login. See Admin Panel for migration behavior.

The values are SSR-injected via window.__OPENREADER_RUNTIME_CONFIG__, so admin edits take effect for all users on the next page load — no rebuild required (unlike the old NEXT_PUBLIC_* build-time pattern).

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_DOCX_CONVERSION

Controls whether the experimental DOCX-to-PDF conversion and upload feature is enabled.

• Default: true (enabled)
• Runtime key: enableDocxConversion

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_DESTRUCTIVE_DELETE_ACTIONS

Controls whether the "Delete all user docs" and other bulk-delete buttons are shown in Settings.

• Default: true (enabled)
• Runtime key: enableDestructiveDeleteActions

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_TTS_PROVIDERS_TAB

Controls whether the TTS Provider section appears in the user-facing Settings modal.

• Default: true (enabled)
• Set false to hide provider/model/API controls in the per-user Settings modal (the admin panel is unaffected).
• Runtime key: enableTtsProvidersTab

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_USER_SIGNUPS

Controls whether new user accounts can be created.

• Default: true (enabled)
• When false, new account creation is blocked for email sign-up, first-time OAuth signup, and anonymous-to-account upgrades.
• Existing users can still sign in.
• Runtime key: enableUserSignups

NEXT_PUBLIC_RESTRICT_USER_API_KEYS

Controls whether users can supply personal API keys/base URLs for built-in providers.

• Default: runtime-dependent
• When true, server routes only use admin-managed shared providers.
• When false, users can use per-user BYOK credentials for built-in providers.
• Runtime key: restrictUserApiKeys

NEXT_PUBLIC_DEFAULT_TTS_PROVIDER

Sets the default TTS provider for new users.

• Default: custom-openai
• Example values: replicate, deepinfra, openai, custom-openai, or an admin-defined shared provider slug (e.g. kokoro-prod)
• Runtime key: defaultTtsProvider

showAllProviderModels is a runtime-only admin setting (no env seed). Configure it in Settings → Admin → Site features.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CHANGELOG_FEED_URL

Sets the changelog manifest URL used by the Settings modal changelog viewer.

• Default: https://docs.openreader.richardr.dev/changelog/manifest.json
• Use this in self-hosted deployments when you publish changelog feeds to a custom docs domain/path.
• Runtime key: changelogFeedUrl

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_AUDIOBOOK_EXPORT

Controls whether audiobook export UI/actions are shown in the client.

• Default: true (enabled)
• Affects export entry points in PDF/EPUB pages and document settings UI
• Runtime key: enableAudiobookExport

NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_WORD_HIGHLIGHT

Controls word-by-word highlighting UI and timestamp-alignment behavior.

• Default: true (enabled)
• Requires working timestamp generation (for example WHISPER_CPP_BIN)
• Affects:
  • Word-highlight toggles in document settings
  • Alignment requests during TTS playback
• Runtime key: enableWordHighlight