Environment Variables

Complete reference of all environment variables used by LearnHouse. These are configured in the .env file generated by learnhouse setup.

Environment variables override any values set in configuration files. The .env file is the recommended configuration method.

General

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_SITE_NAME`	The name of your LearnHouse instance	`LearnHouse`
`LEARNHOUSE_SITE_DESCRIPTION`	A short description of your site	`An open-source learning platform`
`LEARNHOUSE_CONTACT_EMAIL`	Contact email address displayed on the site	`admin@example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_SELF_HOSTED`	Set to `true` for self-hosted deployments	`true`
`LEARNHOUSE_ENV`	Environment name	`production`
`LEARNHOUSE_DEVELOPMENT_MODE`	Enable development mode	`false`

Hosting

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_DOMAIN`	Your site domain	`learn.example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_SSL`	Enable SSL (`true` or `false`)	`true`
`LEARNHOUSE_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`	Comma-separated list of allowed CORS origins	`https://learn.example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_COOKIE_DOMAIN`	Domain used for cookies (prefix with `.` for subdomains)	`.example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_ALLOWED_REGEXP`	Regex pattern for additional allowed origins	`\b((?:https?://)[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*)\b`
`LEARNHOUSE_PORT`	Backend port (default 9000)	`9000`

Database

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING`	PostgreSQL connection string	`postgresql://learnhouse:learnhouse@db:5432/learnhouse`

Redis

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING`	Redis connection string	`redis://redis:6379/learnhouse`

Authentication

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_AUTH_JWT_SECRET_KEY`	Secret key for JWT token signing	Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`

Initial Admin

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL`	Email for the first admin account	`admin@example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD`	Password for the first admin account	Use a strong password

Frontend

Variable	Description	Example
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_MULTI_ORG`	Enable multi-organization mode	`false`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_DEFAULT_ORG`	Default organization slug	`defaultorg`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_API_URL`	Backend API URL (used by the frontend)	`http://localhost/api/v1/`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_BACKEND_URL`	Backend base URL	`http://localhost`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_TOP_DOMAIN`	Top-level domain for the frontend	`localhost`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_HTTPS`	Whether the frontend uses HTTPS	`false`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_MEDIA_URL`	URL for serving media content	`http://localhost/api/v1/`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY`	Unsplash API key for stock images	`your-unsplash-key`

AI

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_GEMINI_API_KEY`	Google Gemini API key (primary AI provider)	`AIza...`
`LEARNHOUSE_OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI API key (alternative AI provider)	`sk-...`
`LEARNHOUSE_IS_AI_ENABLED`	Enable AI features globally	`true`

Email

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_EMAIL_PROVIDER`	Email provider: `resend` or `smtp`	`resend`
`LEARNHOUSE_RESEND_API_KEY`	Resend API key (when using `resend` provider)	`re_...`
`LEARNHOUSE_SYSTEM_EMAIL_ADDRESS`	System email address (sender address)	`noreply@example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_SMTP_HOST`	SMTP server hostname (when using `smtp` provider)	`smtp.example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_SMTP_PORT`	SMTP server port (default 587)	`587`
`LEARNHOUSE_SMTP_USERNAME`	SMTP username	`user@example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_SMTP_PASSWORD`	SMTP password	`your-smtp-password`
`LEARNHOUSE_SMTP_USE_TLS`	Enable TLS for SMTP	`true`

Content Storage

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_CONTENT_DELIVERY_TYPE`	Storage type: `filesystem` or `s3api`	`filesystem`
`LEARNHOUSE_S3_API_BUCKET_NAME`	S3 bucket name (when using `s3api`)	`learnhouse-content`
`LEARNHOUSE_S3_API_ENDPOINT_URL`	S3 endpoint URL (when using `s3api`)	`https://s3.amazonaws.com`

Collaboration Server

Variable	Description	Example
`COLLAB_PORT`	Collaboration server port (default 4000)	`4000`
`COLLAB_INTERNAL_KEY`	Internal key for collaboration service auth	`your-collab-key`
`LEARNHOUSE_API_URL`	API URL used by the collaboration server	`http://learnhouse-app:9000/api/v1`
`LEARNHOUSE_REDIS_URL`	Redis URL used by the collaboration server	`redis://redis:6379`

Payments

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_STRIPE_SECRET_KEY`	Stripe secret key	`sk_live_...`
`LEARNHOUSE_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	Stripe publishable key	`pk_live_...`

Code Execution

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_JUDGE0_API_URL`	Judge0 API URL for code execution	`https://judge0.example.com`
`LEARNHOUSE_JUDGE0_CLIENT_ID`	Judge0 client ID	`your-client-id`
`LEARNHOUSE_JUDGE0_CLIENT_SECRET`	Judge0 client secret	`your-client-secret`

Analytics

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_TINYBIRD_API_URL`	Tinybird API URL	`https://api.tinybird.co`
`LEARNHOUSE_TINYBIRD_INGEST_TOKEN`	Tinybird ingest token	`your-ingest-token`
`LEARNHOUSE_TINYBIRD_READ_TOKEN`	Tinybird read token	`your-read-token`

Observability

Variable	Description	Example
`LEARNHOUSE_SENTRY_DSN`	Sentry DSN for error tracking	`https://abc@sentry.io/123`
`LEARNHOUSE_LOGFIRE_ENABLED`	Enable Logfire logging	`false`

Full Example

.env

# General
LEARNHOUSE_SITE_NAME=LearnHouse
LEARNHOUSE_SITE_DESCRIPTION=An open-source learning platform
LEARNHOUSE_CONTACT_EMAIL=admin@example.com
LEARNHOUSE_SELF_HOSTED=true
LEARNHOUSE_ENV=production

# Hosting
LEARNHOUSE_DOMAIN=learn.example.com
LEARNHOUSE_SSL=true
LEARNHOUSE_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://learn.example.com
LEARNHOUSE_COOKIE_DOMAIN=.example.com
LEARNHOUSE_PORT=9000

# Database
LEARNHOUSE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING=postgresql://learnhouse:learnhouse@db:5432/learnhouse

# Redis
LEARNHOUSE_REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING=redis://redis:6379/learnhouse

# Authentication
LEARNHOUSE_AUTH_JWT_SECRET_KEY=your-generated-jwt-secret
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-generated-nextauth-secret
NEXTAUTH_URL=https://learn.example.com/

# Initial Admin
LEARNHOUSE_INITIAL_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@example.com
LEARNHOUSE_INITIAL_ADMIN_PASSWORD=change-this-password

# Frontend
NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_MULTI_ORG=false
NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_DEFAULT_ORG=defaultorg
NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_API_URL=http://localhost/api/v1/
NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost
NEXT_PUBLIC_LEARNHOUSE_HTTPS=false

# AI (optional)
LEARNHOUSE_GEMINI_API_KEY=
LEARNHOUSE_IS_AI_ENABLED=false

# Email (optional)
LEARNHOUSE_EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
LEARNHOUSE_RESEND_API_KEY=
LEARNHOUSE_SYSTEM_EMAIL_ADDRESS=

# Content Storage
LEARNHOUSE_CONTENT_DELIVERY_TYPE=filesystem

Last edited on Mar 14, 2026

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