Configuration Reference

All server-level configuration lives in the .env file at the project root. After changing it, restart the web app and the worker — the scheduler picks the new values up on its next cron tick. A rebuild is not needed: env values are read at runtime, with one exception, the NEXT_PUBLIC_* variables, which are baked in at build time.

Two kinds of configuration

.env holds infrastructure settings (database, Redis, URLs, secrets). Integration credentials — payment gateways, Meta apps, AI keys, SMS providers — are entered in the admin panel and stored encrypted in the database. You will rarely touch .env after go-live.

Application

Variable	Example	Description
`APP_NAME`	`WhatsMax`	Application name used in emails and page titles.
`APP_URL`	`https://chat.example.com`	Public base URL. Used to build links, OAuth callbacks and webhook URLs. Must be HTTPS in production.
`APP_ENV`	`production`	`production` or `development`.
`APP_DEMO_MODE`	`false`	When `true`, destructive actions are disabled (for public demos). Keep `false` in production.

Database

Variable	Example	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	`mysql://user:pass@127.0.0.1:3306/whatsmax`	MySQL connection string. Special characters in the password must be URL-encoded (`@` → `%40`, `#` → `%23`).

Authentication & security

Variable	Example	Description
`NEXTAUTH_URL`	`https://chat.example.com`	Must equal `APP_URL`.
`AUTH_SECRET`	(random)	Session signing secret. Generate with `openssl rand -base64 32`.
`AUTH_TRUST_HOST`	`true`	Required when running behind a reverse proxy (Nginx).
`APP_ENCRYPTION_KEY`	(64 hex chars)	AES-256-GCM key encrypting stored provider credentials. Generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`. Never change after go-live.

Redis

Variable	Example	Description
`REDIS_URL`	`redis://127.0.0.1:6379`	Redis connection for BullMQ queues, scheduling and caching. With a password: `redis://:password@127.0.0.1:6379`.

Realtime (Pusher, optional)

Realtime inbox updates use Pusher Channels. Without it the inbox still works but updates on refresh/polling instead of instantly.

Variable	Description
`PUSHER_APP_ID`	From your Pusher app's "App Keys" page.
`PUSHER_APP_KEY`	Server-side key.
`PUSHER_APP_SECRET`	Server-side secret.
`PUSHER_APP_CLUSTER`	e.g. `mt1`, `eu`, `ap2`.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PUSHER_KEY`	Same value as `PUSHER_APP_KEY` — exposed to the browser. Build-time — re-run `npm run build` after changing.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_PUSHER_CLUSTER`	Same as `PUSHER_APP_CLUSTER`. Build-time — re-run `npm run build` after changing.

See Realtime for the full setup.

AI defaults (optional)

Platform-level AI defaults. Workspace users can also bring their own keys in AI → Providers; admins manage platform AI in Admin → AI Dashboard.

Variable	Example	Description
`AI_PROVIDER`	`openai`	Default provider: `openai`, `anthropic` or `gemini`.
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	`sk-...`	Fallback OpenAI key.
`OPENAI_MODEL`	`gpt-4o-mini`	Default OpenAI model.

Mail

Transactional email (password resets, invitations, ticket notifications). Campaign email servers are configured per-workspace in the app.

Variable	Example	Description
`MAIL_TRANSPORT`	`smtp`	`smtp` to send, `log` to write emails to the log instead (useful before SMTP is ready).
`MAIL_HOST`	`smtp.postmarkapp.com`	SMTP host.
`MAIL_PORT`	`587`	SMTP port (587 STARTTLS, 465 TLS).
`MAIL_USERNAME`	—	SMTP username.
`MAIL_PASSWORD`	—	SMTP password.
`MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS`	`hello@example.com`	Default From address.
`MAIL_FROM_NAME`	`WhatsMax`	Default From name.

File storage

Variable	Example	Description
`STORAGE_DRIVER`	`local`	`local` (files under `public/storage`) or `s3`.
`AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	—	S3 credentials (also used for SNS SMS if enabled).
`AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	—	—
`AWS_REGION`	`us-east-1`	S3 region.
`AWS_BUCKET`	`whatsmax-media`	Bucket name.
`AWS_ENDPOINT`	(optional)	Set for S3-compatible providers (DigitalOcean Spaces, MinIO, Cloudflare R2).

S3-compatible storage

Any S3-compatible service works — set AWS_ENDPOINT to the provider's endpoint and fill the credentials accordingly. If you scale to multiple app servers, S3 storage is required (local disk is per-server).

License

Variable	Description
`LICENSE_SERVER_URL`	License server endpoint (pre-configured in the distributed build).
`LICENSE_API_KEY`	License server API key (pre-configured).
`LICENSE_PRODUCT_ID`	Product identifier (pre-configured).

You normally don't touch these — activation happens with your purchase code in Admin → System → License (guide).

Applying changes

# after editing .env
pm2 restart whatsmax-web whatsmax-worker

# only if you changed a NEXT_PUBLIC_* variable:
npm run build && pm2 restart whatsmax-web