Configuration

Plystra Core is configured through environment variables. In production, cmd/plystrad validates safety-critical settings before opening the database.

Server

Variable	Default	Description
`SERVER_HOST` / `PLYSTRA_SERVER_HOST`	empty	Optional bind host. Empty binds all interfaces.
`SERVER_PORT` / `PLYSTRA_SERVER_PORT`	`8080`	HTTP port.
`SERVER_MODE` / `PLYSTRA_ENV`	`development`	Set to `production` for production guards.
`SERVER_PUBLIC_URL` / `PLYSTRA_SERVER_PUBLIC_URL`	local development URL in `.env.example`	Public URL. Required and non-localhost in production.
`PLYSTRA_CORE_VERSION` / `CORE_VERSION`	`1.0.0-dev`	Reported by the version endpoint.

Database

Variable	Default	Description
`DATABASE_URL`	development PostgreSQL URL	Primary database URL.
`PLYSTRA_DATABASE_URL`	none	Compatibility alias used by tests and tools.
`DOCKER_DATABASE_URL`	Compose PostgreSQL URL	Used by `docker-compose.yml` for the Core container.

Production rejects the default plystra:plystra credentials.

Security

Variable	Default	Description
`PLYSTRA_ADMIN_TOKEN` / `ADMIN_TOKEN`	development placeholder	Bootstrap token for non-public Core API routes. Must be at least 32 characters in production.
`PLYSTRA_SESSION_SECRET` / `SESSION_SECRET`	development placeholder	Preferred secret for HMAC hashing stored opaque bearer tokens.
`JWT_SECRET` / `PLYSTRA_JWT_SECRET`	compatibility placeholder	Compatibility alias for the session secret. Core v1.0 does not issue JWT claims.
`TRUSTED_PROXIES`	empty	Enables trusted forwarded IP parsing for known proxies.

Do not use the placeholder values from .env.example in production.

CORS and Request Metadata

Variable	Default	Description
`CORS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS`	localhost list in `.env.example`, `*` Compose fallback	Comma-separated allowed origins. Production rejects empty or wildcard values.
`REQUEST_ID_HEADER`	`X-Request-ID`	Request ID header name.

HTTP authorization checks ignore body-provided ip, user_agent, and canonical request_id. The server derives those values from the request and middleware.

Audit and Trace

Variable	Default	Description
`AUDIT_WRITE_MODE`	`always`	Store write mode for authz audit decisions.
`TRACE_VERSION`	`1.0`	Trace version for decision snapshots.

AuditLog is append-only. Production deployments should define retention and export policies.

Feature Flags

Variable	Default	Description
`DATA_CONSOLE_ENABLED`	`false`	Enables `/api/v1/data/*` preview routes when explicitly set.
`METRICS_ENABLED`	`false`	Enables `/metrics` when explicitly set.
`METRICS_TOKEN` / `PLYSTRA_METRICS_TOKEN`	empty	Token for `/metrics`. If omitted, admin token is accepted when metrics are enabled.

Disabled feature routes return FEATURE_DISABLED.

Production Guard Summary

With SERVER_MODE=production, Core refuses to start if:

database URL is missing or uses default development credentials.
session secret is missing, too short, or a placeholder.
admin token is missing, too short, or a placeholder.
CORS origins are missing or include *.
public URL is missing or points to localhost.