Environment Variables

Tip

Many of these settings (image, storage, and security/user options) can also be changed at runtime from the in-app Settings page by an admin user. Values saved there take precedence over the corresponding environment variables.

The application can be configured using environment variables. Set them when starting the Docker container or in your docker-compose.yml when using Docker Compose.

General

Variable	Description	Default
ORIGIN	Public hostname of your application.Required for cookies to work correctly.	http://localhost:3000
TZ	Timezone for the application.	UTC
PORT	Port the application listens on.	3000

Users & Access

Variable	Description	Default
USER_ALLOW_REGISTRATION	Allow new users to register.When disabled, only existing users can log in unless an SSO provider overrides it.	true
USER_APPROVAL_REQUIRED	Require admin approval before a user can sign in.	true
USER_ALLOW_GUEST_UPLOADS	Allow unauthenticated users to upload images without an account.	false
USER_ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_ACCESS	Allow unauthenticated users to access public routes such as the explore page.	true
USER_REQUIRE_AUTH_FOR_MEDIA_SHARES	Require visitors to be signed in to open shared images.	false
USER_REQUIRE_AUTH_FOR_COLLECTION_SHARES	Require visitors to be signed in to open shared collections.	false
USER_PASSWORD_MIN_LENGTH	Minimum password length for user accounts.	6
USER_PASSWORD_REQUIREMENTS	Bitmask of password requirements: 1 (numbers), 2 (lowercase), 4 (uppercase), 8 (special characters).Sum the values to combine.	15

Image Processing

Variable	Description	Default
IMAGE_MAX_SIZE	Maximum upload size.Use a k or M suffix	15M
IMAGE_CHUNK_SIZE	Chunk size for chunked uploads.Use a k or M suffix, between 1M and 25M	2M
IMAGE_STRIP_EXIF_METADATA	Strip EXIF metadata from uploaded images.	true
IMAGE_ALLOW_ONLY_PUBLIC_IMAGES	Force all uploaded images to public.Visibility cannot be changed.	false
IMAGE_COMPRESSION_QUALITY	JPEG compression quality for uploaded images.1 to 100, where higher is better quality	80
IMAGE_ENABLE_DEDUPLICATION	Detect and handle duplicate images during upload.	true
IMAGE_FORCE_FORMAT_CONVERSION	Convert all uploaded images to a single format.Uses the format set in IMAGE_TARGET_FORMAT.	false
IMAGE_TARGET_FORMAT	Target format for conversion: webp, avif, jpeg.Applies when IMAGE_FORCE_FORMAT_CONVERSION is enabled.	webp
IMAGE_CONVERT_ANIMATED_IMAGES	Also convert animated images (GIFs) to the target format.Applies when format conversion is enabled.	false

Sharing

Variable	Description	Default
SHARE_ENABLE_URL_SHORTENING	Generate short URLs for shared images.	true
SHARE_SHORT_URL_LENGTH	Number of characters in generated short codes.Clamped between 4 and 32.	8

Storage

See the Storage Providers reference for full setup details.

Variable	Description	Default
STORAGE_PROVIDER	Storage backend to use: local, smb, s3.	local

SMB (Samba)

Variable	Description	Default
SMB_HOST	SMB host to connect to.Required for SMB.	null
SMB_SHARE	SMB share to use.Required for SMB.	null
SMB_WORKGROUP	SMB workgroup.	workgroup
SMB_USERNAME	SMB username.Required for SMB.	null
SMB_PASSWORD	SMB password.Required for SMB.	null

Amazon S3 & Compatible

Variable	Description	Default
AMAZON_S3_REGION	AWS region of your bucket.Required for Amazon S3, optional for custom providers (defaults to auto)	null
AMAZON_S3_BUCKET	Name of your S3 bucket.Required for S3.	null
AMAZON_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	AWS access key ID.Required unless IAM role is used.	null
AMAZON_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	AWS secret access key.Required unless IAM role is used.	null
AMAZON_S3_USE_IAM_ROLE	Authenticate with the instance’s IAM role instead of static keys.Amazon S3 only, ignored when a custom endpoint is set	false
AMAZON_S3_ENDPOINT	Custom endpoint URL for S3-compatible services.Optional, enables custom-provider mode when set	null
AMAZON_S3_USE_CUSTOM_PROVIDER	Enable for S3-compatible services.	false
AMAZON_S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLE	Force path-style URLs.For S3-compatible services.	false

Security & SSL

Variable	Description	Default
REQUIRE_SSL	Require SSL/HTTPS connections.Affects authentication when enabled.	false
OAUTH_VERIFY_SSL	Verify SSL certificates for OAuth/OIDC provider endpoints.Set to false for development with self-signed certs.	true

Admin User (First-Run Setup)

These variables create the first admin user automatically on initial startup. See First User Setup for details.

Variable	Description	Default
ADMIN_USERNAME	Username for the first admin user.Used only when ADMIN_EMAIL is set.	admin
ADMIN_EMAIL	Email for the first admin user.Triggers admin creation on first startup.	null
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Password for the first admin user.Required when ADMIN_EMAIL is set.	null