Configuration

All configuration is done through environment variables in a .env file at the project root. Use .env.example as your template.

Never commit secrets

.env is git-ignored (only .env.example is tracked). Do not commit real credentials, and rotate NEXTAUTH_SECRET if it is ever exposed.

Required variables

Variable	Purpose	Example
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string used by Prisma.	postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/attendance?sslmode=require
NEXTAUTH_SECRET	Secret used by NextAuth to sign/encrypt JWTs. Must be a long random string.	(see below)
NEXTAUTH_URL	The app's base URL.	http://localhost:3000

Generate a strong NEXTAUTH_SECRET:

openssl rand -base64 32

Optional variables

Variable	Purpose
DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED	A non-pooled connection string, if your host distinguishes pooled vs. direct connections.
RESEND_API_KEY	API key for Resend, used by the email helper (src/lib/email.ts).
RESEND_FROM_EMAIL	The verified "from" address for outgoing email.
PGHOST, PGUSER, PGPASSWORD, PGDATABASE	Individual Postgres parameters, as an alternative to a single URL for some tooling.
POSTGRES_URL, POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL	Vercel/Prisma template variables some deployment setups expect.

Email is optional

Recent versions replaced the self-service email password-reset flow with a "contact your administrator" notice, so the app runs fine without RESEND_* configured. Admins reset passwords directly from the Staff/Masterlist screens.

Minimal working .env

DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/attendance_db"
NEXTAUTH_SECRET="paste-a-long-random-string-here"
NEXTAUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"

That's enough to run the whole system locally. Continue to Database Setup.