Environment Variables

ServITech Backend API uses environment variables to configure application behavior. This guide provides a comprehensive reference for all available variables.

All environment variables are defined in the .env file in the application root. Never commit this file to version control.

Application Configuration

APP_NAME

Type: String
Default: ServITech
Description: The name of your application. Used in notifications, emails, and UI elements.

APP_NAME=ServITech

APP_VERSION

Type: String
Default: 1.0.0
Description: Current version of the application. Used for tracking and display purposes.

APP_VERSION=1.0.0

APP_ENV

Type: String
Default: production
Options: local, development, staging, production
Description: Defines the application environment.

# Development
APP_ENV=local

# Production
APP_ENV=production

Always set APP_ENV=production in production environments for optimal security and performance.

APP_KEY

Type: String (Base64)
Required: Yes
Description: Encryption key used for securing session data, cookies, and encrypted values.

APP_KEY=base64:your-generated-key-here

Generate using:

php artisan key:generate

Critical: Never share or expose APP_KEY. If compromised, regenerate immediately and re-encrypt all encrypted data.

APP_DEBUG

Type: Boolean
Default: false
Description: Enables detailed error messages and stack traces.

# Development
APP_DEBUG=true

# Production (REQUIRED)
APP_DEBUG=false

Security Risk: Never enable APP_DEBUG=true in production. It exposes sensitive information like environment variables, database queries, and application structure.

APP_URL

Type: URL
Default: http://localhost:8000
Description: The base URL of your application. Used for generating links, emails, and API responses.

# Development
APP_URL=http://localhost:8000

# Production
APP_URL=https://api.your-domain.com

Always use HTTPS in production environments for security.

Localization

APP_LOCALE

Type: String
Default: es
Description: Default application language.

APP_LOCALE=es

APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE

Type: String
Default: en
Description: Fallback language when translations are missing in the primary locale.

APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE=en

APP_FAKER_LOCALE

Type: String
Default: es_ES
Description: Locale for Faker library when generating test data.

APP_FAKER_LOCALE=es_ES

Maintenance Mode

APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER

Type: String
Default: file
Options: file, cache
Description: Storage driver for maintenance mode state.

APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER=file

APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE

Type: String
Default: database
Description: Cache store to use when driver is set to cache.

APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE=database

APP_PREVIOUS_KEYS

Type: Comma-separated strings
Description: Previous application keys for key rotation.

APP_PREVIOUS_KEYS=base64:old-key-1,base64:old-key-2

Server Configuration

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS

Type: Integer
Default: 4
Description: Number of worker processes for PHP’s built-in development server.

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=4

This setting only affects the development server (php artisan serve). Production servers should use PHP-FPM or similar.

Security

BCRYPT_ROUNDS

Type: Integer
Default: 12
Range: 4 - 31
Description: Cost factor for bcrypt password hashing. Higher values increase security but require more CPU.

BCRYPT_ROUNDS=12

Increasing rounds above 12 may impact login performance. Benchmark before changing in production.

Logging

LOG_CHANNEL

Type: String
Default: stack
Options: stack, single, daily, slack, syslog, errorlog
Description: Primary logging channel.

LOG_CHANNEL=stack

LOG_STACK

Type: String
Default: single
Description: Channel to use within the stack logging channel.

LOG_STACK=single

LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL

Type: String
Default: null
Description: Separate channel for PHP and Laravel deprecation warnings.

LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null

LOG_LEVEL

Type: String
Default: debug
Options: debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical, alert, emergency
Description: Minimum log level to record.

# Development
LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Production
LOG_LEVEL=error

Database Configuration

DB_CONNECTION

Type: String
Default: sqlite
Options: sqlite, mysql, mariadb, pgsql, sqlsrv
Description: Database driver to use.

# Development (SQLite)
DB_CONNECTION=sqlite

# Production (MySQL)
DB_CONNECTION=mysql

MySQL/MariaDB Configuration

For production deployments, use MySQL or MariaDB:

DB_HOST

Type: String
Default: 127.0.0.1
Description: Database server hostname or IP address.

DB_HOST=127.0.0.1

DB_PORT

Type: Integer
Default: 3306
Description: Database server port.

DB_PORT=3306

DB_DATABASE

Type: String
Default: laravel
Description: Database name.

DB_DATABASE=servitechdb

DB_USERNAME

Type: String
Default: root
Description: Database user.

DB_USERNAME=servitechuser

Never use the root user in production. Create a dedicated database user with minimal required privileges.

DB_PASSWORD

Type: String
Description: Database password.

DB_PASSWORD=your-secure-password-here

Use strong, randomly generated passwords for production databases.

Complete MySQL Example

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=servitechdb
DB_USERNAME=servitechuser
DB_PASSWORD=StrongP@ssw0rd123!

Session Configuration

SESSION_DRIVER

Type: String
Default: database
Options: file, cookie, database, memcached, redis, array
Description: Session storage driver.

SESSION_DRIVER=database

For API-only applications using JWT, session driver has minimal impact. Database or Redis recommended for multi-server setups.

SESSION_LIFETIME

Type: Integer (minutes)
Default: 120
Description: Session lifetime in minutes.

SESSION_LIFETIME=120

SESSION_ENCRYPT

Type: Boolean
Default: false
Description: Encrypt session data.

SESSION_ENCRYPT=false

SESSION_PATH

Type: String
Default: /
Description: Session cookie path.

SESSION_PATH=/

SESSION_DOMAIN

Type: String
Default: null
Description: Session cookie domain.

SESSION_DOMAIN=.your-domain.com

Cache Configuration

CACHE_STORE

Type: String
Default: database
Options: file, database, redis, memcached, dynamodb, array
Description: Cache driver.

# Development
CACHE_STORE=database

# Production (recommended)
CACHE_STORE=redis

CACHE_PREFIX

Type: String
Description: Prefix for cache keys (optional).

CACHE_PREFIX=servitechapi_

Queue Configuration

QUEUE_CONNECTION

Type: String
Default: database
Options: sync, database, redis, sqs, beanstalkd
Description: Queue driver for background jobs.

# Development (synchronous)
QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync

# Production (asynchronous)
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

ServITech uses database queue driver. Ensure queue workers are running in production.

Filesystem Configuration

FILESYSTEM_DISK

Type: String
Default: local
Options: local, public, s3, ftp, sftp
Description: Default filesystem disk.

FILESYSTEM_DISK=local

Broadcast Configuration

BROADCAST_CONNECTION

Type: String
Default: log
Options: log, pusher, ably, redis
Description: Broadcasting driver for real-time events.

BROADCAST_CONNECTION=log

Redis Configuration

REDIS_CLIENT

Type: String
Default: phpredis
Options: phpredis, predis
Description: Redis client library.

REDIS_CLIENT=phpredis

REDIS_HOST

Type: String
Default: 127.0.0.1
Description: Redis server hostname.

REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1

REDIS_PASSWORD

Type: String
Default: null
Description: Redis authentication password.

REDIS_PASSWORD=your-redis-password

REDIS_PORT

Type: Integer
Default: 6379
Description: Redis server port.

REDIS_PORT=6379

Memcached Configuration

MEMCACHED_HOST

Type: String
Default: 127.0.0.1
Description: Memcached server hostname.

MEMCACHED_HOST=127.0.0.1

Mail Configuration

MAIL_MAILER

Type: String
Default: log
Options: smtp, sendmail, mailgun, ses, postmark, log
Description: Mail driver.

# Development (logs emails)
MAIL_MAILER=log

# Production (SMTP example)
MAIL_MAILER=smtp

MAIL_SCHEME

Type: String
Default: null
Options: null, tls, ssl
Description: Mail transport encryption scheme.

MAIL_SCHEME=tls

MAIL_HOST

Type: String
Default: 127.0.0.1
Description: SMTP server hostname.

MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com

MAIL_PORT

Type: Integer
Default: 2525
Description: SMTP server port.

# TLS
MAIL_PORT=587

# SSL
MAIL_PORT=465

MAIL_USERNAME

Type: String
Description: SMTP authentication username.

MAIL_USERNAME=[email protected]

MAIL_PASSWORD

Type: String
Description: SMTP authentication password.

MAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-password

For Gmail, use App Passwords instead of account passwords. Never commit mail credentials.

MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS

Type: Email
Default: [email protected]
Description: Default sender email address.

MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=[email protected]

MAIL_FROM_NAME

Type: String
Default: ${APP_NAME}
Description: Default sender name.

MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Complete SMTP Example (Gmail)

MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=[email protected]
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=[email protected]
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

JWT Authentication

ServITech uses JWT (JSON Web Tokens) for API authentication.

JWT_SECRET

Type: String (Base64)
Required: Yes
Description: Secret key for signing JWT tokens.

JWT_SECRET=base64:your-jwt-secret-here

Generate using:

php artisan jwt:secret

Critical: Keep JWT_SECRET secure. If compromised, all issued tokens become invalid and must be regenerated.

JWT_TTL

Type: Integer (minutes)
Default: 60
Description: JWT token time-to-live.

# 1 hour
JWT_TTL=60

# 24 hours
JWT_TTL=1440

JWT_REFRESH_TTL

Type: Integer (minutes)
Default: 20160 (2 weeks)
Description: Refresh token time-to-live.

JWT_REFRESH_TTL=20160

JWT_ALGO

Type: String
Default: HS256
Options: HS256, HS384, HS512, RS256, RS384, RS512
Description: JWT signing algorithm.

JWT_ALGO=HS256

JWT_BLACKLIST_ENABLED

Type: Boolean
Default: true
Description: Enable token blacklisting for logout.

JWT_BLACKLIST_ENABLED=true

JWT_BLACKLIST_GRACE_PERIOD

Type: Integer (seconds)
Default: 0
Description: Grace period for concurrent requests with same token.

JWT_BLACKLIST_GRACE_PERIOD=5

API Documentation (Scramble)

SCRAMBLE_API_ROUTE

Type: String (URL path)
Default: /docs/api
Description: Route path for accessing API documentation.

SCRAMBLE_API_ROUTE=/docs/api

Access documentation at:

https://your-domain.com/docs/api

AWS Configuration

For AWS services (S3, SES, etc.):

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

Type: String
Description: AWS access key ID.

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key-id

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Type: String
Description: AWS secret access key.

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-access-key

AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

Type: String
Default: us-east-1
Description: Default AWS region.

AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1

AWS_BUCKET

Type: String
Description: S3 bucket name for file storage.

AWS_BUCKET=your-bucket-name

AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT

Type: Boolean
Default: false
Description: Use path-style S3 endpoints (for S3-compatible services).

AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT=false

Vite Configuration

VITE_APP_NAME

Type: String
Default: ${APP_NAME}
Description: Application name exposed to Vite for frontend builds.

VITE_APP_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Production Environment Template

Complete production .env template:

# Application
APP_NAME=ServITech
APP_VERSION=1.0.0
APP_ENV=production
APP_KEY=base64:generated-key
APP_DEBUG=false
APP_URL=https://api.your-domain.com

# Localization
APP_LOCALE=es
APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE=en
APP_FAKER_LOCALE=es_ES

# Maintenance
APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER=file
APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE=database
APP_PREVIOUS_KEYS=

# Server
PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS=4

# Security
BCRYPT_ROUNDS=12

# Logging
LOG_CHANNEL=stack
LOG_STACK=single
LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL=null
LOG_LEVEL=error

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=servitechdb
DB_USERNAME=servitechuser
DB_PASSWORD=secure-password

# Session
SESSION_DRIVER=database
SESSION_LIFETIME=120
SESSION_ENCRYPT=false
SESSION_PATH=/
SESSION_DOMAIN=null

# Cache
CACHE_STORE=redis
CACHE_PREFIX=servitechapi_

# Queue
QUEUE_CONNECTION=database

# Filesystem
FILESYSTEM_DISK=local

# Broadcasting
BROADCAST_CONNECTION=log

# Redis
REDIS_CLIENT=phpredis
REDIS_HOST=127.0.0.1
REDIS_PASSWORD=null
REDIS_PORT=6379

# Memcached
MEMCACHED_HOST=127.0.0.1

# Mail
MAIL_MAILER=smtp
MAIL_SCHEME=tls
MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=[email protected]
MAIL_PASSWORD=your-app-password
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=[email protected]
MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

# JWT Authentication
JWT_SECRET=base64:generated-jwt-secret
JWT_TTL=60
JWT_REFRESH_TTL=20160
JWT_ALGO=HS256
JWT_BLACKLIST_ENABLED=true
JWT_BLACKLIST_GRACE_PERIOD=0

# API Documentation
SCRAMBLE_API_ROUTE=/docs/api

# AWS (if using)
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_BUCKET=
AWS_USE_PATH_STYLE_ENDPOINT=false

# Vite
VITE_APP_NAME="${APP_NAME}"

Security Best Practices

Follow these security practices when configuring environment variables:

Never commit .env to version control
- Ensure .env is in .gitignore
- Use .env.example as a template
Use strong, random passwords
- Database passwords: 16+ characters
- JWT secrets: Generated by Laravel
- Use a password manager
Restrict file permissions
```
chmod 600 .env
```
Set production values
- APP_ENV=production
- APP_DEBUG=false
- LOG_LEVEL=error
Use HTTPS in production
- Set APP_URL with https://
- Configure SSL certificates
Rotate secrets regularly
- Update JWT_SECRET periodically
- Rotate database credentials
- Use key rotation for APP_KEY

Limit database user privileges

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON servitechdb.* TO 'servitechuser'@'localhost';

Use environment-specific configurations
- Separate .env files for staging and production
- Never copy production .env to development

Environment Variable Management

Using Laravel Forge

# Edit environment via Forge dashboard
# Forge automatically manages .env securely

Using Envoyer

# Configure environment variables in Envoyer
# Automatically deployed with each release

Using Docker

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  app:
    environment:
      - APP_ENV=production
      - APP_DEBUG=false
    env_file:
      - .env.production

Using Secret Management Services

For enterprise deployments:

AWS Secrets Manager
HashiCorp Vault
Azure Key Vault
Google Cloud Secret Manager

Validation Script

Create a script to validate environment configuration:

#!/bin/bash
# validate-env.sh

REQUIRED_VARS=(
    "APP_KEY"
    "APP_URL"
    "DB_CONNECTION"
    "DB_DATABASE"
    "JWT_SECRET"
)

for var in "${REQUIRED_VARS[@]}"; do
    if [ -z "${!var}" ]; then
        echo "Error: $var is not set"
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ "$APP_ENV" = "production" ] && [ "$APP_DEBUG" = "true" ]; then
    echo "Error: APP_DEBUG must be false in production"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Environment validation passed!"

Development

Deployment

Best Practices

​Environment Variables

​Application Configuration

​APP_NAME

​APP_VERSION

​APP_ENV

​APP_KEY

​APP_DEBUG

​APP_URL

​Localization

​APP_LOCALE

​APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE

​APP_FAKER_LOCALE

​Maintenance Mode

​APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER

​APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE

​APP_PREVIOUS_KEYS

​Server Configuration

​PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS

​Security

​BCRYPT_ROUNDS

​Logging

​LOG_CHANNEL

​LOG_STACK

​LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL

​LOG_LEVEL

​Database Configuration

​DB_CONNECTION

​MySQL/MariaDB Configuration

​DB_HOST

​DB_PORT

​DB_DATABASE

​DB_USERNAME

​DB_PASSWORD

​Complete MySQL Example

​Session Configuration

​SESSION_DRIVER

​SESSION_LIFETIME

​SESSION_ENCRYPT

​SESSION_PATH

​SESSION_DOMAIN

​Cache Configuration

​CACHE_STORE

​CACHE_PREFIX

​Queue Configuration

​QUEUE_CONNECTION

​Filesystem Configuration

​FILESYSTEM_DISK

​Broadcast Configuration

​BROADCAST_CONNECTION

​Redis Configuration

​REDIS_CLIENT

​REDIS_HOST

​REDIS_PASSWORD

​REDIS_PORT

​Memcached Configuration

​MEMCACHED_HOST

​Mail Configuration

​MAIL_MAILER

​MAIL_SCHEME

​MAIL_HOST

​MAIL_PORT

​MAIL_USERNAME

​MAIL_PASSWORD

​MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS

​MAIL_FROM_NAME

​Complete SMTP Example (Gmail)

​JWT Authentication

​JWT_SECRET

​JWT_TTL

​JWT_REFRESH_TTL

​JWT_ALGO

​JWT_BLACKLIST_ENABLED

​JWT_BLACKLIST_GRACE_PERIOD

​API Documentation (Scramble)

​SCRAMBLE_API_ROUTE

​AWS Configuration

​AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

Environment Variables

Application Configuration

APP_NAME

APP_VERSION

APP_ENV

APP_KEY

APP_DEBUG

APP_URL

Localization

APP_LOCALE

APP_FALLBACK_LOCALE

APP_FAKER_LOCALE

Maintenance Mode

APP_MAINTENANCE_DRIVER

APP_MAINTENANCE_STORE

APP_PREVIOUS_KEYS

Server Configuration

PHP_CLI_SERVER_WORKERS

Security

BCRYPT_ROUNDS

Logging

LOG_CHANNEL

LOG_STACK

LOG_DEPRECATIONS_CHANNEL

LOG_LEVEL

Database Configuration

DB_CONNECTION

MySQL/MariaDB Configuration

DB_HOST

DB_PORT

DB_DATABASE

DB_USERNAME

DB_PASSWORD

Complete MySQL Example

Session Configuration

SESSION_DRIVER

SESSION_LIFETIME

SESSION_ENCRYPT

SESSION_PATH

SESSION_DOMAIN

Cache Configuration

CACHE_STORE

CACHE_PREFIX

Queue Configuration

QUEUE_CONNECTION

Filesystem Configuration

FILESYSTEM_DISK

Broadcast Configuration

BROADCAST_CONNECTION

Redis Configuration

REDIS_CLIENT

REDIS_HOST

REDIS_PASSWORD

REDIS_PORT

Memcached Configuration

MEMCACHED_HOST

Mail Configuration

MAIL_MAILER

MAIL_SCHEME

MAIL_HOST

MAIL_PORT

MAIL_USERNAME

MAIL_PASSWORD

MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS

MAIL_FROM_NAME

Complete SMTP Example (Gmail)

JWT Authentication

JWT_SECRET

JWT_TTL

JWT_REFRESH_TTL

JWT_ALGO

JWT_BLACKLIST_ENABLED

JWT_BLACKLIST_GRACE_PERIOD

API Documentation (Scramble)

SCRAMBLE_API_ROUTE

AWS Configuration

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

AWS_DEFAULT_REGION

AWS_BUCKET