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TechCal uses environment variables for configuration. This page documents all available variables, their purposes, and example values.

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Required Variables

These variables are essential for TechCal to function:

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Supabase Configuration

# Your Supabase project URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co

# Public anonymous key (safe to expose in browser)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

# Service role key (server-side only, NEVER expose publicly)
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...
Never commit SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY to version control. This key has full database access and should only be used server-side. Keep it in .env.local (which is gitignored).

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Ingestion Cron Jobs

# Secret token for authenticating cron job requests
# Generate with: openssl rand -hex 32
CRON_SECRET=your_secure_random_string_here
The CRON_SECRET is required for the automated event ingestion pipeline. Vercel cron jobs use this to authenticate requests to /api/cron/ingestion and /api/cron/enrichment.

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Optional Variables

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Scoring & Recommendations

Control how events are scored and ranked: 
# Scoring strategy: server (advanced), legacy (base), or shadow (both with telemetry)
DISCOVERY_SCORING=server

# Reranking strategy: off, advanced, or shadow
DISCOVERY_RERANK=advanced

# Enable behavioral boost (interaction-based scoring)
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_BEHAVIORAL_BOOST=true

# Boost strength multiplier (default: 1.0)
NEXT_PUBLIC_BEHAVIORAL_BOOST_STRENGTH=1.0

# Enable diversity enhancement in recommendations
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_DIVERSITY_ENHANCEMENT=true

# Type preference gate threshold (0.0-1.0, default: 0.75)
NEXT_PUBLIC_TYPE_PREF_GATE=0.75

# Disable type preference gating entirely
NEXT_PUBLIC_DISABLE_TYPE_PREF_GATE=false

DISCOVERY_SCORING=server
DISCOVERY_RERANK=advanced

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Feature Toggles

# Show score breakdown in UI (debug mode)
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_SCORE_BREAKDOWN=false

# Show budget filter hint in discovery
NEXT_PUBLIC_SHOW_BUDGET_HINT=false

# Enable monitoring API endpoints
ENABLE_MONITORING_API=false

# Log detailed scoring information to console
NEXT_PUBLIC_LOG_SCORING=false

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Monitoring & Analytics

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Sentry Error Tracking

# Sentry DSN for error tracking (optional)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN=https://[email protected]/project-id

# Sentry auth token for source maps (build-time only)
SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN=your_sentry_auth_token

# Enable/disable Sentry
SENTRY_ENABLED=true

# Enable Sentry debug output
SENTRY_DEBUG=false
Sentry is automatically disabled in development mode to save memory. Set SENTRY_ENABLED=true to override.

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PostHog Analytics

# PostHog project key
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY=phc_your_project_key

# PostHog host (defaults to US region)
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST=https://us.i.posthog.com

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Bug Reporting (Linear Integration)

# Linear API key for creating issues from contact form
LINEAR_API_KEY=lin_api_your_key

# Linear team ID (UUID, key like 'KUR', or name)
LINEAR_TEAM_ID=your_team_id

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Rate Limiting & Caching

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Upstash Redis

# Upstash Redis REST URL
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL=https://your-redis.upstash.io

# Upstash Redis REST token
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN=your_token

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Vercel KV

# Vercel KV REST API URL
KV_REST_API_URL=https://your-kv.kv.vercel-storage.com

# Vercel KV REST API token
KV_REST_API_TOKEN=your_token
TechCal supports both Upstash Redis and Vercel KV for rate limiting and caching. At least one should be configured for production deployments.

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Authentication & Redirects

# Site URL for OAuth callbacks (production)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://your-domain.com

# Vercel deployment URL (auto-populated by Vercel)
NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_URL=your-project.vercel.app

# Disable onboarding redirect (testing only)
DISABLE_ONBOARDING_REDIRECT=false

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Google Calendar Integration

# Google OAuth client ID
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id.apps.googleusercontent.com

# Google OAuth client secret
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret

# Token encryption key for secure storage
TOKEN_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_32_byte_hex_key

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Paddle Payments (Subscriptions)

# Paddle environment: 'sandbox' or 'production'
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_ENVIRONMENT=sandbox

# Paddle client token (sandbox)
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_SANDBOX_CLIENT_TOKEN=test_xxx

# Paddle client token (production)
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_CLIENT_TOKEN=live_xxx

# Price IDs for subscription tiers
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_PRICE_PRO_MONTHLY=pri_xxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_PRICE_PRO_ANNUAL=pri_xxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_PRICE_TEAM_MONTHLY=pri_xxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_PADDLE_PRICE_TEAM_ANNUAL=pri_xxx

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Ingestion Pipeline

# Verify speaker URLs during ingestion (default: true)
INGESTION_VERIFY_SPEAKERS=true

# Playwright concurrency for web scraping (default: 2)
LLM_ENRICHMENT_PLAYWRIGHT_CONCURRENCY=2

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Environment Variable Patterns

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Public vs Server-Only

Variables prefixed with NEXT_PUBLIC_ are embedded in the browser bundle and are safe to expose:
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN=...
These are accessible in both server and client components.

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Validation

TechCal validates required environment variables at startup. Missing required variables will throw an error: 
// From src/utils/envConfig.ts
const { isValid, missing } = envConfig.validate();

if (!isValid) {
  throw new Error(`Missing required variables: ${missing.join(', ')}`);
}

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Example Configuration

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Development (.env.local)

# Required
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...
CRON_SECRET=generate_with_openssl_rand_hex_32

# Scoring
DISCOVERY_SCORING=server
DISCOVERY_RERANK=advanced
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_BEHAVIORAL_BOOST=true
NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_DIVERSITY_ENHANCEMENT=true

# Debug
NEXT_PUBLIC_LOG_SCORING=true
NEXT_PUBLIC_SHOW_BUDGET_HINT=true
SENTRY_ENABLED=false

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Production (Vercel Environment Variables)

# Required
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://production.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=...
CRON_SECRET=...

# Monitoring
NEXT_PUBLIC_SENTRY_DSN=https://[email protected]/project
SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN=...
SENTRY_ENABLED=true

# Analytics
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY=phc_...

# Rate Limiting
KV_REST_API_URL=https://...
KV_REST_API_TOKEN=...

# Site URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://techcal.com

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Checking Configuration

Use the environment config manager to inspect your setup: 
import { envConfig } from '@/utils/envConfig';

// Get configuration summary
const summary = envConfig.getSummary();
console.log(summary);
// {
//   required: { present: 2, total: 2 },
//   optional: { present: 5, total: 15 },
//   features: {
//     logScoring: true,
//     behavioralBoost: true,
//     ...
//   }
// }

// Check if specific services are available
if (envConfig.isKvAvailable()) {
  console.log('Vercel KV is configured');
}

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Security Best Practices

1

Never Commit Secrets

Add .env.local to .gitignore (already configured in TechCal).
2

Use Different Keys Per Environment

Production, staging, and development should have separate Supabase projects and credentials.
3

Rotate Secrets Regularly

Regenerate CRON_SECRET and other tokens periodically.
4

Limit Service Role Key Usage

Only use SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY in server-side code, never in client components.

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Next Steps

Local Setup

Complete local development setup guide

Deployment

Deploy to Vercel with production configuration

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