Environment Variables

Overview

Web Scraping Hub uses environment variables to configure runtime behavior, especially in Docker and production deployments. This allows you to customize settings without modifying the source code.

Environment Variables Reference

Docker Environment Variables

When deploying with Docker, the following environment variables are available:

PGID

integer

default:"1000"

Process Group ID for the container. Used for file permissions.

environment:
  - PGID=1000

PUID

integer

default:"1000"

Process User ID for the container. Used for file permissions.

environment:
  - PUID=1000

string

default:"America/Bogota"

Timezone for the container. Affects logging timestamps and scheduled tasks.

environment:
  - TZ=America/Bogota

Common values:

America/New_York
Europe/London
Asia/Tokyo
UTC

Flask Environment Variables

FLASK_ENV

string

default:"production"

Flask environment mode. Controls various Flask behaviors.

environment:
  - FLASK_ENV=production

Options:

production - Production mode (recommended for deployment)
development - Development mode with hot reload

FLASK_DEBUG

boolean

default:"false"

Enable or disable Flask debug mode.

environment:
  - FLASK_DEBUG=false

Never set FLASK_DEBUG=true in production. It exposes sensitive information and enables the interactive debugger.

Docker Compose Configuration

The complete environment configuration in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  anxerstudios-streaming:
    image: zlosttk/anxerstudios-streaming:latest
    container_name: anxerstudios-streaming
    
    environment:
      - PGID=1000
      - PUID=1000
      - TZ=America/Bogota
      - FLASK_ENV=production
      - FLASK_DEBUG=false
    
    ports:
      - "1234:1234"
    
    volumes:
      - /DATA/AppData/anxerstudios-streaming/app/config:/app/config
      - /DATA/AppData/anxerstudios-streaming/logs:/app/logs

Resource Limits

CPU Configuration

cpu_shares

integer

default:"90"

Relative weight for CPU allocation. Higher values get more CPU time.

cpu_shares: 90

Memory Configuration

memory

string

default:"3369M"

Maximum memory allocation for the container.

deploy:
  resources:
    limits:
      memory: 3369M

Adjust this based on your server’s available resources. For lighter loads, 1GB may be sufficient.

Volume Mounts

Persistent data is stored in mounted volumes:

Configuration Volume

volumes:
  - /DATA/AppData/anxerstudios-streaming/app/config:/app/config

Stores persistent configuration files that survive container restarts.

Logs Volume

volumes:
  - /DATA/AppData/anxerstudios-streaming/logs:/app/logs

Stores application logs for debugging and monitoring.

Change the host paths to match your system’s directory structure. For example:

- /home/user/streaming/config:/app/config
- /home/user/streaming/logs:/app/logs

Health Check Configuration

The container includes health checks to ensure the service is running:

healthcheck:
  test: ["CMD-SHELL", "curl -f http://localhost:1234/api/secciones || exit 1"]
  interval: 30s
  timeout: 10s
  retries: 3
  start_period: 40s

test

array

Command to run for health checking. Tests if the API is responding.

interval

string

default:"30s"

Time between health checks.

timeout

string

default:"10s"

Maximum time to wait for health check response.

retries

integer

default:"3"

Number of consecutive failures before marking as unhealthy.

start_period

string

default:"40s"

Grace period before starting health checks (allows for startup time).

Network Configuration

Port Mapping

ports:
  - "1234:1234"

Maps host port 1234 to container port 1234. Change the first number to use a different host port:

ports:
  - "8080:1234"  # Access on http://localhost:8080

Custom Network

networks:
  - anxerstudios-streaming

networks:
  anxerstudios-streaming:
    name: anxerstudios-streaming
    driver: bridge

Creates an isolated bridge network for the container.

Development Environment

For local development without Docker:

Python Virtual Environment

cd backend
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Linux/Mac
# or
.venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows

Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Required packages:

flask - Web framework
flask-cors - CORS support
beautifulsoup4 - HTML parsing
adblockparser - Ad blocking
cloudscraper - Cloudflare bypass
pytest - Testing framework

Run Development Server

python -m backend.app

The server will start with debug mode enabled by default in app.py:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True, host='0.0.0.0', port="1234")

Production Environment

Docker Deployment

For production deployment, use the provided Docker configuration:

cd docker
docker-compose up -d

Environment File

Create a .env file for easier environment management:

# .env
PGID=1000
PUID=1000
TZ=America/New_York
FLASK_ENV=production
FLASK_DEBUG=false
CONTAINER_PORT=1234
HOST_PORT=1234

Then reference it in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  anxerstudios-streaming:
    env_file: .env
    ports:
      - "${HOST_PORT}:${CONTAINER_PORT}"

CasaOS Configuration

Special configuration for CasaOS deployment:

x-casaos:
  author: ZLostTK
  category: Entertainment
  hostname: linuxlite.local
  icon: https://icon.casaos.io/main/all/anxerstudios-streaming.png
  index: /
  port_map: "1234"
  scheme: http
  store_app_id: anxerstudios-streaming
  title:
    custom: "AnxerStudios Streaming"
    en_us: "AnxerStudios Streaming"

CasaOS uses these metadata fields to properly display and configure the application in its UI.

Environment-Specific Configuration

Development

environment:
  - FLASK_ENV=development
  - FLASK_DEBUG=true
  - TZ=UTC

Staging

environment:
  - FLASK_ENV=production
  - FLASK_DEBUG=false
  - TZ=America/New_York
  - LOG_LEVEL=INFO

Production

environment:
  - FLASK_ENV=production
  - FLASK_DEBUG=false
  - TZ=America/Bogota
  - LOG_LEVEL=WARNING

Troubleshooting

Container won't start

Check if port 1234 is already in use
Verify volume paths exist and are accessible
Check Docker logs: docker logs anxerstudios-streaming
Ensure required dependencies are installed in the image

Permission errors in container

Verify PUID and PGID match your user
Check volume mount permissions
Run: docker exec anxerstudios-streaming id to verify user

Health check failing

Verify the container has fully started (wait for start_period)
Check if port 1234 is accessible inside container
Test manually: docker exec anxerstudios-streaming curl localhost:1234/api/secciones
Review Flask logs for errors

Timezone not updating

Verify TZ environment variable is set correctly
Restart the container after changing timezone
Check timezone inside container: docker exec anxerstudios-streaming date