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Invoice Generator requires several environment variables to function properly. This guide covers all required and optional configuration values.

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Required variables

These environment variables must be set for the application to run.

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Database configuration

TURSO_DATABASE_URL=libsql://your-database.turso.io
TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN=your-auth-token-here
The TURSO_DATABASE_URL is required. The TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN is optional for local development but required for production.
See database configuration for setup instructions.

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Authentication configuration

AUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key-here
The AUTH_SECRET is used by NextAuth.js to encrypt session tokens and sign cookies. Generate a secure random string for production.
Never commit your AUTH_SECRET to version control. Generate a new secret for each environment.
Generate a secret: 
openssl rand -base64 32

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Google OAuth (optional)

If you want to enable Google authentication, configure these variables: 
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret
These values come from the Google Cloud Console when you set up OAuth 2.0 credentials. See authentication configuration for detailed setup.

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Environment files

The application supports different environment files for various deployment stages:
  • .env.local - Local development (used by default with npm run dev)
  • .env.production - Production deployment
Environment files are gitignored by default. Never commit them to your repository.

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Example configuration

Create a .env.local file in your project root:
.env.local
# Database
TURSO_DATABASE_URL=libsql://your-database.turso.io
TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN=your-auth-token

# Authentication
AUTH_SECRET=your-generated-secret-key

# Google OAuth (optional)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret

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Loading environment variables

Next.js automatically loads environment variables from .env.local during development. For production, configure environment variables in your hosting platform.

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Migration scripts

The database migration scripts explicitly load environment files: 
# Development migration
npm run migrate
# Runs: node --env-file=.env.local scripts/migrate.mjs

# Production migration
npm run migrate:prod
# Runs: node --env-file=.env.production scripts/migrate.mjs
Reference: package.json:10-11, scripts/migrate.mjs:14-22

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Security best practices

Follow these security guidelines to protect your application:
  1. Never commit secrets - Add .env* to .gitignore
  2. Use strong secrets - Generate cryptographically secure random values
  3. Rotate credentials - Regularly update secrets and tokens
  4. Limit access - Only give environment variables to services that need them
  5. Use different secrets - Never reuse secrets across environments

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Troubleshooting

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Missing environment variables

If you see errors about missing environment variables: 
Error: TURSO_DATABASE_URL is not set.
  1. Verify the variable is set in your .env.local file
  2. Check for typos in the variable name
  3. Restart your development server after changing environment files

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Database connection failures

If the database connection fails:
  1. Verify TURSO_DATABASE_URL is correct
  2. Check that TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN is valid and not expired
  3. Ensure your database instance is running
See the database configuration page for more troubleshooting steps.

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Authentication errors

If authentication fails:
  1. Verify AUTH_SECRET is set
  2. For Google OAuth, check that both GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID and GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET are correct
  3. Ensure OAuth redirect URIs are configured in Google Cloud Console
See the authentication configuration page for detailed troubleshooting.

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