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DelightBridge requires several environment variables to connect to external services. These variables must be configured in your .env.local file for local development and in your Vercel project settings for production.

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Required Variables

These environment variables are required for DelightBridge to function properly.

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ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Purpose: Authenticates requests to Anthropic’s Claude API for AI-powered draft generation, translation, and refinement. Format: sk-ant-... Where to get it:
  1. Sign up or log in at console.anthropic.com
  2. Navigate to API Keys section
  3. Create a new API key
  4. Copy the key (it starts with sk-ant-)
Example: 
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-xyz123...

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DATABASE_URL

Purpose: PostgreSQL connection string for Neon DB. Used by Drizzle ORM to connect to your database. Format: postgresql://[user]:[password]@[endpoint].neon.tech/[database]?sslmode=require Where to get it:
  1. Create a Neon project at neon.tech
  2. Copy the connection string from the project dashboard
  3. Ensure it includes ?sslmode=require at the end
Example: 
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:[email protected]/delightbridge?sslmode=require
The DATABASE_URL is used by both the application runtime and Drizzle CLI commands (pnpm db:push, pnpm db:seed).

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GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID

Purpose: OAuth 2.0 client ID for Google authentication. Used for both:
  • App user authentication (NextAuth)
  • Service Gmail connection (Gmail API access)
Format: [random-string].apps.googleusercontent.com Where to get it: See OAuth Setup for detailed instructions. Example: 
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=123456789-abcdefghijklmnop.apps.googleusercontent.com

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GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET

Purpose: OAuth 2.0 client secret that pairs with GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID. Format: Random alphanumeric string Where to get it: See OAuth Setup for detailed instructions. Example: 
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=GOCSPX-abcd1234efgh5678ijkl
Never commit GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET to version control. Keep it secure in environment variables only.

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AUTH_SECRET

Purpose: Secret key used by NextAuth to encrypt session tokens and cookies. Format: Random string (minimum 32 characters recommended) How to generate: 
openssl rand -base64 32
Or use any secure random string generator. Example: 
AUTH_SECRET=your-super-secret-random-string-here-min-32-chars
Use different AUTH_SECRET values for development and production environments.

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ADMIN_EMAILS

Purpose: Comma-separated list of email addresses that should have admin access to DelightBridge. Admin users can:
  • Manage services and Gmail connections
  • Access all workspace features
  • Manage workspace members and permissions
  • Trigger manual syncs
Format: Comma-separated email addresses (no spaces) Example: 
ADMIN_EMAILS=[email protected],[email protected]
Users listed in ADMIN_EMAILS automatically receive admin permission, even if they’re also in the workspace_members table with a lower permission level.

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CRON_SECRET

Purpose: Authentication token for protecting the Gmail sync cron endpoint. Vercel cron jobs send this secret to verify they’re authorized to trigger syncs. Format: Random string How to generate: 
openssl rand -hex 32
Example: 
CRON_SECRET=a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
Usage: The cron endpoint /api/cron/sync-gmail checks for this secret in:
  • Authorization: Bearer <CRON_SECRET> header, OR
  • x-cron-secret: <CRON_SECRET> header
Set the same CRON_SECRET value in Vercel environment variables. Without it, automatic Gmail sync will fail.

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Optional Variables

These variables have default values but can be customized.

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CRON_SYNC_MAX_ACCOUNTS

Purpose: Maximum number of Gmail accounts to sync per cron run (every 5 minutes). Prevents timeouts and API rate limit issues when managing many services. Default: 20 Format: Positive integer Example: 
CRON_SYNC_MAX_ACCOUNTS=20
Behavior: If you have more connected services than this limit, the cron job processes them in round-robin fashion across multiple runs.
For most deployments, the default value of 20 is sufficient. Only increase if you have faster infrastructure and higher Gmail API quotas.

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Environment File Examples

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Local Development (.env.local)

# AI Service
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-api03-xyz123...

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:[email protected]/delightbridge?sslmode=require

# Google OAuth (for both app auth and Gmail API)
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=123456789-abcdefghijklmnop.apps.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=GOCSPX-abcd1234efgh5678ijkl

# NextAuth
AUTH_SECRET=your-local-dev-secret-min-32-characters-long

# Access Control
ADMIN_EMAILS=[email protected]

# Cron Security
CRON_SECRET=your-local-cron-secret-random-hex-string

# Cron Configuration (optional)
CRON_SYNC_MAX_ACCOUNTS=20

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Production (Vercel)

In your Vercel project settings, add the same variables with production values:
  • Use a different AUTH_SECRET for production
  • Use the production Neon database connection string
  • Ensure CRON_SECRET matches between environment variables and cron headers
  • Update ADMIN_EMAILS with production admin email addresses

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Validation Checklist

Before running DelightBridge, verify:
  • All required variables are set
  • DATABASE_URL includes ?sslmode=require
  • GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID ends with .apps.googleusercontent.com
  • AUTH_SECRET is at least 32 characters
  • ADMIN_EMAILS contains valid email addresses
  • CRON_SECRET is set to a secure random string
  • OAuth redirect URIs are configured in Google Cloud Console

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Common Issues

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”Invalid connection string” error

Ensure DATABASE_URL ends with ?sslmode=require for Neon DB.

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”Unauthorized” when accessing the app

Verify your email is in ADMIN_EMAILS or added to workspace members via Settings.

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Cron sync fails with 401

Check that CRON_SECRET is set in Vercel environment variables and matches the value expected by the endpoint.

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Gmail API quota exceeded

Reduce CRON_SYNC_MAX_ACCOUNTS or increase the cron interval in vercel.json.

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