Skip to main content
Lightnovel Crawler reads environment variables at startup. They take precedence over or supplement the values in config.json. The application loads a .env file automatically via python-dotenv if one is present in the working directory.

​
Core variables

​
LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH
string
Override the default application data directory. This directory is used for config.json, the SQLite database, downloaded sources, and output files.Default: platform-specific app dir (~/.config/LNCrawl/ on Linux, ~/Library/Application Support/LNCrawl/ on macOS, %APPDATA%\LNCrawl\ on Windows).Example: LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH=/srv/lncrawl
​
LNCRAWL_CONFIG
string
Path to an alternative config file. Overrides the default <APP_DIR>/config.json location.Default: <LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH>/config.jsonExample: LNCRAWL_CONFIG=/etc/lncrawl/config.json
​
LNCRAWL_LOG_LEVEL
integer
Numeric log verbosity level. Mapped to standard Python logging levels.
ValueLevel
0NOTSET (silent)
1WARN
2INFO
3DEBUG
Default: 0Example: LNCRAWL_LOG_LEVEL=2

​
Database

​
DATABASE_URL
string
SQLAlchemy database connection URL. Overrides the database.url config key.Supported databases:
sqlite:////home/user/sqlite.db
postgresql+psycopg://pguser:pgpass@postgres:5432/lncrawl
mysql+pymysql://user:password@mysql:3306/lncrawl
Default: sqlite:///<APP_DIR>/sqlite.dbExample: DATABASE_URL=postgresql+psycopg://pguser:pgpass@postgres:5432/lncrawl

​
Crawler and browser

​
SELENIUM_GRID
string
URL of a remote Selenium Grid hub. Overrides the crawler.selenium_grid config key. When set, the crawler sends browser automation requests to the remote grid instead of launching a local Chrome instance.Default: "" (use local browser)Example: SELENIUM_GRID=http://selenium-hub:4444
​
CHROME_WIDTH
integer
Width in pixels for the local Chrome browser window when running in non-headless mode.Default: 3/4 of the screen width, minimum 640Example: CHROME_WIDTH=1280
​
CHROME_HEIGHT
integer
Height in pixels for the local Chrome browser window when running in non-headless mode.Default: 3/4 of the screen height, minimum 480Example: CHROME_HEIGHT=720
​
debug_mode
string
Enable debug mode for the local and remote web drivers. Any non-empty value activates it.Default: unsetExample: debug_mode=1

​
File uploads

​
CLOUD_DRIVE
string
Cloud storage backend used for uploading output files.
ValueBackend
ANONFILESAnonFiles (default)
GOFILEGoFile
GOOGLE_DRIVEGoogle Drive
Default: ANONFILESExample: CLOUD_DRIVE=GOOGLE_DRIVE
​
GOOGLE_DRIVE_CREDENTIAL_FILE
string
Path to the Google service account credentials JSON file. Required when CLOUD_DRIVE=GOOGLE_DRIVE.Default: unsetExample: GOOGLE_DRIVE_CREDENTIAL_FILE=/secrets/google-credentials.json
​
GOOGLE_DRIVE_FOLDER_ID
string
Google Drive folder ID to upload files into. Required when CLOUD_DRIVE=GOOGLE_DRIVE.Default: unsetExample: GOOGLE_DRIVE_FOLDER_ID=1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs

​
CI and terminal

​
CI
string
When set, disables terminal colors and rich formatting (TERM=dumb, NO_COLOR=1). Standard behavior in most CI environments.Default: unsetExample: CI=true

​
Setting environment variables

Session (current terminal only):
export LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH=/srv/lncrawl
lncrawl server
Persistent (add to your shell profile):
echo 'export LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH=/srv/lncrawl' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
Single command:
LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH=/srv/lncrawl lncrawl server

​
Using a .env file

Lightnovel Crawler automatically loads a .env file from the working directory using python-dotenv. Create a .env file next to where you run lncrawl: 
# .env
LNCRAWL_DATA_PATH=/srv/lncrawl
DATABASE_URL=postgresql+psycopg://pguser:pgpass@postgres:5432/lncrawl
SELENIUM_GRID=http://selenium-hub:4444
LNCRAWL_LOG_LEVEL=1
Do not commit .env files containing secrets (passwords, API keys) to version control. Add .env to your .gitignore.
When using Docker Compose, pass environment variables through the environment or env_file keys in your docker-compose.yml instead of a .env file.

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us