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The applad.yaml file lives at your project root and defines instance-wide settings. It’s the entry point for Applad’s configuration tree.

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Basic Structure

version: "1.0"
name: "my-applad-instance"
description: "My Applad instance"

instance:
  url: "https://api.myapp.com"
  region: "us-east-1"
  secret: ${APPLAD_SECRET}
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version
string
required
Configuration schema version. Currently "1.0"
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name
string
required
Human-readable name for your Applad instance
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description
string
Optional description of what this instance is for

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Instance Settings

The instance block defines core instance configuration:
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instance.url
string
required
Base URL where your instance will be accessible
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instance.region
string
Default cloud region for resources (e.g., "us-east-1", "eu-west-1")
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instance.secret
string
required
Secret key for signing tokens and encrypting data. Use ${APPLAD_SECRET} and generate with:
openssl rand -hex 32

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Feature Flags

Enable or disable instance-wide features: 
instance:
  features:
    ui: true
    api: true
    graphql: true
    realtime: true
    storage: true
    functions: true
    deployments: true
    workflows: true
    flags: true
    analytics: true
    instruct: true
    messaging: true
​
features.ui
boolean
default:"true"
Enable the admin UI dashboard
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features.api
boolean
default:"true"
Enable REST API generation
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features.graphql
boolean
default:"true"
Enable GraphQL API generation
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features.realtime
boolean
default:"true"
Enable real-time subscriptions
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features.storage
boolean
default:"true"
Enable file storage system
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features.functions
boolean
default:"true"
Enable serverless functions
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features.deployments
boolean
default:"true"
Enable deployment pipelines
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features.workflows
boolean
default:"true"
Enable workflow orchestration
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features.flags
boolean
default:"true"
Enable feature flags
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features.analytics
boolean
default:"true"
Enable analytics collection
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features.instruct
boolean
default:"true"
Enable Applad Instruct (AI assistant)
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features.messaging
boolean
default:"true"
Enable messaging system

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AI Configuration

Powers Applad Instruct. API keys are stored encrypted in the admin database, never in config files. 
ai:
  enabled: true
  provider: "anthropic"
  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6"

  features:
    scaffolding: true
    debugging: true
    monitoring: true
    migrations: true
    infrastructure: true
    security: true
    dry_run: true
​
ai.enabled
boolean
default:"true"
Enable AI-powered features
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ai.provider
string
default:"anthropic"
AI provider: "anthropic", "openai", or others
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ai.model
string
Model identifier (e.g., "claude-sonnet-4-6", "gpt-4")
AI features include scaffolding, debugging, monitoring, migrations, infrastructure management, security auditing, and dry-run mode for safe testing.

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Observability

Instance-level logging, tracing, and export configuration: 
observability:
  logging:
    level: "info"
    structured: true
    include_request_body: false
    scrub_secrets: true

  tracing:
    enabled: true
    sampling_rate: 0.1

  export:
    - type: "otlp"
      enabled: false
      endpoint: ${OTEL_ENDPOINT}

    - type: "grafana"
      enabled: false
      url: ${GRAFANA_URL}
      api_key: ${GRAFANA_API_KEY}
​
observability.logging.level
string
default:"info"
Log level: "debug", "info", "warn", "error"
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observability.logging.structured
boolean
default:"true"
Output logs in structured JSON format
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observability.logging.include_request_body
boolean
default:"false"
Include request bodies in logs (can expose sensitive data)
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observability.logging.scrub_secrets
boolean
default:"true"
Automatically redact secret values from logs
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observability.tracing.enabled
boolean
default:"true"
Enable distributed tracing
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observability.tracing.sampling_rate
number
default:"0.1"
Percentage of requests to trace (0.0 - 1.0)

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Security

Instance-level security settings: 
security:
  ssh:
    password_auth: false
    key_rotation_reminder_days: 90
    session_timeout: 300

  audit:
    enabled: true
    sign_entries: true
    retain_for: "7y"

  scan:
    containers: true
    dependencies: true
    block_on_critical: true
​
security.ssh.password_auth
boolean
default:"false"
Allow password authentication (disabled by default)
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security.ssh.key_rotation_reminder_days
integer
default:"90"
Days before showing key rotation reminder
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security.ssh.session_timeout
integer
default:"300"
SSH session timeout in seconds
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security.audit.enabled
boolean
default:"true"
Enable audit logging
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security.audit.sign_entries
boolean
default:"true"
Cryptographically sign audit log entries
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security.audit.retain_for
string
default:"7y"
Audit log retention period (e.g., "7y", "90d")
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security.scan.containers
boolean
default:"true"
Scan container images for vulnerabilities
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security.scan.dependencies
boolean
default:"true"
Scan dependencies for known vulnerabilities
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security.scan.block_on_critical
boolean
default:"true"
Block deployments with critical vulnerabilities

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Environment Variable Generation

Controls .env.example auto-generation behavior: 
env:
  generate:
    auto: true
    annotate: true
    classify_secrets: true
    gitignore: true

  validate_on_startup: true
  validate_on_push: true
​
env.generate.auto
boolean
default:"true"
Automatically regenerate .env.example on config changes
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env.generate.annotate
boolean
default:"true"
Add helpful comments explaining each variable
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env.generate.classify_secrets
boolean
default:"true"
Mark sensitive variables with [SECRET] annotation
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env.generate.gitignore
boolean
default:"true"
Automatically add .env to .gitignore
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env.validate_on_startup
boolean
default:"true"
Validate environment variables before starting instance
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env.validate_on_push
boolean
default:"true"
Validate environment variables in CI/CD pipelines

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Complete Example

version: "1.0"
name: "my-applad-instance"
description: "Production Applad instance"

instance:
  url: "https://api.myapp.com"
  region: "us-east-1"
  secret: ${APPLAD_SECRET}

  features:
    ui: true
    api: true
    graphql: true
    realtime: true
    storage: true
    functions: true
    deployments: true
    workflows: true
    flags: true
    analytics: true
    instruct: true
    messaging: true

ai:
  enabled: true
  provider: "anthropic"
  model: "claude-sonnet-4-6"

  features:
    scaffolding: true
    debugging: true
    monitoring: true
    migrations: true
    infrastructure: true
    security: true
    dry_run: true

observability:
  logging:
    level: "info"
    structured: true
    include_request_body: false
    scrub_secrets: true

  tracing:
    enabled: true
    sampling_rate: 0.1

  export:
    - type: "otlp"
      enabled: false
      endpoint: ${OTEL_ENDPOINT}

security:
  ssh:
    password_auth: false
    key_rotation_reminder_days: 90
    session_timeout: 300

  audit:
    enabled: true
    sign_entries: true
    retain_for: "7y"

  scan:
    containers: true
    dependencies: true
    block_on_critical: true

env:
  generate:
    auto: true
    annotate: true
    classify_secrets: true
    gitignore: true

  validate_on_startup: true
  validate_on_push: true

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