Configuration

Your application configuration lives in the config folder. All the configuration files are loaded on startup and can be accessed through the configuration provider.

When you have a file ./config/server.js with the following config:

module.exports = {
  host: '0.0.0.0',
};

You can access it as

strapi.config.get('server.host', 'defaultValueIfUndefined');

Nested keys are accessible with dot-notation.

NOTE

Notice that the filename is used as a prefix to access the configurations.

Formats

You can either use .js or .json files to configure your application.

When using a .js you can either export an object:

module.exports = {
  mySecret: 'someValue',
};

or a function returning a configuration object (recommended usage). The function will get access to the env utility.

module.exports = ({ env }) => {
  return {
    mySecret: 'someValue',
  };
};

Environment variables

In most use cases you will have different configurations between your environments. For example: your database credentials.

Instead of writing those credentials into your configuration files, you can define those variables in a .env file at the root of your application.

Example

Path — .env

DATABASE_PASSWORD=acme

If you want to customize the path of the .env file to load you can set an environment variable called ENV_PATH before starting your application:

$ ENV_PATH=/absolute/path/to/.env npm run start

Now you can access those variables in your configuration files and application. You can use process.env.{varName} to access those variables anywhere.

In your configuration files you will have access to a env utility that allows defining defaults and casting values.

Path — ./config/database.js

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  connections: {
    default: {
      settings: {
        password: env('DATABASE_PASSWORD'),
      },
    },
  },
});

Casting environment variables

// Returns the env if defined without casting it
env('VAR', 'default');

// Cast to int (using parseInt)
env.int('VAR', 0);

// Cast to float (using parseFloat)
env.float('VAR', 3.14);

// Cast to boolean (check if the value is equal to 'true')
env.bool('VAR', true);

// Cast to js object (using JSON.parse)
env.json('VAR', { key: 'value' });

// Cast to an array (syntax: ENV_VAR=[value1, value2, value3] | ENV_VAR=["value1", "value2", "value3"])
env.array('VAR', [1, 2, 3]);

// Case to date (using new Date(value))
env.date('VAR', new Date());

Environments

What if you need specific static configurations for specific environments and using environment variables becomes tedious?

Strapi configurations can also be created per environment in ./config/env/{env}/{filename}. These configurations will be merged into the base configurations defined in the ./config folder. The environment is based on the NODE_ENV environment variable (defaults to development).

When starting Strapi with NODE_ENV=production it will load the configuration from ./config/* and ./config/env/production/*. Everything defined in the production config will override the default config.

In combination with environment variables this pattern becomes really powerful:

Example

./config/server.js

module.exports = {
  host: '127.0.0.1',
};

./config/env/production/server.js

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  host: env('HOST', '0.0.0.0'),
});

When you start your application

yarn start
# uses host 127.0.0.1

NODE_ENV=production yarn start
# uses host 0.0.0.0

HOST=10.0.0.1 NODE_ENV=production yarn start
# uses host 10.0.0.1

Server

Path — ./config/server.js.

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  host: env('HOST', '0.0.0.0'),
  port: env.int('PORT', 1337),
});

Available options

Property	Description	Type	Default
host	Host name	string	localhost
port	Port on which the server should be running.	integer	1337
socket	Listens on a socket. Host and port are cosmetic when this option is provided and likewise use url to generate proper urls when using this option. This option is useful for running a server without exposing a port and using proxy servers on the same machine (e.g Heroku nginx buildpack)	string | integer	/tmp/nginx.socket
emitErrors	Enable errors to be emitted to koa when they happen in order to attach custom logic or use error reporting services.	boolean	false
url	Public url of the server. Required for many different features (ex: reset password, third login providers etc.). Also enables proxy support such as Apache or Nginx, example: https://mywebsite.com/api. The url can be relative, if so, it is used with http://${host}:${port} as the base url. An absolute url is however recommended.	string	''
proxy	Set the koa variable app.proxy. When true, proxy header fields will be trusted.	boolean	false
cron	Cron configuration (powered by node-schedule)	Object
cron.enabled	Enable or disable CRON tasks to schedule jobs at specific dates.	boolean	false
admin	Admin panel configuration	Object
admin.auth	Authentication configuration	Object
admin.auth.secret	Secret used to encode JWT tokens	string	undefined
admin.url	Url of your admin panel. Default value: /admin. Note: If the url is relative, it will be concatenated with url.	string	/admin
admin.autoOpen	Enable or disabled administration opening on start.	boolean	true
admin.watchIgnoreFiles	Add custom files that should not be watched during development. See more here (property ignored).	Array(string)	[]
admin.host	Use a different host for the admin panel. Only used along with strapi develop --watch-admin	string	localhost
admin.port	Use a different port for the admin panel. Only used along with strapi develop --watch-admin	string	8000
admin.serveAdminPanel	If false, the admin panel won't be served. Note: the index.html will still be served, see defaultIndex option	boolean	true
admin.forgotPassword	Settings to customize the forgot password email (see more here: Forgot Password Email)	Object	{}
admin.forgotPassword.emailTemplate	Email template as defined in email plugin	Object	Default template
admin.forgotPassword.from	Sender mail address	string	Default value defined in your provider configuration
admin.forgotPassword.replyTo	Default address or addresses the receiver is asked to reply to	string	Default value defined in your provider configuration

API

Path — ./config/api.js.

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  responses: {
    privateAttributes: ['_v', 'id', 'created_at'],
  },
});

Available options

Property	Description	Type	Default
responses	Global API response configuration	Object
responses.privateAttributes	Set of globally defined attributes to be treated as private. E.g. _v when using MongoDb or timestamps like created_at, updated_at can be treated as private	String array	[]

Functions

The ./config/functions/ folder contains a set of JavaScript files in order to add dynamic and logic based configurations.

All functions that are exposed in this folder are accessible via strapi.config.functions['fileName']();

Bootstrap

Path — ./config/functions/bootstrap.js.

The bootstrap function is called at every server start. You can use it to add a specific logic at this moment of your server's lifecycle.

Here are some use cases:

• Create an admin user if there isn't one.
• Fill the database with some necessary data.
• Load some environment variables.

The bootstrap function can be synchronous or asynchronous.

Synchronous

module.exports = () => {
  // some sync code
};

Return a promise

module.exports = () => {
  return new Promise(/* some code */);
};

Asynchronous

module.exports = async () => {
  await someSetup();
};

CRON tasks

CRON tasks allow you to schedule jobs (arbitrary functions) for execution at specific dates, with optional recurrence rules. It only uses a single timer at any given time (rather than reevaluating upcoming jobs every second/minute).

This feature is powered by node-schedule node modules. Check it for more information.

WARNING

Make sure the enabled cron config is set to true in ./config/server.js file.

The cron format consists of:

*    *    *    *    *    *
┬    ┬    ┬    ┬    ┬    ┬
│    │    │    │    │    |
│    │    │    │    │    └ day of week (0 - 7) (0 or 7 is Sun)
│    │    │    │    └───── month (1 - 12)
│    │    │    └────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│    │    └─────────────── hour (0 - 23)
│    └──────────────────── minute (0 - 59)
└───────────────────────── second (0 - 59, OPTIONAL)

To define a CRON job, add your logic like below:

Path — ./config/functions/cron.js.

module.exports = {
  /**
   * Simple example.
   * Every monday at 1am.
   */

  '0 0 1 * * 1': () => {
    // Add your own logic here (e.g. send a queue of email, create a database backup, etc.).
  },
};

Database ORM customization

When present, they are loaded to let you customize your database connection instance, for example for adding some plugin, customizing parameters, etc.

You will need to install the plugin using the normal npm install the-plugin-name or any of the other supported package tools such as yarn then follow the below examples to load them.

As an example, for using the mongoose-simple-random plugin for MongoDB, you can register it like this:

Path — ./config/functions/mongoose.js.

'use strict';

const random = require('mongoose-simple-random');

module.exports = (mongoose, connection) => {
  mongoose.plugin(random);
};

Another example would be using the bookshelf-uuid plugin for MySQL, you can register it like this:

Path — ./config/functions/bookshelf.js.

'use strict';

module.exports = (bookshelf, connection) => {
  bookshelf.plugin('bookshelf-uuid');
};

Database

This file lets you define database connections that will be used to store your application content.

You can find supported database and versions in the local installation process.

Path — ./config/database.js.

• defaultConnection (string): Connection by default for models which are not related to a specific connection. Default value: default.
• connections List of all available connections.
  • default
    • connector (string): Connector used by the current connection. Will be bookshelf.
    • settings Useful for external session stores such as Redis.
      • client (string): Database client to create the connection. sqlite or postgres or mysql.
      • host (string): Database host name. Default value: localhost.
      • port (integer): Database port.
      • database (string): Database name.
      • username (string): Username used to establish the connection.
      • password (string): Password used to establish the connection.
      • options (object): List of additional options used by the connector.
      • timezone (string): Set the default behavior for local time. Default value: utc Timezone options.
      • schema (string): Set the default database schema. Used only for Postgres DB.
      • ssl (boolean/object): For ssl database connection. Object is used to pass certificate files as strings.
    • options Options used for database connection.
      • debug (boolean): Show database exchanges and errors.
      • autoMigration (boolean): To disable auto tables/columns creation for SQL database.
      • pool Options used for database connection pooling. For more information look at Knex's pool config documentation.
        • min (integer): Minimum number of connections to keep in the pool. Default value: 0.
        • max (integer): Maximum number of connections to keep in the pool. Default value: 10.
        • acquireTimeoutMillis (integer): Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for acquiring a connection from the pool. Default value: 2000 (2 seconds).
        • createTimeoutMillis (integer): Maximum time in milliseconds to wait for creating a connection to be added to the pool. Default value: 2000 (2 seconds).
        • idleTimeoutMillis (integer): Number of milliseconds to wait before destroying idle connections. Default value: 30000 (30 seconds).
        • reapIntervalMillis (integer): How often to check for idle connections in milliseconds. Default value: 1000 (1 second).
        • createRetryIntervalMillis (integer): How long to idle after a failed create before trying again in milliseconds. Default value: 200.

• defaultConnection (string): Connection by default for models which are not related to a specific connection. Default value: default.
• connections List of all available connections.
  • default
    • connector (string): Connector used by the current connection. Will be mongoose.
    • settings Useful for external session stores such as Redis.
      • client (string): Database client to create the connection. Will be mongo.
      • host (string): Database host name. Default value: localhost.
      • port (integer): Database port. Default value: 27017.
      • database (string): Database name.
      • username (string): Username used to establish the connection.
      • password (string): Password used to establish the connection.
      • uri (string): This can overide all previous configurations - optional
    • options Options used for database connection.
      • ssl (boolean): For ssl database connection.
      • debug (boolean): Show database exchanges and errors.
      • authenticationDatabase (string): Connect with authentication.

Example

Path — ./config/database.js.

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  defaultConnection: 'default',
  connections: {
    default: {
      connector: 'bookshelf',
      settings: {
        client: 'postgres',
        host: env('DATABASE_HOST', 'localhost'),
        port: env.int('DATABASE_PORT', 5432),
        database: env('DATABASE_NAME', 'strapi'),
        username: env('DATABASE_USERNAME', 'strapi'),
        password: env('DATABASE_PASSWORD', 'strapi'),
        schema: 'public',
      },
      options: {},
    },
  },
});

Please note that if you need client side SSL CA verification you will need to use the ssl:{} object with the fs module to convert your CA certificate to a string. You can see an example below:

settings: {
  client: 'postgres',
  ...
  ssl: {
    ca: fs.readFileSync(`${__dirname}/path/to/your/ca-certificate.crt`).toString(),
  }
},

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  defaultConnection: 'default',
  connections: {
    default: {
      connector: 'bookshelf',
      settings: {
        client: 'mysql',
        host: env('DATABASE_HOST', 'localhost'),
        port: env.int('DATABASE_PORT', 3306),
        database: env('DATABASE_NAME', 'strapi'),
        username: env('DATABASE_USERNAME', 'strapi'),
        password: env('DATABASE_PASSWORD', 'strapi'),
      },
      options: {},
    },
  },
});

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  defaultConnection: 'default',
  connections: {
    default: {
      connector: 'bookshelf',
      settings: {
        client: 'sqlite',
        filename: env('DATABASE_FILENAME', '.tmp/data.db'),
      },
      options: {
        useNullAsDefault: true,
      },
    },
  },
});

module.exports = ({ env }) => ({
  defaultConnection: 'default',
  connections: {
    default: {
      connector: 'mongoose',
      settings: {
        client: 'mongo',
        host: env('DATABASE_HOST', 'localhost'),
        port: env.int('DATABASE_PORT', 27017),
        database: env('DATABASE_NAME', 'strapi'),
        username: env('DATABASE_USERNAME', 'strapi'),
        password: env('DATABASE_PASSWORD', 'strapi'),
      },
      options: {
        authenticationDatabase: env('AUTHENTICATION_DATABASE'),
        ssl: env('DATABASE_SSL'),
      },
    },
  },
});

TIP

Take a look at the database's guide for more details.

Configuration in database

Configuration files are not multi server friendly. So we created a data store for config you will want to update in production.

Get settings

• environment (string): Sets the environment you want to store the data in. By default it's current environment (can be an empty string if your config is environment agnostic).
• type (string): Sets if your config is for an api, plugin or core. By default it's core.
• name (string): You have to set the plugin or api name if type is api or plugin.
• key (string, required): The name of the key you want to store.

// strapi.store(object).get(object);

// create reusable plugin store variable
const pluginStore = strapi.store({
  environment: strapi.config.environment,
  type: 'plugin',
  name: 'users-permissions',
});

await pluginStore.get({ key: 'grant' });

Set settings

• value (any, required): The value you want to store.

// strapi.store(object).set(object);

// create reusable plugin store variable
const pluginStore = strapi.store({
  environment: strapi.config.environment,
  type: 'plugin',
  name: 'users-permissions'
});

await pluginStore.set({
  key: 'grant',
  value: {
    ...
  }
});