Installation & Configuration

This guide covers all configuration options for Nodebyte. Every setting is controlled through environment variables, set in your .env file or passed directly to Docker Compose.

Prerequisites

Docker Engine 24+ with the Compose plugin
At least 2 GB of available RAM
Ports 3000, 8000, and 5432 available (or configure alternatives)

Backend Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection string	(set by docker-compose)
`JWT_SECRET`	Secret key for signing JWTs — change in production	(required)
`JWT_ISSUER`	Issuer claim in JWTs	`nodebyte`
`ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRES_MINUTES`	Access token lifetime in minutes	`15`
`REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRES_DAYS`	Refresh token lifetime in days	`30`
`COOKIE_SECURE`	Set `true` when serving over HTTPS	`false`
`COOKIE_SAMESITE`	SameSite cookie policy (`lax`, `strict`, `none`)	`lax`
`FRONTEND_ORIGIN`	Allowed CORS origin for the frontend	`http://localhost:3000`
`REGISTRATION_ENABLED`	Allow public user registration (`false` = invite-only)	`true`
`TURNSTILE_ENABLED`	Enable Cloudflare Turnstile bot protection	`true`
`TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY`	Turnstile server-side secret key	(test key)
`NODEBYTE_ENV`	Environment name (`dev` or `production`)	`dev`

Frontend Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`NODE_ENV`	Set to `production` for optimized builds	`development`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL`	Backend API URL (used client-side)	`http://localhost:8000`
`NEXT_PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY`	Turnstile client-side site key	(test key)
`NEXT_PUBLIC_EDITION`	Landing page variant: `cloud` or `oss`	`cloud`

Docker Compose Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
`POSTGRES_DB`	Database name	`nodebyte`
`POSTGRES_USER`	Database user	`nodebyte`
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	Database password — change in production	`changeme`
`POSTGRES_PORT`	Host port for PostgreSQL	`5432`

Cloudflare Turnstile

Nodebyte supports Cloudflare Turnstile as an optional bot protection layer on the registration page.

For development, test keys are built in — Turnstile renders an invisible widget that always passes. No configuration needed.

For production, get real keys from the Cloudflare dashboard:

Set TURNSTILE_ENABLED=true
Set TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY to your server-side secret
Set NEXT_PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY to your client-side site key

To disable Turnstile entirely, set TURNSTILE_ENABLED=false.

Database Migrations

Nodebyte uses Alembic for database schema migrations. Migrations run automatically on container startup.

To create a new migration after modifying models:

docker compose exec backend alembic revision --autogenerate -m "description"
docker compose exec backend alembic upgrade head

Next Steps

Quickstart — get running in 5 minutes
Deploy to Production — production hardening checklist