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Configuration

This guide covers the essential configuration steps to get your FastAPI application running quickly.

Quick Setup

The fastest way to get started is to copy the example environment file and modify just a few values:

cp src/.env.example src/.env

Essential Configuration

Open src/.env and set these required values:

Application Settings

# App Settings  
APP_NAME="Your app name here"
APP_DESCRIPTION="Your app description here"
APP_VERSION="0.1"
CONTACT_NAME="Your name"
CONTACT_EMAIL="Your email"
LICENSE_NAME="The license you picked"

Database Connection

# Database
POSTGRES_USER="your_postgres_user"
POSTGRES_PASSWORD="your_password"
POSTGRES_SERVER="localhost"  # Use "db" for Docker Compose
POSTGRES_PORT=5432           # Use 5432 for Docker Compose
POSTGRES_DB="your_database_name"

PGAdmin (Optional)

For database administration:

# PGAdmin
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL="your_email_address"
PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD="your_password"
PGADMIN_LISTEN_PORT=80

To connect to database in PGAdmin: 1. Login with PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL and PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD 2. Click "Add Server" 3. Use these connection settings: - Hostname/address: db (if using containers) or localhost - Port: Value from POSTGRES_PORT - Database: postgres (leave as default) - Username: Value from POSTGRES_USER - Password: Value from POSTGRES_PASSWORD

Security

Generate a secret key and set it:

# Generate a secure secret key
openssl rand -hex 32

# Cryptography
SECRET_KEY="your-generated-secret-key-here"  # Result of openssl rand -hex 32
ALGORITHM="HS256"                            # Default: HS256
ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES=30               # Default: 30
REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRE_DAYS=7                  # Default: 7

First Admin User

# Admin User
ADMIN_NAME="your_name"
ADMIN_EMAIL="your_email"
ADMIN_USERNAME="your_username"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="your_password"

Redis Configuration

# Redis Cache
REDIS_CACHE_HOST="localhost"     # Use "redis" for Docker Compose
REDIS_CACHE_PORT=6379

# Client-side Cache
CLIENT_CACHE_MAX_AGE=30          # Default: 30 seconds

# Redis Job Queue
REDIS_QUEUE_HOST="localhost"     # Use "redis" for Docker Compose  
REDIS_QUEUE_PORT=6379

# Redis Rate Limiting
REDIS_RATE_LIMIT_HOST="localhost"  # Use "redis" for Docker Compose
REDIS_RATE_LIMIT_PORT=6379

Redis in Production

You may use the same Redis instance for caching and queues while developing, but use separate containers in production.

Rate Limiting Defaults

# Default Rate Limits
DEFAULT_RATE_LIMIT_LIMIT=10      # Default: 10 requests
DEFAULT_RATE_LIMIT_PERIOD=3600   # Default: 3600 seconds (1 hour)

First Tier

# Default Tier
TIER_NAME="free"

Environment Types

Set your environment type:

ENVIRONMENT="local"  # local, staging, or production
  • local: API docs available at /docs, /redoc, and /openapi.json
  • staging: API docs available to superusers only
  • production: API docs completely disabled

Docker Compose Settings

If using Docker Compose, use these values instead:

# Docker Compose values
POSTGRES_SERVER="db"
REDIS_CACHE_HOST="redis"
REDIS_QUEUE_HOST="redis"
REDIS_RATE_LIMIT_HOST="redis"

Optional Services

The boilerplate includes Redis for caching, job queues, and rate limiting. If running locally without Docker, either:

  1. Install Redis and keep the default settings
  2. Disable Redis services (see User Guide - Configuration for details)

That's It!

With these basic settings configured, you can start the application:

  • Docker Compose: docker compose up
  • Manual: uv run uvicorn src.app.main:app --reload

For detailed configuration options, advanced settings, and production deployment, see the User Guide - Configuration.