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DevNet StudyLab -- Environment Variables

File location: apps/web/.env.local

All environment variables used by the Next.js web application.

Required Variables

DATABASE_URL

PostgreSQL connection string for the application database.

Property Value
Required Yes (for full functionality)
Default None
Format postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST:PORT/DATABASE

Development default:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://studylab:studylab_dev_2024@localhost:5432/studylab

When unset, the app runs in file-only mode: content loads from JSON files and progress is not persisted to the database.

AUTH_SECRET

Encryption key for Auth.js JWT sessions. Used to sign and verify session tokens.

Property Value
Required Yes
Default None (throws error if unset)
Format Base64 string, 32+ bytes

Generate a secure value:

openssl rand -base64 32

The application will throw an error on startup if AUTH_SECRET is not set. This ensures a secure secret is always explicitly configured.

Optional Variables

TUTOR_ANTHROPIC_KEY

API key for Claude (Anthropic) powering the AI Tutor feature. This variable is intentionally named TUTOR_ANTHROPIC_KEY rather than ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to avoid conflicts with the Claude Code CLI, which reserves ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for its own use.

Property Value
Required No
Default None
Format sk-ant-api03-...

When unset, the AI Tutor page loads but returns a 401 error when sending messages. All other features work without this key.

Get a key: console.anthropic.com

SKIP_AUTH

Bypasses authentication middleware. Used for E2E testing and development without a database.

Property Value
Required No
Default Not set (authentication enabled)
Values "true" to skip auth

When set to "true":

  • The middleware does not redirect unauthenticated users to /login
  • getCurrentUserId() returns null (progress is not saved to DB)
  • The app behaves as if no user is logged in

Set automatically by Playwright in playwright.config.ts:

webServer: {
  env: {
    SKIP_AUTH: "true",
  },
},

LAB_ENGINE_URL

URL of the Docker-based lab engine service. Used to proxy code execution requests to the FastAPI lab engine instead of running Python locally.

Property Value
Required No
Default None
Format http://HOST:PORT (e.g., http://localhost:8100)

When unset, labs that support local execution (Python, API, NETCONF) will run code via a local python3 subprocess. Labs requiring Docker (Bash, Docker, Ansible) will display a message that the lab engine is required.

POSTGRES_PASSWORD

PostgreSQL password used by Docker Compose. This is a Docker-level variable, not a Next.js variable.

Property Value
Required No
Default studylab_dev_2024
Used by docker/docker-compose.yml

If changed, update DATABASE_URL to match.

Example .env.local

# ── Database ────────────────────────────────────────────
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://studylab:studylab_dev_2024@localhost:5432/studylab

# ── Auth.js ─────────────────────────────────────────────
AUTH_SECRET=your-generated-base64-secret-here

# ── AI Tutor (optional) ────────────────────────────────
# TUTOR_ANTHROPIC_KEY=sk-ant-api03-...

# ── Testing (do not set in production) ─────────────────
# SKIP_AUTH=true

Variable Summary

Variable Required Default Used By
DATABASE_URL For DB features None lib/db/index.ts, middleware.ts, lib/auth-helpers.ts
AUTH_SECRET Yes None lib/auth.ts (Auth.js)
TUTOR_ANTHROPIC_KEY For AI Tutor None api/chat/route.ts
SKIP_AUTH For testing Not set middleware.ts, lib/auth-helpers.ts
LAB_ENGINE_URL No None api/labs/[slug]/run/route.ts
POSTGRES_PASSWORD For Docker studylab_dev_2024 docker/docker-compose.yml