Environment Variables

Configuration for external services and features.

Required Variables

None — the site runs without any environment variables.

Optional Variables

Unsplash Integration

CopyUNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=your_access_key

For downloading Unsplash images and API access.

Database

CopyPOSTGRES_URL=your_postgres_url

For view counts and analytics (optional).

OpenAI

CopyOPENAI_API_KEY=your_api_key
OPENAI_ASSISTANT_ID=your_assistant_id

For AI chatbot features (optional).

GitHub

CopyGITHUB_TOKEN=your_github_token

For fetching GitHub repository data in the open source section.

Gumroad

CopyGUMROAD_API_KEY=your_gumroad_key

For product listing on the homepage.

Spotify

CopySPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
SPOTIFY_REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token

For the "Now Playing" section on the home and about pages. Run node scripts/setup/spotify-token.js to obtain the refresh token.

Dashboard

CopyDASHBOARD_SECRET=your_random_secret

For accessing the private /dashboard page (chatbot analytics). Generate with openssl rand -hex 32.

Email (Contact Form)

CopyEMAIL_SERVICE_API_KEY=your_key

For the contact form email delivery.

Local Development

Create .env.local:

Copy# Copy from .env.example
UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=

Production

Set environment variables in your deployment platform (Vercel, etc.).

Security

• Never commit .env.local or .env files
• Use different keys for development and production
• Rotate keys regularly
• Use secret management in production