orion/docs/deployment/environment.md

Environment Variables Reference

All configuration for the Orion platform is managed through environment variables, loaded via Pydantic Settings from an .env file or the process environment. This page provides a complete reference for every variable recognised by app/core/config.py.

Variables are read at startup and exposed through the settings singleton. In most cases the defaults are tuned for local development; production deployments must override the security-sensitive values listed in the Production Checklist at the bottom of this page.

---

Core / Project

Metadata used in the OpenAPI schema and health endpoints.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
PROJECT_NAME	Display name shown in API docs and health responses	Orion - Multi-Store Marketplace Platform	No
VERSION	Semantic version reported by the platform	2.2.0	No

---

Database

!!! danger "Production requirement" You must set DATABASE_URL to a real PostgreSQL connection string in every non-development environment. The default value contains a placeholder password and should never be used in production.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string (postgresql://user:pass@host:port/db)	postgresql://orion_user:secure_password@localhost:5432/orion_db	Yes

---

Admin Initialisation

Used by init_production.py and the database seeder to create the initial platform administrator account.

!!! warning "Change the default password" The default ADMIN_PASSWORD is admin123. The production validation check will emit a warning if this value is left unchanged.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
ADMIN_EMAIL	Email address for the initial admin account	admin@orion.lu	No
ADMIN_USERNAME	Username for the initial admin account	admin	No
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Password for the initial admin account	admin123	No (but must change in production)
ADMIN_FIRST_NAME	First name of the admin user	Platform	No
ADMIN_LAST_NAME	Last name of the admin user	Administrator	No

---

JWT Authentication

Controls JSON Web Token generation and expiry.

!!! danger "Production requirement" JWT_SECRET_KEY must be replaced with a strong random value. Generate one with:

```bash
openssl rand -hex 32
```

Variable	Description	Default	Required
JWT_SECRET_KEY	Secret used to sign and verify JWTs	change-this-in-production	Yes
JWT_EXPIRE_HOURS	Hours component of the token lifetime	24	No
JWT_EXPIRE_MINUTES	Minutes component of the token lifetime	30	No

---

API Server

Settings passed to Uvicorn when the application starts.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
API_HOST	Bind address for the API server	0.0.0.0	No
API_PORT	Port the API server listens on	8000	No
DEBUG	Enable debug mode (extra logging, auto-reload)	True	No (set False in production)

---

Documentation

Variable	Description	Default	Required
DOCUMENTATION_URL	URL where the MkDocs site is served	http://localhost:8001	No

---

Security / Middleware

!!! warning "Restrict allowed hosts" The default ALLOWED_HOSTS value of ["*"] accepts requests with any Host header. In production, restrict this to your actual domain names.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
ALLOWED_HOSTS	JSON list of permitted Host header values	["*"]	No (but restrict in production)
RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED	Enable request rate limiting	True	No
RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS	Maximum number of requests per window	100	No
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW	Rate limit window duration in seconds	3600	No

---

Logging

Variable	Description	Default	Required
LOG_LEVEL	Python log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL)	INFO	No
LOG_FILE	Path to a log file; None means stdout only	None	No

---

Platform Domain

Controls the base domain for store subdomains and custom-domain features.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
PLATFORM_DOMAIN	Root domain under which store subdomains are created	wizard.lu	No
ALLOW_CUSTOM_DOMAINS	Allow stores to use their own domain names	True	No
REQUIRE_DOMAIN_VERIFICATION	Require DNS verification before activating a custom domain	True	No
SSL_PROVIDER	SSL certificate provider (letsencrypt, cloudflare, manual)	letsencrypt	No
AUTO_PROVISION_SSL	Automatically provision SSL certificates for custom domains	False	No
DNS_VERIFICATION_PREFIX	TXT record prefix used for domain ownership verification	_orion-verify	No
DNS_VERIFICATION_TTL	TTL in seconds for DNS verification records	3600	No

---

Platform Limits

Guard-rails for multi-tenant resource usage.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
MAX_STORES_PER_USER	Maximum number of stores a single user can own	5	No
MAX_TEAM_MEMBERS_PER_STORE	Maximum team members allowed per store	50	No
INVITATION_EXPIRY_DAYS	Days before a team invitation link expires	7	No

---

Stripe Billing

!!! info "Required for payments" All three Stripe keys must be set to enable subscription billing and payment processing. Obtain them from the Stripe Dashboard.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY	Stripe secret API key	"" (empty)	Yes (for payments)
STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY	Stripe publishable API key	"" (empty)	Yes (for payments)
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET	Stripe webhook signing secret	"" (empty)	Yes (for payments)
STRIPE_TRIAL_DAYS	Length of the free trial period in days	30	No

---

Email Configuration

Orion supports multiple email providers. Set EMAIL_PROVIDER to choose one, then configure the matching provider-specific variables below.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
EMAIL_PROVIDER	Email transport backend (smtp, sendgrid, mailgun, ses)	smtp	No
EMAIL_FROM_ADDRESS	Sender address for outgoing emails	noreply@orion.lu	No
EMAIL_FROM_NAME	Sender display name	Orion	No
EMAIL_REPLY_TO	Optional reply-to address	"" (empty)	No
EMAIL_ENABLED	Master switch to enable/disable all outgoing email	True	No
EMAIL_DEBUG	Log emails to console instead of sending (development only)	False	No

SMTP Settings

Used when EMAIL_PROVIDER=smtp.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
SMTP_HOST	SMTP server hostname	localhost	No
SMTP_PORT	SMTP server port	587	No
SMTP_USER	SMTP authentication username	"" (empty)	No
SMTP_PASSWORD	SMTP authentication password	"" (empty)	No
SMTP_USE_TLS	Use STARTTLS (port 587)	True	No
SMTP_USE_SSL	Use implicit SSL (port 465)	False	No

SendGrid Settings

Used when EMAIL_PROVIDER=sendgrid.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
SENDGRID_API_KEY	SendGrid API key	"" (empty)	Yes (if using SendGrid)

Mailgun Settings

Used when EMAIL_PROVIDER=mailgun.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
MAILGUN_API_KEY	Mailgun API key	"" (empty)	Yes (if using Mailgun)
MAILGUN_DOMAIN	Mailgun sending domain	"" (empty)	Yes (if using Mailgun)

Amazon SES Settings

Used when EMAIL_PROVIDER=ses.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	AWS access key for SES	"" (empty)	Yes (if using SES)
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	AWS secret key for SES	"" (empty)	Yes (if using SES)
AWS_REGION	AWS region for the SES endpoint	eu-west-1	No

---

Storefront Defaults

Default locale and currency applied to new storefronts. Individual stores can override these through the admin interface or the AdminSetting database table.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
DEFAULT_STOREFRONT_LOCALE	Locale code for currency and number formatting	fr-LU	No
DEFAULT_CURRENCY	ISO 4217 currency code	EUR	No

---

Seed Data

Controls the volume of demo data generated by the database seeder.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
SEED_DEMO_STORES	Number of demo stores to create	3	No
SEED_CUSTOMERS_PER_STORE	Number of demo customers per store	15	No
SEED_PRODUCTS_PER_STORE	Number of demo products per store	20	No
SEED_ORDERS_PER_STORE	Number of demo orders per store	10	No

---

Celery / Redis

Background task processing. When USE_CELERY is False, tasks fall back to FastAPI's built-in BackgroundTasks.

!!! tip "Enable Celery in production" Set USE_CELERY=True and ensure a Redis instance is reachable at REDIS_URL for reliable background task processing.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
REDIS_URL	Redis connection string used as Celery broker and result backend	redis://localhost:6379/0	No
USE_CELERY	Use Celery for background tasks instead of FastAPI BackgroundTasks	False	No (set True in production)
FLOWER_URL	URL of the Flower monitoring dashboard	http://localhost:5555	No
FLOWER_PASSWORD	Password for Flower authentication	changeme	No (but change in production)

---

Sentry

Error tracking and performance monitoring via Sentry.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
SENTRY_DSN	Sentry Data Source Name; None disables Sentry	None	No
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT	Environment tag sent with events (development, staging, production)	development	No
SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE	Fraction of transactions sampled for performance monitoring (0.0--1.0)	0.1	No

---

Monitoring

Prometheus metrics and Grafana dashboard integration.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
ENABLE_METRICS	Expose a /metrics endpoint for Prometheus scraping	False	No (set True in production)
GRAFANA_URL	URL of the Grafana instance	https://grafana.wizard.lu	No
GRAFANA_ADMIN_USER	Grafana admin username	admin	No
GRAFANA_ADMIN_PASSWORD	Grafana admin password	"" (empty)	No

---

Cloudflare R2 Storage

Object storage for media uploads. When STORAGE_BACKEND is local, files are stored on the server filesystem.

Variable	Description	Default	Required
STORAGE_BACKEND	Storage backend to use (local or r2)	local	No
R2_ACCOUNT_ID	Cloudflare account ID	None	Yes (if using R2)
R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID	R2 API access key	None	Yes (if using R2)
R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	R2 API secret key	None	Yes (if using R2)
R2_BUCKET_NAME	R2 bucket name	orion-media	No
R2_PUBLIC_URL	Custom public URL for media access (e.g. https://media.yoursite.com)	None	No

---

Cloudflare CDN / Proxy

Variable	Description	Default	Required
CLOUDFLARE_ENABLED	Set to True when the application sits behind Cloudflare proxy (adjusts trusted-proxy headers)	False	No (set True when proxied)

---

Production Checklist

Before deploying to production, ensure the following variables are set correctly. Items marked critical will trigger a startup warning if left at their default values.

!!! danger "Critical -- must change" - [x] DATABASE_URL -- point to a production PostgreSQL instance - [x] JWT_SECRET_KEY -- generate with openssl rand -hex 32 - [x] ADMIN_PASSWORD -- choose a strong, unique password - [x] DEBUG -- set to False - [x] ALLOWED_HOSTS -- restrict to your domain(s)

!!! warning "Strongly recommended" - [x] USE_CELERY -- set to True with a production Redis instance - [x] FLOWER_PASSWORD -- change from the default changeme - [x] ENABLE_METRICS -- set to True for observability - [x] SENTRY_DSN -- configure for error tracking - [x] SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT -- set to production - [x] STORAGE_BACKEND -- set to r2 for scalable media storage - [x] CLOUDFLARE_ENABLED -- set to True if behind Cloudflare proxy

!!! info "Required for specific features" - [x] Payments: STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY, STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET - [x] Email (SendGrid — recommended): EMAIL_PROVIDER=sendgrid, SENDGRID_API_KEY — handles transactional + marketing in one account - [x] Email (Mailgun): MAILGUN_API_KEY, MAILGUN_DOMAIN — transactional only, no marketing features - [x] Email (SES): AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY — cheapest at scale - [x] R2 Storage: R2_ACCOUNT_ID, R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID, R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Example .env file (production)

# Core
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://orion:STRONG_PASSWORD@db.internal:5432/orion
JWT_SECRET_KEY=a]3f...your-random-hex-here...9c2b
DEBUG=False
ALLOWED_HOSTS=["wizard.lu","*.wizard.lu"]

# Admin
ADMIN_PASSWORD=your-strong-admin-password

# Celery / Redis
REDIS_URL=redis://redis.internal:6379/0
USE_CELERY=True
FLOWER_PASSWORD=a-secure-flower-password

# Stripe
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...

# Email (example: SendGrid)
EMAIL_PROVIDER=sendgrid
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG....

# R2 Storage
STORAGE_BACKEND=r2
R2_ACCOUNT_ID=your-account-id
R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your-access-key
R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your-secret-key
R2_PUBLIC_URL=https://media.wizard.lu

# Monitoring
ENABLE_METRICS=True
SENTRY_DSN=https://examplePublicKey@o0.ingest.sentry.io/0
SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT=production
CLOUDFLARE_ENABLED=True