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docs: add environment variables reference guide #3539

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28 changes: 28 additions & 0 deletions docs/environment-variables.md
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# Environment Variables

This document describes the environment variables used by Checkmate server.

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@ajhollid ajhollid Apr 20, 2026

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Missing the required client env vars

VITE_APP_API_BASE_URL
VITE_APP_CLIENT_HOST

Copy `server/.env.example` to `server/.env` and fill in your values.

## Required Variables

| Variable | Description | Example |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `DB_CONNECTION_STRING` | MongoDB connection string | `mongodb://localhost:27017/uptime_db` |
| `JWT_SECRET` | Secret key for JWT tokens | `my_secret` |

## Optional Variables

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `NODE_ENV` | Application environment | `development` |
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@ajhollid ajhollid Apr 20, 2026

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missing PORT var

| `LOG_LEVEL` | Logging level | `debug` |
| `TOKEN_TTL` | JWT token expiry time | `99d` |
| `CLIENT_HOST` | Frontend URL | `http://localhost:5173` |
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@ajhollid ajhollid Apr 20, 2026

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CLIENT_HOST is required

| `ORIGIN` | Allowed CORS origin | `localhost` |

## Notes

- The server reads these variables from `server/.env`
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@ajhollid ajhollid Apr 20, 2026

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All vars are read from server/.env, this line seems to indicate that only JWT_SECRET and TOKEN_TTL are read from .env. This line can just be removed safely.

- `JWT_SECRET` should be a strong, unique value in production
- `TOKEN_TTL` accepts any format valid for `ms` (e.g., `1h`, `7d`, `99d`)
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