Environment setup

Configure environment variables for local development

Biovity uses environment variables to configure database connections, authentication, and other settings. Follow these steps to set up your local environment.

Create environment file

1. Copy the example file

   Biovity includes an .env.example file with all required variables. Copy it to create your local environment file:

   cp .env.example .env.local
   

   Next.js automatically loads .env.local for local development. This file should never be committed to version control.

2. Configure database connection

   Update the DATABASE_URL with your PostgreSQL credentials:

   .env.local

   # Database (PostgreSQL - Supabase)
   DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database"
   

   Replace:

   • user - Your PostgreSQL username
   • password - Your PostgreSQL password
   • host - Database host (use localhost for local development)
   • 5432 - PostgreSQL port (default is 5432)
   • database - Your database name
3. Generate authentication secret

   Better Auth requires a secret key for signing tokens. Generate one using OpenSSL:

   openssl rand -base64 32
   

   Copy the output and add it to your .env.local:

   .env.local

   # Better Auth (REQUIRED)
   BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="your-generated-secret-here"
   BETTER_AUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"
   

   Never share or commit your BETTER_AUTH_SECRET. Generate a new one for each environment.

4. Configure public URLs

   Set the public-facing URLs for your application:

   .env.local

   # Client-side (exposed to browser - safe to expose)
   NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="http://localhost:3000"
   NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL="https://biovity.cl"
   

   Variables prefixed with NEXT_PUBLIC_ are exposed to the browser. Only use this prefix for non-sensitive values.

5. Set development mode (optional)

   Optionally, set the Node environment:

   .env.local

   # Optional
   NODE_ENV=development
   

Complete environment file

Your final .env.local should look like this:

.env.local

# Database (PostgreSQL - Supabase)
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database"

# Better Auth (REQUIRED)
# Generate with: openssl rand -base64 32
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET="your-secret-here"
BETTER_AUTH_URL="http://localhost:3000"

# Client-side (exposed to browser - safe to expose)
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL="http://localhost:3000"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL="https://biovity.cl"

# Optional
NODE_ENV=development

Environment variables reference

Variable	Required	Description
DATABASE_URL	Yes	PostgreSQL connection string
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET	Yes	Secret key for authentication tokens
BETTER_AUTH_URL	Yes	Base URL for authentication callbacks
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL	Yes	Public application URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL	Yes	Production site URL
NODE_ENV	No	Node environment (development/production)

Next steps

After configuring your environment, proceed to database setup to initialize your PostgreSQL database.