Environment Variables

Required Variables

Variable	Description	Example
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string	postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/pounce
SESSION_SECRET	Secret for signing session cookies	Random 32+ character string
LLM_PROVIDER	AI provider	openai, anthropic, or ollama
LLM_API_KEY	API key for the LLM provider	sk-...
EMAIL_PROVIDER	Email sending provider	resend, sendgrid, or mailgun
EMAIL_API_KEY	API key for the sending provider	re_..., SG..., or key-...
EMAIL_FROM	Sender email address	hello@yourdomain.com
APP_URL	Your Pounce instance URL	https://pounce.yourdomain.com

Optional Variables

Variable	Description	Default
LLM_MODEL	Model to use for AI responses	Provider default
LLM_BASE_URL	Custom API base URL (for Ollama)	Provider default
ADMIN_EMAIL	Owner email for initial setup	—
ADMIN_PASSWORD_HASH	Bcrypt hash of owner password	—
PORT	Server port	3000
NODE_ENV	Environment	development

OAuth Variables (Gmail)

Variable	Description
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	Google OAuth client ID
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	Google OAuth client secret

OAuth Variables (Outlook)

Variable	Description
MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID	Microsoft Entra app ID
MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET	Microsoft Entra app secret

Booking Webhook Secret

Variable	Description
CALENDLY_WEBHOOK_SIGNING_KEY	Calendly webhook signature key
CALCOM_WEBHOOK_SECRET	Cal.com webhook secret

Setting Variables

Self-hosted (systemd)

Create a .env file in your Pounce directory:

# /var/www/pounce/.env (chmod 600)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
SESSION_SECRET=your-random-secret
LLM_PROVIDER=openai
LLM_API_KEY=sk-...
EMAIL_PROVIDER=resend
EMAIL_API_KEY=re_...
EMAIL_FROM=hello@yourdomain.com
APP_URL=https://pounce.yourdomain.com

The systemd service loads this file automatically.

Vercel

Set environment variables in the Vercel dashboard under Settings → Environment Variables, or via the CLI:

vercel env add DATABASE_URL production