Environment Variables

⚠️ BREAKING CHANGE, Tina4 v3.12.0

Every framework env var now requires the TINA4_ prefix. The legacy un-prefixed names (DATABASE_URL, SECRET, SMTP_HOST, HOST_NAME, etc.) no longer work. Setting them at startup makes the framework refuse to boot with a list of renames.

Run tina4 env --migrate to rewrite your existing .env automatically, or rename manually using the table below. The runtime guard prints the same mapping if it detects legacy names.

Conventional names stay un-prefixed: PORT, HOST, NODE_ENV, RACK_ENV, RUBY_ENV, ENVIRONMENT. These are runtime/PaaS conventions, not framework config.

Tina4 PHP is configured through environment variables, read from .env at the project root. Every variable has a sensible default, most projects set three or four values and leave the rest alone.

The Universal section below is identical across Python, PHP, Ruby, and Node.js: same variables, same defaults, same grouping. The AI / Dev-Admin section covers the dashboard's AI and developer tooling. The Framework-specific section at the end lists the handful of variables only this framework reads.

Start with the minimum-config examples at the end, then come back here when you need to tune something specific.

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Universal

These variables behave the same way in every Tina4 framework. Defaults are canonical, the framework reads each one and applies the listed default when it's unset.

Core Server

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_DEBUG	false	Master debug toggle. Enables Swagger UI, dev dashboard, live reload, template dump filter, error overlay. Never set to true in production.
TINA4_ENV	development	Runtime environment label. Values like development, staging, production control dev-only features.
HOST	0.0.0.0	Bind address. 0.0.0.0 listens on every interface. 127.0.0.1 restricts to localhost.
TINA4_HOST	0.0.0.0	Framework-prefixed bind address. Pairs with HOST, set either one.
PORT	7146	HTTP server port. The Rust CLI prefers TINA4_PORT but falls back to PORT.
TINA4_PORT	7146	Framework-prefixed port override. Pairs with PORT, set either one.
TINA4_HOST_NAME	localhost:<port>	Fully-qualified host used in generated absolute URLs (Swagger, OAuth redirects, emails) and for localhost detection.
CI	(none)	Standard CI flag. When set, suppresses dev-secret auto-minting so test runs stay deterministic.
TINA4_SUPPRESS	false	Suppresses the framework startup banner. Useful in CI runs and systemd units where stdout is parsed.
TINA4_NO_RELOAD	false	Disables the dev hot-reload signal from the Rust CLI. Use when you want a stable server for debugging.
TINA4_NO_AI_PORT	false	Disables the secondary stable AI port started alongside the dev server.
TINA4_NO_BROWSER	false	Stops tina4 serve from opening your browser on every restart. Recommended during active development.
TINA4_OVERRIDE_CLIENT	(none)	Set truthy to start without the Rust CLI supervisor (tina4 serve). Used in Docker images and CI runners; bypasses SCSS compilation, the file watcher, and live reload.
TINA4_ALLOW_LEGACY_ENV	false	Bypass the v3.12 boot guard that rejects un-prefixed legacy env vars. Use only in CI / migration scripts during the transition window.
TINA4_TRAILING_SLASH_REDIRECT	false	When truthy, requests to /foo/ are 301-redirected to /foo so clients see one canonical URL per route. The root / is exempt.
TINA4_TEMPLATE_ROUTING	on	Auto-routing of templates from src/templates/. Set to off, false, 0, no, or disabled to require an explicit route for every URL.
TINA4_TEMPLATE_CACHE_TTL	0	Frond compiled-template cache TTL in seconds. 0 keeps compiled templates in memory permanently; a positive value recompiles after N seconds. tina4 serve invalidates the cache on file change.
TINA4_HEALTH_PATH	/__health	URL for the built-in liveness/readiness endpoint.
TINA4_PUBLIC_DIR	(none)	Override directory served as static files under /. When unset, the framework searches the bundled and project public assets.
TINA4_ENV_FILE	.env	Path to the dotenv file loaded at boot, before any other framework config. Point at .env.staging or .env.production to switch the whole config tree.
TINA4_MAX_UPLOAD_SIZE	10485760	Maximum multipart upload size in bytes (10 MB). Larger requests are rejected before parsing.
TINA4_DEV_POLL_INTERVAL	3000	Milliseconds between dev-mode file-change polls when the WebSocket reload channel is unavailable.
TINA4_SSE_HEARTBEAT	15	Server-Sent Events keep-alive interval in seconds.

Logging

stdout is always on. With TINA4_LOG_OUTPUT unset, the log file is written only in development (TINA4_DEBUG truthy); production and containers stay stdout-only so a log file never bloats the writable layer. Set TINA4_LOG_OUTPUT=file/both, or point TINA4_LOG_FILE at a path, to force a file. Switch TINA4_LOG_FORMAT=json for one structured record per line.

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_LOG_LEVEL	INFO	Minimum level shown on the console (stdout). The log file always records every level. Options: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL.
TINA4_LOG_REQUESTS	(inherits TINA4_DEBUG)	Per-request access logging. On by default in dev; set explicitly to override.
TINA4_LOG_OUTPUT	stdout	Where logs go. Options: stdout, file, both. When unset, the file is written only in development; explicit file/both always writes a file.
TINA4_LOG_FORMAT	text	Output format. text writes the human-readable form; json writes one structured record per line.
TINA4_LOG_ROTATE_SIZE	10485760	Bytes per file before rotation (10 MB). 0 disables rotation entirely.
TINA4_LOG_ROTATE_KEEP	5	Number of rotated files to keep (app.log.1 ... app.log.N).
TINA4_LOG_MAX_SIZE	(legacy alias)	Legacy alias for TINA4_LOG_ROTATE_SIZE.
TINA4_LOG_KEEP	5	Legacy alias for TINA4_LOG_ROTATE_KEEP.
TINA4_LOG_FILE	(empty)	Path to a log file. Empty leaves logs on stdout. Relative paths resolve against TINA4_LOG_DIR; absolute paths are used verbatim. Setting any path forces file output.
TINA4_LOG_DIR	logs	Directory for log files. Joined with TINA4_LOG_FILE when the latter is relative.
TINA4_LOG_FUNC	(empty)	When truthy, includes the calling function name in each log line.
TINA4_LOG_STRICT	false	When true, raises on a log-write failure instead of swallowing it.

Database

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_DATABASE_URL	sqlite:///data/app.db	Connection URL. Scheme selects the driver: sqlite, postgres, mysql, firebird.
TINA4_DATABASE_USERNAME	(empty)	Overrides the username embedded in TINA4_DATABASE_URL.
TINA4_DATABASE_PASSWORD	(empty)	Overrides the password embedded in TINA4_DATABASE_URL.
TINA4_DB_POOL	0	Default connection-pool size when the caller doesn't pass pool= explicitly. 0 uses a single connection; a positive integer enables round-robin pooling.
TINA4_AUTOCOMMIT	true	Standalone writes auto-commit on their own connection (durable + visible across a pool); explicit transactions stay atomic. Set false for strict manual-commit mode.
TINA4_AUTO_MIGRATE	true	Run pending migrations on startup when a migrations/ folder exists. Non-breaking, a failed migration is logged and the service still boots; the explicit tina4 migrate CLI stays fail-fast. Set false to disable (e.g. multi-instance production that migrates as a separate deploy step).
TINA4_DATABASE_FIREBIRD_PATH	(none)	Overrides the database path/alias parsed from TINA4_DATABASE_URL for Firebird. Useful for Windows backslash paths and split-config setups.
TINA4_ORM_PLURAL_TABLE_NAMES	false	When true, the ORM pluralises class names into table names (User → users). Default keeps them singular.

Cache

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_DB_CACHE	false	Persistent cross-request query-result cache for read queries.
TINA4_AUTO_CACHING	false	Request-scoped query cache. Off by default to avoid read-after-write staleness within a request.
TINA4_DB_CACHE_TTL	30	Persistent query cache TTL in seconds when TINA4_DB_CACHE=true.
TINA4_AUTO_CACHING_TTL	5	Request-scoped query cache TTL in seconds.
TINA4_DB_CACHE_BACKEND	memory	Backend for the persistent DB cache. Options: memory, redis, valkey, memcached.
TINA4_DB_CACHE_URL	(none)	Connection URL for a remote persistent DB cache backend.
TINA4_CACHE_BACKEND	memory	Response / KV cache backend. Options: memory, file, redis, valkey, memcached, mongodb, database. Falls back to file if the configured backend is unreachable.
TINA4_CACHE_URL	(varies by backend)	Connection URL for remote cache backends. For database, falls back to TINA4_DATABASE_URL when unset.
TINA4_CACHE_USERNAME	(empty)	Username for the cache backend. May also be embedded in TINA4_CACHE_URL.
TINA4_CACHE_PASSWORD	(empty)	Password for the cache backend. May also be embedded in TINA4_CACHE_URL (e.g. redis://:pass@host). Memcached is unauthenticated.
TINA4_CACHE_TTL	60	Default response cache TTL in seconds.
TINA4_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES	1000	Maximum cache entries. Oldest entries evicted first.
TINA4_CACHE_DIR	data/cache	Cache directory for the file backend.

Secrets and Authentication

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_SECRET	(none)	JWT/signing secret. No built-in or guessable default. In development the framework auto-mints one to .env.local; in CI/production it stays blank and the framework warns. Must be long, random, and unique per environment. Never commit.
TINA4_API_KEY	(empty)	Static bearer API key used as a fallback to JWT. Unset disables it.
TINA4_TOKEN_LIMIT	60	JWT / form-token lifetime in minutes.
TINA4_JWT_ALGORITHM	HS256	JWT signing algorithm. Supports HS256, HS384, HS512.

Sessions

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_SESSION_BACKEND	file	Storage backend. Options: file, redis, valkey, mongo, database.
TINA4_SESSION_TTL	3600	Session expiry in seconds.
TINA4_SESSION_PATH	data/sessions	Filesystem path for the file backend.
TINA4_SESSION_STRICT	false	When true, re-raises on a session backend failure instead of degrading gracefully.
TINA4_SESSION_NAME	tina4_session	Name of the session cookie sent to the browser.
TINA4_SESSION_SAMESITE	Lax	SameSite cookie attribute. Options: Strict, Lax, None.
TINA4_SESSION_HTTPONLY	true	Sets the HttpOnly cookie attribute so JavaScript on the page cannot read the session ID.
TINA4_SESSION_SECURE	false	Sets the Secure cookie attribute so the session cookie is only sent over HTTPS. Turn on in production.
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_HOST	localhost	Redis session host.
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_PORT	6379	Redis session port.
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_PASSWORD	(none)	Redis session auth password.
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_DB	0	Redis session database number.
TINA4_SESSION_VALKEY_HOST	localhost	Valkey session host.
TINA4_SESSION_VALKEY_PORT	6379	Valkey session port.
TINA4_SESSION_VALKEY_PASSWORD	(none)	Valkey session auth password.
TINA4_SESSION_VALKEY_DB	0	Valkey session database number.
TINA4_SESSION_VALKEY_PREFIX	tina4:session:	Key prefix for Valkey session entries.
TINA4_SESSION_MONGO_URL	mongodb://localhost:27017	MongoDB session connection string.
TINA4_SESSION_MONGO_DB	tina4	MongoDB session database name.
TINA4_SESSION_MONGO_COLLECTION	sessions	MongoDB session collection name.

CORS

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_CORS_ORIGINS	*	Comma-separated allowed origins. Lock down to real domains in production.
TINA4_CORS_METHODS	GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, OPTIONS	Allowed request methods.
TINA4_CORS_HEADERS	Content-Type,Authorization,X-Request-ID	Allowed request headers.
TINA4_CORS_MAX_AGE	86400	Preflight cache lifetime in seconds.
TINA4_CORS_CREDENTIALS	false	Send Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true. Opt-in, combining true with TINA4_CORS_ORIGINS=* is unsafe.

Security Headers

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_FRAME_OPTIONS	SAMEORIGIN	X-Frame-Options header. Set DENY to forbid all framing.
TINA4_HSTS	(empty/off)	Strict-Transport-Security max-age in seconds. Set 31536000 in production with HTTPS.
TINA4_CSP	default-src 'self'	Content-Security-Policy header.
TINA4_REFERRER_POLICY	strict-origin-when-cross-origin	Referrer-Policy header.
TINA4_PERMISSIONS_POLICY	camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()	Permissions-Policy header.
TINA4_CSRF	true	CSRF token validation on POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE. Enabled by default; disable with TINA4_CSRF=false.
TINA4_RATE_LIMIT	100	Maximum requests per window per IP. Set 0 to disable.
TINA4_RATE_WINDOW	60	Rate-limit window in seconds.

Localisation

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_LOCALE	en	Default locale for the I18n module.
TINA4_LOCALE_DIR	src/locales	Directory containing locale JSON files.

Email

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_MAIL_HOST	localhost	SMTP server hostname.
TINA4_MAIL_PORT	587	SMTP server port.
TINA4_MAIL_USERNAME	(empty)	SMTP authentication username.
TINA4_MAIL_PASSWORD	(empty)	SMTP authentication password.
TINA4_MAIL_FROM	(inherits username or noreply@localhost)	Default sender email address.
TINA4_MAIL_FROM_NAME	(empty)	Default sender display name.
TINA4_MAIL_ENCRYPTION	tls	Connection encryption. Options: tls, ssl, none.
TINA4_MAIL_IMAP_HOST	(empty)	IMAP server for inbound mail.
TINA4_MAIL_IMAP_PORT	993	IMAP server port.
TINA4_MAIL_IMAP_USERNAME	(inherits TINA4_MAIL_USERNAME)	IMAP authentication username.
TINA4_MAIL_IMAP_PASSWORD	(inherits TINA4_MAIL_PASSWORD)	IMAP authentication password.
TINA4_MAIL_IMAP_ENCRYPTION	tls	IMAP transport encryption. Options: tls, starttls, none. Invalid values fall back to tls.
TINA4_MAIL_TLS_INSECURE	false	When true, skips TLS certificate validation. Leave off outside trusted dev setups.
TINA4_MAILBOX_DIR	data/mailbox	Dev mailbox directory. All outbound mail lands here when TINA4_DEBUG=true.

Queues

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_QUEUE_BACKEND	file	Queue backend. Options: file, kafka, rabbitmq, mongo, database.
TINA4_QUEUE_PATH	data/queue	Filesystem path for the file backend.
TINA4_QUEUE_URL	(none)	Unified connection URL for remote backends (AMQP / Kafka / Mongo). Per-field variables below override it.
TINA4_KAFKA_BROKERS	localhost:9092	Comma-separated broker list.
TINA4_KAFKA_GROUP_ID	tina4_consumer_group	Kafka consumer group ID.
TINA4_RABBITMQ_HOST	localhost	RabbitMQ host.
TINA4_RABBITMQ_PORT	5672	RabbitMQ port.
TINA4_RABBITMQ_USERNAME	guest	RabbitMQ username.
TINA4_RABBITMQ_PASSWORD	guest	RabbitMQ password.
TINA4_RABBITMQ_VHOST	/	RabbitMQ virtual host.
TINA4_MONGO_URI	(empty)	Full MongoDB connection string. Overrides host/port when set.
TINA4_MONGO_HOST	localhost	MongoDB host.
TINA4_MONGO_PORT	27017	MongoDB port.
TINA4_MONGO_USERNAME	(empty)	MongoDB username.
TINA4_MONGO_PASSWORD	(empty)	MongoDB password.
TINA4_MONGO_DB	tina4	MongoDB database name.
TINA4_MONGO_COLLECTION	tina4_queue	MongoDB collection name for jobs.

WebSocket

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_WS_BACKPLANE	(none)	Backplane type for multi-instance broadcasts. Options: redis, nats. Empty = local-only.
TINA4_WS_BACKPLANE_URL	redis://localhost:6379	Connection URL for the chosen backplane (NATS defaults to nats://localhost:4222).
TINA4_WS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS	(empty)	Comma-separated WebSocket origin allow-list. Empty allows all origins.
TINA4_WS_IDLE_TIMEOUT	0	Idle-connection reaper interval in seconds. 0 disables it.
TINA4_WS_MAX_FRAME_SIZE	1048576	Maximum WebSocket frame size in bytes (1 MB).

GraphQL

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT	/graphql	URL path the GraphQL handler is mounted on. POST serves queries, GET serves the IDE.
TINA4_GRAPHQL_AUTO_SCHEMA	true	Auto-build the GraphQL schema from every registered ORM model on boot. Set false to define the schema manually.
TINA4_GRAPHQL_MAX_DEPTH	50	Maximum query selection depth (DoS guard). 0 or lower disables the limit.

Swagger / OpenAPI

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_SWAGGER_ENABLED	(inherits TINA4_DEBUG)	Toggle the Swagger UI independently of debug mode. Set true in production to keep API docs available.
TINA4_SWAGGER_TITLE	Tina4 API	OpenAPI spec title.
TINA4_SWAGGER_VERSION	1.0.0	OpenAPI spec version.
TINA4_SWAGGER_DESCRIPTION	(empty)	OpenAPI spec description.
TINA4_SWAGGER_CONTACT_EMAIL	(empty)	Contact email rendered in the spec's info.contact.email field.
TINA4_SWAGGER_LICENSE	(empty)	License name in the spec's info.license.name field (e.g. MIT, Apache-2.0).

Services (background tasks)

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_SERVICE_DIR	src/services	Directory scanned for service classes.
TINA4_SERVICE_SLEEP	5	Seconds the service runner sleeps between iterations.

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AI / Dev-Admin (Python today - rolling out to all)

These power the dev dashboard's AI chat, RAG code search, and the MCP developer-tools endpoint. They are fully wired in Python today and rolling out to PHP, Ruby, and Node.js for parity. The dashboard AI defaults to a local model served via Ollama - nothing leaves your machine unless you point the URLs at a remote endpoint. If you run the hosted Tina4 AI services, put their URLs in your own .env.

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_MCP	(inherits TINA4_DEBUG)	Toggle the built-in MCP dev-tools server. Set explicitly to keep the MCP endpoint exposed in a debug-disabled deployment.
TINA4_MCP_PORT	(framework port + 2000)	TCP port for the MCP server. The offset keeps it clear of the main server and the AI test port.
TINA4_MCP_REMOTE	false	The MCP dev tools auto-enable in debug mode only on localhost. Set TINA4_MCP_REMOTE=true to allow them on a non-localhost host (an explicit TINA4_MCP=true also exposes them on any host).
TINA4_AI_URL	http://localhost:11437/api/chat	OpenAI-compatible chat/completion endpoint. Ollama by default; can point at any compatible provider.
TINA4_AI_MODEL	qwen2.5-coder:14b	Model identifier the endpoint should serve.
TINA4_RAG_URL	http://localhost:11438	RAG service endpoint for framework code search.
TINA4_RAG_TOPK	4	Number of nearest-neighbour matches the RAG search returns per query.
TINA4_VISION_URL	http://localhost:11437/api/chat	Vision-model endpoint for the dev dashboard vision tools.
TINA4_EMBED_URL	http://localhost:11437/api/embeddings	Embeddings endpoint used to index the framework and src/.
TINA4_IMAGE_URL	http://localhost:11437/api/generate	Image-generation endpoint for the dev dashboard image tools.
TINA4_SUPERVISOR_URL	http://localhost:9999	URL of the Rust agent supervisor proxied by the dev dashboard. Derived from the agent/base port when unset.
TINA4_AGENT_PORT	(none)	Agent port used to derive TINA4_SUPERVISOR_URL.
TINA4_ENABLE_FEEDBACK	false	Master switch for the dev-dashboard feedback widget.
TINA4_FEEDBACK_WHITELIST	(empty)	Comma-separated allow-list of users who can submit feedback.
TINA4_FEEDBACK_DEV_USER	(empty)	Identity attached to feedback submitted from the dev dashboard.

---

Framework-specific (PHP)

These variables only the PHP framework reads.

Variable	Default	Description
TINA4_JWT_ALGORITHM	HS256	JWT signing algorithm. Supports HS256, HS384, HS512.
TINA4_SESSION_HANDLER	(inherits TINA4_SESSION_BACKEND)	Alternate session handler/backend name. Overrides TINA4_SESSION_BACKEND.
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_URL	(none)	Full redis:// URL for Redis sessions. Overrides the individual host/port fields.
TINA4_PHP_SESSION_NAME	PHPSESSID	Cookie name used by native PHP $_SESSION (separate from the framework session).
TINA4_PHP_SESSION_PATH	(basePath/data/sessions-php)	session.save_path for native PHP sessions, configured before session_start().
TINA4_WS_PORT	(inherits port)	Separate port for a standalone WebSocket server. Leave unset to share the HTTP port.

---

Configuration Recipes

The tables above list every knob. These are the setups most apps actually reach for, ready to paste into .env. Each block sets only what the feature needs. Everything else keeps its default.

PostgreSQL in production

One URL points the ORM, the migrations, and the query builder at Postgres. Credentials can ride in the URL or sit in their own variables, which keeps the password out of your shell history.

TINA4_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/myapp
TINA4_DATABASE_USERNAME=myapp
TINA4_DATABASE_PASSWORD=changeme
TINA4_DB_POOL=4

TINA4_DB_POOL=4 opens four connections and rotates across them. Leave it at 0 for a single connection on a small app.

A shared cache on Redis

The response cache and the cross-request query cache both speak to the same Redis. Point them at it and every instance shares one cache, invalidated globally on every write.

TINA4_CACHE_BACKEND=redis
TINA4_CACHE_URL=redis://localhost:6379
TINA4_DB_CACHE=true
TINA4_DB_CACHE_BACKEND=redis
TINA4_DB_CACHE_URL=redis://localhost:6379

If Redis is down or the driver is missing, the cache logs a warning and falls back to the file backend. It never silently stops caching.

Sessions that survive more than one box

The file backend is fine for a single server. Move sessions to Redis the moment you run more than one instance, so a user stays logged in whichever instance answers the next request.

TINA4_SESSION_BACKEND=redis
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_HOST=localhost
TINA4_SESSION_REDIS_PORT=6379
TINA4_SESSION_SECURE=true
TINA4_SESSION_SAMESITE=Strict

TINA4_SESSION_SECURE=true keeps the cookie off plain HTTP. Turn it on once you have TLS.

A queue on RabbitMQ or Kafka

One URL is enough for RabbitMQ; the per-field variables only exist for split configs. The queue API stays identical whichever backend you pick.

TINA4_QUEUE_BACKEND=rabbitmq
TINA4_QUEUE_URL=amqp://guest:guest@localhost:5672/

Kafka reads a broker list instead:

TINA4_QUEUE_BACKEND=kafka
TINA4_KAFKA_BROKERS=localhost:9092
TINA4_KAFKA_GROUP_ID=myapp_workers

WebSocket broadcasts across instances

A single server broadcasts in memory. Add a backplane and a message sent on one instance reaches clients connected to every other instance.

TINA4_WS_BACKPLANE=redis
TINA4_WS_BACKPLANE_URL=redis://localhost:6379
TINA4_WS_ALLOWED_ORIGINS=https://myapp.com

Set the origin allow-list in production. Empty allows every origin, which is fine in dev and risky on the public internet.

Locked-down production headers

The defaults are already safe. These four tighten the screws for a public site on HTTPS.

TINA4_CORS_ORIGINS=https://myapp.com,https://www.myapp.com
TINA4_HSTS=31536000
TINA4_FRAME_OPTIONS=DENY
TINA4_SESSION_SECURE=true

Never pair TINA4_CORS_CREDENTIALS=true with TINA4_CORS_ORIGINS=*. Name your real origins instead.

The dev dashboard AI, kept local

The dashboard AI talks to a local model through Ollama by default, so nothing leaves your machine. Point the URLs elsewhere only when you run the hosted Tina4 AI services.

TINA4_AI_URL=http://localhost:11437/api/chat
TINA4_AI_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:14b
TINA4_RAG_URL=http://localhost:11438

---

Minimal .env for Development

TINA4_DEBUG=true
TINA4_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
TINA4_NO_BROWSER=true

Debug mode lights up the Swagger UI, the dev dashboard, detailed error pages, and live reload. Keeping the browser flag on stops a new tab opening every time you save a file.

---

Minimal .env for Production

TINA4_SECRET=your-long-random-secret-here
TINA4_DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@db-host:5432/myapp
TINA4_CORS_ORIGINS=https://myapp.com,https://www.myapp.com
TINA4_HSTS=31536000
TINA4_MAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
TINA4_MAIL_PORT=587
TINA4_MAIL_USERNAME=noreply@myapp.com
TINA4_MAIL_PASSWORD=your-smtp-password
TINA4_MAIL_FROM=noreply@myapp.com

No TINA4_DEBUG. It defaults to false, which is what you want in production. Set a real secret, a real database, locked-down CORS origins, HSTS, and SMTP credentials if you send email. Everything else has a production-appropriate default.