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Environment Variables Configuration Guide

This document provides a comprehensive guide to all environment variables used across the Intervo application stack.

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Overview

The Intervo application uses environment variables across three main packages:
  • Backend (packages/intervo-backend/) - Node.js API server
  • Frontend (packages/intervo-frontend/) - Next.js web application
  • Widget (packages/intervo-widget/) - Embeddable widget component

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Backend Environment Variables

Based on packages/intervo-backend/env.example, create .env file:

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Core Application Settings

NODE_ENV=development
SESSION_SECRET=your-super-secret-session-key
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=your-jwt-secret-key
ENCRYPTION_KEY=your-32-character-encryption-key

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Database

MONGO_URI=mongodb://admin:password123@localhost:27017/intervo?authSource=admin

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Twilio Communication

TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=ACxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=your-twilio-auth-token
TWILIO_API_KEY=SKxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TWILIO_API_SECRET=your-twilio-api-secret
TWILIO_APP_SID=APxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER=+1234567890

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AI Services

OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-api-key
GROQ_API_KEY=gsk_your-groq-api-key
AI_FLOW_API_KEY=your-ai-flow-key

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Speech Services

ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY=your-assemblyai-api-key
AZURE_SPEECH_KEY=your-azure-speech-key
AZURE_SPEECH_REGION=eastus
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-elevenlabs-api-key
ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID=21m00Tcm4TlvDq8ikWAM

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Cloud Storage

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
AWS_REGION=us-east-1

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Google Services

GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id.googleusercontent.com
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret

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Frontend Environment Variables

Create .env.local in packages/intervo-frontend/: 
NODE_ENV=development
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT=http://localhost:3001
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_PRODUCTION=https://api.yourdomain.com
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_your-stripe-publishable-key

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Widget Environment Variables

Create .env in packages/intervo-widget/: 
VITE_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT=http://localhost:3001
VITE_API_URL_PRODUCTION=https://api.yourdomain.com

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Quick Development Setup

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1. Backend Setup

# Copy example file
cp packages/intervo-backend/env.example packages/intervo-backend/.env

# Edit with minimum required variables:
NODE_ENV=development
MONGO_URI=mongodb://admin:password123@localhost:27017/intervo?authSource=admin
SESSION_SECRET=dev-session-secret-minimum-32-chars
NEXTAUTH_SECRET=dev-jwt-secret-minimum-32-characters
ENCRYPTION_KEY=dev-encryption-key-exactly-32-chars

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2. Frontend Setup

# Create frontend environment file
cat > packages/intervo-frontend/.env.local << EOF
NODE_ENV=development
NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT=http://localhost:3001
EOF

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3. Widget Setup

# Create widget environment file
cat > packages/intervo-widget/.env << EOF
VITE_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT=http://localhost:3001
EOF

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Service Integration Guides

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Twilio Setup

  1. Create account at Twilio
  2. Get Account SID and Auth Token from Console
  3. Create API Key and Secret
  4. Purchase phone number
  5. Create TwiML Application

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OpenAI Setup

  1. Create account at OpenAI
  2. Generate API key from dashboard
  3. Set usage limits and billing

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Stripe Setup

  1. Create account at Stripe
  2. Get publishable and secret keys
  3. Set up webhook endpoints
  4. Configure test/production modes

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Speech Services

  • AssemblyAI: Get API key from AssemblyAI
  • Azure Speech: Create Speech service in Azure portal
  • ElevenLabs: Get API key from ElevenLabs

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Environment-Specific Configuration

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Development

  • Use test/sandbox API keys
  • Local database connection
  • HTTP URLs acceptable

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Production

  • Production API keys only
  • Secure database connection
  • HTTPS URLs required
  • Strong secrets (32+ characters)

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Security Best Practices

  1. Never commit .env files to version control
  2. Use different API keys per environment
  3. Rotate secrets regularly
  4. Use secure secret management in production

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Troubleshooting

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Common Issues

  1. Missing environment variables: Check server logs for undefined errors
  2. Frontend API connection: Verify NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT
  3. Database connection: Check MONGO_URI format and MongoDB status
  4. Widget not loading: Rebuild after environment changes

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Debugging

// Backend - check environment loading
console.log('Environment check:', {
  NODE_ENV: process.env.NODE_ENV,
  MONGO_URI: process.env.MONGO_URI ? 'Set' : 'Missing'
});

// Frontend - check public variables
console.log('Frontend env:', {
  API_URL: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT
});

// Widget - check Vite variables
console.log('Widget env:', {
  API_URL: import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT
});

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Complete Variable Reference

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Backend Variables (23 total from env.example)

VariableRequiredPurpose
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID✅Twilio account identifier
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN✅Twilio authentication
TWILIO_API_KEY✅Twilio API access
TWILIO_API_SECRET✅Twilio API security
TWILIO_APP_SID✅Twilio application ID
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER✅Twilio phone number
OPENAI_API_KEY✅OpenAI API access
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID✅AWS access credentials
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY✅AWS secret credentials
AWS_REGION✅AWS region setting
MONGO_URI✅MongoDB connection
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID✅Google OAuth ID
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET✅Google OAuth secret
SESSION_SECRET✅Session encryption
NEXTAUTH_SECRET✅JWT token secret
NODE_ENV✅Environment mode
ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY✅Speech recognition
AI_FLOW_API_KEY❌AI workflow service
GROQ_API_KEY✅Groq AI service
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY✅Text-to-speech
ELEVENLABS_VOICE_ID❌Default voice
AZURE_SPEECH_KEY✅Azure speech service
AZURE_SPEECH_REGION✅Azure region

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Additional Backend Variables (Found in codebase)

  • STRIPE_SECRET_KEY - Stripe payment processing
  • STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET - Stripe webhook validation
  • BASE_URL - Application base domain
  • ENCRYPTION_KEY - Data encryption key
  • HETZNER_STORAGE_* - Hetzner cloud storage
  • DEEPGRAM_API_KEY - Deepgram speech service
  • VOYAGE_API_KEY - Voyage embeddings
  • MAILCOACH_TOKEN - Email marketing

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Frontend Variables

  • NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT - Dev API endpoint
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL_PRODUCTION - Prod API endpoint
  • NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY - Stripe public key

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Widget Variables

  • VITE_API_URL_DEVELOPMENT - Dev API endpoint
  • VITE_API_URL_PRODUCTION - Prod API endpoint
This configuration enables the complete Intervo application stack with all integrations. Adjust API keys and endpoints based on your specific deployment requirements.