Settings

Holdall reads its settings from environment variables. With Docker, put them in a .env file next to docker-compose.yml: copy .env.example to .env and fill it in. With Coolify, add them in the Environment Variables tab.

Holdall refuses to start when a setting is invalid, and prints which one and why.

Required on a server

Variable	What to put
APP_URL	The address people type to reach Holdall, for example https://holdall.example.com.
APP_SECRET	A random string of at least 32 characters. It signs sessions and encrypts saved passwords and tokens. Never change it after the first start, or saved calendar connections stop working.

Generate a secret in PowerShell:

$b = New-Object byte[] 48; [Security.Cryptography.RandomNumberGenerator]::Create().GetBytes($b); [Convert]::ToBase64String($b)

Or on a Linux server:

openssl rand -base64 48

All settings

Variable	Default	Meaning
APP_URL	http://localhost:3000	Public address of the instance, used for links and cookies.
APP_SECRET	none	Secret for sessions and encryption. See above.
DATA_DIR	./data in development, /data in Docker	Where the database and every user file are stored.
PORT	3000	Port the server listens on.
HOLDALL_TARGET	server	server for Docker and browsers, desktop for the desktop app.
ALLOW_REGISTRATION	false	Let anyone who reaches the instance create an account. When false, people join with an invitation link. An admin can also change this in Admin.
TRUST_PROXY	false	Set to true only behind a reverse proxy. See Reverse proxy.
TRUST_PROXY_HEADER	auto	Which header holds the visitor’s address behind the proxy. See Reverse proxy.
DEMO_MODE	false	Public demo with throwaway accounts. Never on real data. See Public demo.
DEMO_RESET_MINUTES	60	Lifetime of a demo account, at least 5.
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	empty	Google Calendar sync. See Calendar sync.
MICROSOFT_CLIENT_ID, MICROSOFT_CLIENT_SECRET, MICROSOFT_TENANT_ID	empty, empty, common	Outlook and Microsoft 365 sync.
ALLOW_UNSAFE_PLUGINS	false on a server, true on the desktop app	Allow plugins with dangerous permissions (system, fs:host, process:spawn, network:direct). Such a plugin can read every account’s data. See Permissions.
PLUGIN_REGISTRY_URL	official registry	Address of the plugin store index, if you use a mirror.
MAX_CONCURRENT_JOBS	2	Background jobs (downloads, conversions, sync) that run at the same time.
MAX_UPLOAD_MB	500	Largest file a person can upload.
YTDLP_AUTO_UPDATE	true	Keep yt-dlp up to date on the desktop app.
YTDLP_PATH, FFMPEG_PATH	empty	Paths to yt-dlp and ffmpeg. The Docker image sets them.

The first account

The first visit to a new instance shows a setup page that creates the admin account. That page only works while no account exists. After that, the admin invites other people from Admin (see First steps).