Configuration

Run Compose commands from your deployment directory. Its .env supplies variables for interpolation into compose.yaml; it is not automatically forwarded wholesale to the app container.

After changing a forwarded setting, run:

docker compose config --quiet
docker compose up -d --wait

That recreates affected containers. docker compose restart alone does not apply new environment values. Avoid pasting full docker compose config output into a public issue: it contains secrets.

Deployment values in .envCopy Anchor Link

These are the values the supplied Compose file reads. Defaults below are Compose defaults, not the sample values you may have downloaded in .env.example.

Boolean settings accept the exact strings true and false; registration accepts open and closed. Invalid values can stop startup.

Advanced app-container valuesCopy Anchor Link

These are recognized by the app but are not all exposed through .env by the supplied Compose file. To customize one, edit services.app.environment in your Compose file. Coordinate service URLs, mounts and ports with the corresponding service definitions.

For example, forwarding an extra origin requires an explicit Compose entry:

services:
  app:
    environment:
      TRUSTED_ORIGINS: ${TRUSTED_ORIGINS:-}

Merge that into the existing app environment map; do not replace its required settings. Add only origins you intend to trust.

Postgres and ElectricCopy Anchor Link

The supplied Compose file sets Postgres's POSTGRES_USER=catch and POSTGRES_DB=catch; POSTGRES_PASSWORD comes from .env. Electric receives its own DATABASE_URL pointing to the same database with ?sslmode=disable on the private Compose network, plus the same ELECTRIC_SECRET.

Changing database names/users, using external services, or enabling database TLS requires editing both connection URLs and the service settings. Do not upgrade Postgres's major version by editing its image alone: the supplied configuration uses Postgres 17 and the app image includes matching backup tools. A full database-major migration procedure is not established in this repository.

Compose and host helper variablesCopy Anchor Link

CATCH_COMPOSE_DIR=/srv/catch /usr/local/bin/backup.sh list

The scripts do not source .env as a shell script. Putting CATCH_COMPOSE_DIR only in .env does not direct their initial directory search. Other Docker/Compose controls are documented in Docker's environment-variable reference.

Daily backup time, time zone, attachment inclusion and retention are stored in the database and edited under Settings > Admin > Backups, not in environment variables. There are no operator settings for semantic search or AI summaries in the current app.