Environment Variables

EaseLMS uses environment variables to configure various services and integrations. This guide provides a complete reference for all available variables.

Setup Instructions

Create a .env.local file in the apps/lms/ directory of your project:

cd apps/lms
touch .env.local

Never commit .env.local to version control. It’s already included in .gitignore.

Required Variables

These variables are essential for EaseLMS to function:

Supabase Configuration

# Supabase Project URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_project_url

# Supabase Anonymous Key (safe to expose in client)
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key

# Supabase Service Role Key (keep secret!)
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=your_supabase_service_role_key

Get Supabase credentials

Go to your Supabase project dashboard
Navigate to Settings → API
Copy the Project URL and API keys

Add to .env.local

Paste the values into your .env.local file

The SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY has full database access. Never expose it in client-side code or commit it to version control.

Application URL

# The URL where your application is accessible
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

For production, change this to your actual domain:

NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

Optional Variables

These variables enable additional features:

AWS S3 Storage

Required for uploading course videos, images, and resources.

# AWS Region
AWS_REGION=us-east-1

# AWS Access Credentials
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_aws_access_key
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_aws_secret_key

# S3 Bucket Name
AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME=your_bucket_name

# CloudFront Domain (optional, for CDN)
AWS_CLOUDFRONT_DOMAIN=your_cloudfront_domain

While optional for development, AWS S3 is highly recommended for production to handle file uploads and video streaming.

Payment Gateways

Enable course payments through Stripe and Flutterwave.

Stripe

# Stripe Secret Key (server-side)
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...

# Stripe Publishable Key (client-side)
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...

Get Stripe keys

Sign up at stripe.com
Go to Developers → API keys
Copy both the secret and publishable keys

Use test keys for development

Use keys starting with sk_test_ and pk_test_ for development. Switch to live keys (sk_live_ and pk_live_) for production.

Flutterwave

Popular for African markets with multi-currency support.

# Flutterwave Secret Key (server-side)
FLUTTERWAVE_SECRET_KEY=your_flutterwave_secret_key

# Flutterwave Public Key (client-side)
NEXT_PUBLIC_FLUTTERWAVE_PUBLIC_KEY=your_flutterwave_public_key

Currency Exchange Rates

Enable automatic currency conversion using exchangerate-api.com.

EXCHANGERATE_API_KEY=your_exchangerate_api_key

Get a free API key at exchangerate-api.com. The free tier provides 1,500 requests per month.

Email Notifications (SendGrid)

Enable automated email notifications for users and admins.

# SendGrid API Key
SENDGRID_API_KEY=your_sendgrid_api_key

# From Email Address
SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com

# From Name
SENDGRID_FROM_NAME=EaseLMS

# Reply-To Address
SENDGRID_REPLY_TO=support@yourdomain.com

Create SendGrid account

Generate API key

Go to Settings → API Keys
Click Create API Key
Give it full access to Mail Send
Copy the key (shown only once)

Verify sender email

Go to Settings → Sender Authentication
Verify your domain or single sender email
Use the verified email as SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL

Email Types Sent

When configured, EaseLMS automatically sends: User Emails:

Welcome email on signup
Course enrollment confirmation
Course completion notification
Certificate ready notification
Payment confirmation
Payment failed alert

Admin Emails:

New enrollment notification
New payment notification
Course completion notification

Environment Variable Reference

Complete Example

Here’s a complete .env.local file with all variables:

# ============================================
# REQUIRED - Supabase
# ============================================
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://xxxxx.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJhbGc...
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY=eyJhbGc...

# ============================================
# REQUIRED - Application
# ============================================
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

# ============================================
# OPTIONAL - AWS S3 Storage
# ============================================
AWS_REGION=us-east-1
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA...
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalr...
AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME=easelms-uploads
AWS_CLOUDFRONT_DOMAIN=d123456.cloudfront.net

# ============================================
# OPTIONAL - Payment Gateways
# ============================================
# Stripe
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...

# Flutterwave
FLUTTERWAVE_SECRET_KEY=FLWSECK_TEST-...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FLUTTERWAVE_PUBLIC_KEY=FLWPUBK_TEST-...

# ============================================
# OPTIONAL - Currency Exchange
# ============================================
EXCHANGERATE_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# ============================================
# OPTIONAL - Email (SendGrid)
# ============================================
SENDGRID_API_KEY=SG.xxx...
SENDGRID_FROM_EMAIL=noreply@yourdomain.com
SENDGRID_FROM_NAME=EaseLMS
SENDGRID_REPLY_TO=support@yourdomain.com

Variable Naming Conventions

Public vs Private Variables

NEXT_PUBLIC_* - Safe to expose to the browser, accessible in client-side code
No prefix - Server-side only, never sent to the client

Never prefix sensitive keys (like SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY or STRIPE_SECRET_KEY) with NEXT_PUBLIC_ as this would expose them in the browser.

Development vs Production

Development Setup

# Use localhost
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000

# Use test/sandbox keys for payments
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
FLUTTERWAVE_SECRET_KEY=FLWSECK_TEST-...

Production Setup

# Use your actual domain
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=https://yourdomain.com

# Use live/production keys
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
FLUTTERWAVE_SECRET_KEY=FLWSECK-...

Deployment Platforms

Different platforms have different ways to set environment variables:

Vercel

Go to your project settings
Navigate to Environment Variables
Add each variable with appropriate environment (Production/Preview/Development)
Redeploy to apply changes

Railway

Open your project
Go to Variables tab
Add each variable
Changes apply automatically on next deployment

Docker

Use an .env file or pass variables in docker-compose.yml:

services:
  app:
    environment:
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL}
      - NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=${NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY}
      # ... other variables

Security Best Practices

Never commit .env.local or .env files to version control
Use different keys for development and production
Rotate keys regularly, especially after team member changes
Use secrets management in production (AWS Secrets Manager, etc.)
Limit key permissions to only what’s needed
Monitor usage of API keys for unusual activity

Troubleshooting

Variables not loading

Restart the development server after changing .env.local
Ensure the file is in the correct location: apps/lms/.env.local
Check for syntax errors (no spaces around =)

Public variables undefined in browser

Make sure they start with NEXT_PUBLIC_ and restart the dev server.

AWS/Stripe/SendGrid not working

Verify:

Keys are correct and not expired
Services are enabled in their respective dashboards
For Stripe: webhook endpoints are configured
For SendGrid: sender email is verified

Next Steps

After configuring your environment variables:

Get Started

Core Features

Guides

Advanced

Environment Variables

Setup Instructions

Required Variables

Supabase Configuration

Application URL

Optional Variables

AWS S3 Storage

Payment Gateways

Stripe

Flutterwave

Currency Exchange Rates

Email Notifications (SendGrid)

Email Types Sent

Environment Variable Reference

Complete Example

Variable Naming Conventions

Public vs Private Variables

Development vs Production

Development Setup

Production Setup

Deployment Platforms

Vercel

Railway

Docker

Security Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Variables not loading

Public variables undefined in browser

AWS/Stripe/SendGrid not working

Next Steps

​Setup Instructions

​Required Variables

​Supabase Configuration

​Application URL

​Optional Variables

​AWS S3 Storage

​Payment Gateways

​Stripe

​Flutterwave

​Currency Exchange Rates

​Email Notifications (SendGrid)

​Email Types Sent

​Environment Variable Reference

​Complete Example

​Variable Naming Conventions

​Public vs Private Variables

​Development vs Production

​Development Setup

​Production Setup

​Deployment Platforms

​Vercel

​Railway

​Docker

​Security Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Variables not loading

​Public variables undefined in browser

​AWS/Stripe/SendGrid not working

​Next Steps

Setup Instructions

Required Variables

Supabase Configuration

Application URL

Optional Variables

AWS S3 Storage

Payment Gateways

Stripe

Flutterwave

Currency Exchange Rates

Email Notifications (SendGrid)

Email Types Sent

Environment Variable Reference

Complete Example

Variable Naming Conventions

Public vs Private Variables

Development vs Production

Development Setup

Production Setup

Deployment Platforms

Vercel

Railway

Docker

Security Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Variables not loading

Public variables undefined in browser

AWS/Stripe/SendGrid not working

Next Steps