Environment Variables

Required

Both API keys plus one database credential path — either the single superuser DSN or the scoped owner/auth pair — must be set before inz serve will start. inz dev generates the two keys for you on first run.

Variable	Description
INSTANCEZ_DATABASE_URL	Superuser Postgres DSN (e.g. postgres://postgres:password@localhost:5432/mydb). The CLI provisions all required roles (instancez_owner, authenticator, anon, authenticated, service_role) automatically on startup. This is what inz init scaffolds for local dev.
INSTANCEZ_OWNER_DATABASE_URL + INSTANCEZ_AUTH_DATABASE_URL	Alternative to INSTANCEZ_DATABASE_URL: a pre-provisioned instancez_owner DSN and a pre-provisioned authenticator DSN, used instead of a superuser login. This is the path inz init writes into .production.env, and the one typically used in production where a superuser DSN isn’t available.
INSTANCEZ_PUBLISHABLE_KEY	Publishable API key (value like inz_publishable_…). Client-safe, maps to the anon role, and is what client apps pass. Sent in the apikey header. Also settable with --publishable-key.
INSTANCEZ_SECRET_KEY	Secret API key (value like inz_secret_…). Server-side only, maps to service_role, and unlocks the admin API and dashboard login. Sent in the apikey header. Also settable with --secret-key. Leave unset to disable the admin routes (they return 404).

Config and watch

Variable	Flag equivalent	Default	Description
INSTANCEZ_CONFIG	--config	instancez.yaml	Config source. Accepts a local file path or an s3://bucket/key URI.
INSTANCEZ_BUNDLE	--bundle	—	Bundle source (config + function source in one archive), built with inz bundle. Accepts a local path or s3://bucket/key. Takes the place of INSTANCEZ_CONFIG when set.
INSTANCEZ_WATCH	--watch	false	Re-apply config when the source changes. For S3 sources, polls on the watch interval.
INSTANCEZ_WATCH_INTERVAL	--watch-interval	60s	Poll interval for S3 config sources. Minimum 10 s.

Server

Variable	Flag equivalent	Default	Description
INSTANCEZ_PORT	--port	8080 (from config)	HTTP listen port. Overrides the value in instancez.yaml.
INSTANCEZ_BASE_URL	—	http://localhost:<port>	Base URL used to build links in auth emails (verification, magic link, password recovery). Set this to your public URL in production.

Database role names

By default instancez maps the fixed JWT wire values (anon, authenticated, service_role) to Postgres roles of the same names. These variables let you use different Postgres role names while keeping the JWT wire protocol unchanged.

Variable	Default Postgres role	Description
INSTANCEZ_DB_AUTHENTICATOR_ROLE	authenticator	Login role for the request pool
INSTANCEZ_DB_ANON_ROLE	anon	Role assumed for unauthenticated requests
INSTANCEZ_DB_AUTHENTICATED_ROLE	authenticated	Role assumed for requests with a valid user JWT
INSTANCEZ_DB_SERVICE_ROLE	service_role	Role assumed for requests authenticated with the secret key; has BYPASSRLS
INSTANCEZ_DB_SEED_ROLE	— (empty)	Optional Postgres role to run seed statements as. Unlike the roles above, there’s no default — leave unset unless you have a specific seeding role provisioned.

The JWT role claim values (anon, authenticated, service_role) are part of the Supabase wire protocol and are never renamed, regardless of the Postgres role names you configure here.

Dashboard

Variable	Flag equivalent	Default	Description
INSTANCEZ_DASHBOARD	--dashboard	disabled	Dashboard mode: disabled, readonly, or readwrite. Enable readwrite only in trusted environments.
INSTANCEZ_DASHBOARD_WRITE_DOTENV	--dashboard-write-dotenv	false	Allow the dashboard to write secrets to a .env file. Requires INSTANCEZ_DOTENV_PATH.
INSTANCEZ_DOTENV_PATH	--dotenv-path	—	Path to the .env file the dashboard may write when INSTANCEZ_DASHBOARD_WRITE_DOTENV is set.

Storage providers

Storage provider credentials are set in instancez.yaml under providers.storage. Use ${VAR} interpolation to reference environment variables without hardcoding secrets:

providers:
  storage:
    type: s3
    bucket: ${INSTANCEZ_S3_BUCKET}
    region: ${INSTANCEZ_S3_REGION}
    access_key_id: ${INSTANCEZ_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID}
    secret_access_key: ${INSTANCEZ_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
    endpoint: ${INSTANCEZ_S3_ENDPOINT}  # optional; for S3-compatible stores

instancez interpolates ${VAR} references in instancez.yaml at load time. Any environment variable name works; the names above are conventions.

One variable is read directly from the process environment (no YAML reference needed):

Variable	Description
INSTANCEZ_STORAGE_KEY_PREFIX	Optional prefix prepended to all object keys in the storage bucket. Useful for sharing a bucket across environments.

Email providers

Email provider credentials follow the same YAML interpolation pattern:

providers:
  email:
    type: resend
    api_key: ${INSTANCEZ_RESEND_API_KEY}

Set INSTANCEZ_RESEND_API_KEY (or any name you choose) in the environment and reference it in instancez.yaml.

Config S3 credentials

When INSTANCEZ_CONFIG points to an S3 URI, a separate set of variables controls the S3 client used to fetch the config file. These are distinct from the storage-provider credentials above.

Variable	Description
S3_REGION	AWS region of the config bucket
S3_ENDPOINT	Custom endpoint for S3-compatible stores
S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	Access key ID
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	Secret access key

If these are unset, the S3 client falls back to the standard credential chain (IAM role, ~/.aws/credentials, etc.).

Code function secrets

Environment variables passed to code functions use the INSTANCEZ_ENV_ prefix. Reference them in instancez.yaml under a function’s env: block:

functions:
  my-function:
    runtime: node
    file: functions/my-function.js
    env:
      STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: ${INSTANCEZ_ENV_STRIPE_SECRET_KEY}
      DATABASE_URL: ${INSTANCEZ_ENV_DATABASE_URL}

Only variables matching the pattern INSTANCEZ_ENV_* are forwarded to function workers. They are never written to the worker process environment directly; they are passed via a secure in-memory channel. Set them in the host environment (or .production.env) and reference them with ${INSTANCEZ_ENV_YOUR_KEY} in the YAML.

Migrations

Variable	Flag equivalent	Default	Description
INSTANCEZ_MIGRATE	--migrate	false	Run pending schema migrations on startup
INSTANCEZ_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE	--allow-destructive	false	Permit DROP TABLE and DROP COLUMN in migrations. inz serve rejects a plan that drops a table or column unless this is set. inz dev permits drops regardless and logs each one.

Cloud

Variable	Description
INSTANCEZ_CLOUD_API	Overrides the cloud API base URL used by inz cloud commands. Defaults to https://my.instancez.ai/api.
INSTANCEZ_CLOUD_PAT	Personal access token for inz cloud commands, read directly from the environment. Lets CI authenticate without a ~/.instancez/credentials file — see Cloud deploys.