Every BackAnt project ships with a .env file at the project root. This file is loaded at startup by python-dotenv and mapped to the Environment class in api/startup/Environment.py.
Default .env
Never commit real credentials to version control. Add .env to .gitignore and use secrets management in production.
Database variables
DB_URL should be set to postgres when running inside Docker Compose (the service name resolves as a hostname), and localhost when running Flask directly outside of Docker.
Set CLEAR_DB=True only during development. It drops all tables on every restart.
Flask variables
AWS / S3 variables
These are used by the built-in AWSClient in api/apis/aws/AWSClient.py.
AWS Cognito variables
Used when integrating Cognito for authentication.
Environment class
All variables are accessed at runtime via the myEnvironment singleton in api/startup/Environment.py. Never read os.environ directly — import from the singleton instead:
Local development without Docker
Set DB_URL=localhost and ensure PostgreSQL is running locally:
Then run Flask directly:
