Configuration

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`

POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=test
POSTGRES_DB=postgres
DB_URL=postgres
CLEAR_DB=False
FLASK_APP=app.py
FLASK_ENV=development
TESTING=False

Never commit real credentials to version control. Add .env to .gitignore and use secrets management in production.

Database variables

Variable	Description	Default
`POSTGRES_USER`	PostgreSQL username	`postgres`
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	PostgreSQL password	`test`
`POSTGRES_DB`	Database name	`postgres`
`DB_URL`	Hostname of the PostgreSQL server	`postgres` (Docker service name)
`CLEAR_DB`	Drop and recreate all tables on startup	`False`

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

Variable	Description	Default
`FLASK_APP`	Entry point for Flask	`app.py`
`FLASK_ENV`	`development` enables debug mode and reloader	`development`
`TESTING`	Enables test mode in Flask	`False`

AWS / S3 variables

These are used by the built-in AWSClient in api/apis/aws/AWSClient.py.

Variable	Description
`S3_ACCESS_KEY`	AWS access key ID
`S3_SECRET_KEY`	AWS secret access key

AWS Cognito variables

Used when integrating Cognito for authentication.

Variable	Description
`COGNITO_REGION`	AWS region (e.g. `eu-central-1`)
`COGNITO_USERPOOL_ID`	Cognito User Pool ID
`COGNITO_APP_CLIENT_ID`	Cognito App Client ID
`COGNITO_APP_CLIENT_SECRET`	Cognito App Client Secret
`COGNITO_ACCESS_KEY_ID`	IAM access key with Cognito permissions
`COGNITO_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`	Corresponding IAM secret key

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:

from startup.Environment import myEnvironment

db_url = myEnvironment.DB_URL
region = myEnvironment.COGNITO_REGION

Local development without Docker

Set DB_URL=localhost and ensure PostgreSQL is running locally:

DB_URL=localhost
POSTGRES_USER=postgres
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=test
POSTGRES_DB=postgres
CLEAR_DB=False

Then run Flask directly:

cd my-api
flask run

Getting Started

Deployment

Changelog

Default `.env`

Database variables

Flask variables

AWS / S3 variables

AWS Cognito variables

Environment class

Local development without Docker

Default .env

Database variables

Flask variables

AWS / S3 variables

AWS Cognito variables

Environment class

Local development without Docker

Default `.env`