PlunkPlunk
Self-Hosting

Environment Variables

Configuration reference

Security & Database

VariableRequiredDescriptionExample
JWT_SECRETYesSecret key used to sign JWT tokens. Generate with openssl rand -base64 32.s3cr3t...
DB_PASSWORDYesPostgreSQL database password. Used by the Docker Compose setup.changeme123
DATABASE_URLYesFull PostgreSQL connection string. Auto-configured in Docker.postgresql://plunk:password@postgres:5432/plunk
REDIS_URLYesRedis connection string.redis://redis:6379
PORTNoPort the API server listens on.8080 (default)

URLs & Domains

Set your subdomains here. The application automatically derives all internal and client-side URLs from these at container startup — you don't need to set *_URI or NEXT_PUBLIC_* variables manually.

VariableRequiredDescriptionExample
API_DOMAINYesSubdomain for the API server.api.yourdomain.com
DASHBOARD_DOMAINYesSubdomain for the dashboard app.app.yourdomain.com
LANDING_DOMAINYesSubdomain for the landing page.www.yourdomain.com
WIKI_DOMAINYesSubdomain for the documentation site.docs.yourdomain.com
USE_HTTPSNoSet to true when running behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy. Used to construct URLs with the correct protocol.false (default)

AWS SES

VariableRequiredDescriptionExample
AWS_SES_REGIONYesAWS region where SES is configured.us-east-1
AWS_SES_ACCESS_KEY_IDYesAWS access key ID with SES send permissions.AKIA...
AWS_SES_SECRET_ACCESS_KEYYesAWS secret access key for SES.wJalr...
SES_CONFIGURATION_SETNoSES configuration set name used for open/click tracking.plunk-configuration-set (default)
SES_CONFIGURATION_SET_NO_TRACKINGNoA second SES configuration set without tracking. When set, projects can toggle email tracking on/off. If omitted, the tracking toggle is hidden.plunk-no-tracking-configuration-set (default)

Storage (Minio)

The bundled Docker setup includes Minio with defaults that work out of the box. Only change these when connecting to an external S3-compatible bucket.

VariableRequiredDescriptionDefault
MINIO_ROOT_USERNoMinio root username (Docker Compose only).plunk
MINIO_ROOT_PASSWORDNoMinio root password (Docker Compose only).plunkminiopass
MINIO_API_PORTNoPort for the Minio API (Docker Compose only).9000
MINIO_CONSOLE_PORTNoPort for the Minio console UI (Docker Compose only).9001
S3_ENDPOINTNoS3 or Minio endpoint URL.http://minio:9000
S3_ACCESS_KEY_IDNoS3 or Minio access key.
S3_ACCESS_KEY_SECRETNoS3 or Minio secret key.
S3_BUCKETNoBucket name for file uploads.uploads
S3_PUBLIC_URLNoPublicly accessible base URL for stored files.
S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLENoUse path-style URLs instead of virtual-hosted. Required for Minio.true

SMTP Server

The optional SMTP relay lets you send emails through Plunk via the SMTP protocol.

VariableRequiredDescriptionDefault
SMTP_DOMAINNoSMTP relay domain. Required when using Traefik's acme.json with multiple certificates so the correct cert can be selected.localhost
SMTP_ENABLEDNoExplicitly enable SMTP features in the UI. Automatically enabled when SMTP_DOMAIN is set to a non-localhost value in production.false
PORT_SECURENoSMTPS port (implicit TLS).465
PORT_SUBMISSIONNoSMTP submission port (STARTTLS).587
MAX_RECIPIENTSNoMaximum number of recipients per email.5

OAuth

Enables social login. Register an OAuth app with each provider and add the credentials here.

VariableRequiredDescription
GITHUB_OAUTH_CLIENTNoGitHub OAuth app client ID.
GITHUB_OAUTH_SECRETNoGitHub OAuth app client secret.
GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENTNoGoogle OAuth app client ID.
GOOGLE_OAUTH_SECRETNoGoogle OAuth app client secret.

Stripe

Required if you want to enable billing features. All Stripe variables must be set together for billing to activate.

VariableRequiredDescription
STRIPE_SKNoStripe secret key.
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRETNoStripe webhook signing secret for verifying events.
STRIPE_PRICE_ONBOARDINGNoStripe price ID for the one-time onboarding fee.
STRIPE_PRICE_EMAIL_USAGENoStripe price ID for metered pay-per-email usage.
STRIPE_METER_EVENT_NAMENoStripe meter event name.

Platform Emails

When configured, Plunk will send email notifications to users for critical events (e.g. project disabled, billing limits reached). Without these, only ntfy notifications are sent.

VariableRequiredDescriptionExample
PLUNK_API_KEYNoAPI key for a Plunk instance to send transactional emails.pk_...
PLUNK_FROM_ADDRESSNoFrom address used for platform notification emails.noreply@yourdomain.com

Notifications (ntfy)

Plunk bundles a self-hosted ntfy server for internal system notifications.

VariableRequiredDescriptionDefault
NTFY_PORTNoPort for the ntfy web UI (Docker Compose only).8080
NTFY_URLNontfy topic URL. Change this to use an external ntfy.sh server or your own instance.http://ntfy/plunk-notifications

User Management

VariableRequiredDescriptionDefault
DISABLE_SIGNUPSNoWhen true, the signup endpoint rejects new registrations. Useful for private instances.false
VERIFY_EMAIL_ON_SIGNUPNoWhen true, validates emails on signup — checks for disposable domains, plus-addressing, domain existence, and MX records.false

Security

VariableRequiredDescriptionDefault
AUTO_PROJECT_DISABLENoWhen true, projects are automatically suspended when bounce or complaint rate thresholds are exceeded. Set to false to manage project status manually.true
EMAIL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_SECONDNoOverride the email sending rate limit. If not set, Plunk automatically fetches the quota from your AWS SES account.