OWC

Railway Environments

This project uses the same code in test and production. Only Railway variables differ.

Canonical variable definitions live in ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES.md. Use this file as the Railway-specific runbook.

Test Environment Variables

Set these in the Railway test environment:

ENVIRONMENT=test
DEBUG=false
APP_VERSION=1.0.0
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

DATABASE_URL=$
SQL_ECHO=false
DB_POOL_SIZE=20
DB_MAX_OVERFLOW=10
DB_POOL_TIMEOUT=30
DB_POOL_RECYCLE=3600

FRONTEND_URL=
API_BASE_URL=

CORS_ORIGINS=
CORS_ORIGIN_REGEX=
CORS_ALLOW_CREDENTIALS=true
CORS_ALLOW_METHODS=*
CORS_ALLOW_HEADERS=*

EMAIL_ENABLED=true
ENABLE_EMAILS=true
EMAIL_PROVIDER=mailersend
EMAIL_FROM=info@example.com
EMAIL_FROM_NAME=Open Work Culture
EMAIL_REPLY_TO=info@example.com
MAILERSEND_API_KEY=<set-in-railway-secret>

VERIFICATION_TOKEN_EXPIRY_MINUTES=1440
VERIFICATION_TOKEN_LENGTH=8

MIN_RESPONSES_FOR_PUBLIC_RESULTS=5
MIN_RESPONSES_PER_COMPANY=5
MIN_RESPONSES_PER_LOCATION=5

ENABLE_REPORT_DOWNLOAD=true
ENABLE_AI_ANALYSIS=true
ENABLE_COMPANY_REPORTS=true
ENABLE_BACKGROUND_TASKS=true

OPENAI_API_KEY=
OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5.5

Production Environment Differences

Use the same variable names as test. Typical production differences:

ENVIRONMENT=production
FRONTEND_URL=
API_BASE_URL=
CORS_ORIGINS=

Use production-only secrets for:

• DATABASE_URL
• MAILERSEND_API_KEY
• OPENAI_API_KEY (if AI is enabled)

Variables That Usually Differ By Environment

• ENVIRONMENT
• FRONTEND_URL
• API_BASE_URL
• CORS_ORIGINS
• DATABASE_URL
• MAILERSEND_API_KEY
• OPENAI_API_KEY

Secrets That Must Never Be Committed

• DATABASE_URL
• RESEND_API_KEY
• OPENAI_API_KEY
• Any provider token or password

Safe Copy Strategy

1. Export or copy variables from test.
2. Paste into production environment in Railway.
3. Replace only environment-specific values and production secrets.
4. Keep variable names unchanged.

Source Of Truth

• Variable meaning, defaults, and validation rules: ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES.md
• Railway test/prod operational setup: this file

Important Railway Behavior

• Local .env files are not automatically used by Railway.
• Changing Railway variables usually triggers a redeploy.

How To Verify Active Environment Safely

• Check ENVIRONMENT in Railway service variables.
• Confirm FRONTEND_URL and API_BASE_URL match the intended environment.
• Verify CORS values for the target frontend domain.
• Avoid printing secrets in logs or debugging output.