serverpod-configuration

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Configure Serverpod — YAML config, environment variables, passwords, run modes, generator.yaml, TLS. Use when setting up environments, API/database/Redis settings, managing secrets or overriding configurations for tests.

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Sourceserverpod/serverpod

Added on2026-09-06

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add serverpod/serverpod serverpod-configuration

SKILL.md Content

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Serverpod Configuration

Priority (highest wins): Dart config object > environment variables > YAML config files. The config uses YAML files that live in

config/

. Secrets are in

config/passwords.yaml

or env vars with

SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_

prefix.

Run mode

Config files by mode:

config/development.yaml

,

config/staging.yaml

,

config/production.yaml

,

config/test.yaml

. Set via

--mode

when starting server or

SERVERPOD_RUN_MODE

(default:

development

).

API server (minimum)

yaml

apiServer:
  port: 8080
  publicHost: localhost
  publicPort: 8080
  publicScheme: http

publicHost

/

publicPort

/

publicScheme

are used for URLs returned to clients.

Database

It is possible to use either PostgreSQL or SQLite as the database.

PostgreSQL

yaml

database:
  host: localhost
  port: 8090
  name: my_project
  user: postgres
  dataPath: .serverpod/development/pgdata  # embedded database, see below

Password in

passwords.yaml

under run mode or

SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_database

. Optional:

searchPaths

,

maxConnectionCount

,

requireSsl

,

isUnixSocket

.

Embedded PostgreSQL: with

dataPath

set, Serverpod launches and manages a PostgreSQL instance in that directory, so nothing has to be installed or run separately. New projects use it for development and testing.

serverpod database start [--mode <mode>] [--port <port>]

boots the same database on its own, without the server.

Without

dataPath

the database is external, and

serverpod start

starts Docker Compose services when the project has a compose file and PostgreSQL is on localhost (

--docker

/

--no-docker

override this).

SQLite

yaml

database:
  filePath: my_project.sqlite

No password is needed for SQLite.

Redis

redis.enabled

,

redis.host

,

redis.port

; password via

SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_redis

.

Secrets (passwords.yaml)

Structure:

shared:

(all modes) + per-mode (

development:

,

production:

, etc.). Built-in keys:

database

,

redis

,

serviceSecret

. Custom keys available via

session.passwords['key']

or

pod.getPassword('key')

.

The built-in passwords also have dedicated environment variables:

SERVERPOD_DATABASE_PASSWORD

,

SERVERPOD_REDIS_PASSWORD

and

SERVERPOD_SERVICE_SECRET

. Any password, built-in or custom, can also be set with the

SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_

prefix.

bash

export SERVERPOD_PASSWORD_stripeApiKey=sk_live_...  # → session.passwords['stripeApiKey']

Never commit real secrets; use env vars in production.

generator.yaml

In

config/generator.yaml

:

```
type
```
:
```
server
```
(default),
```
module
```
, or
```
internal
```
```
client_package_path
```
: path to client package
```
modules
```
: map of module names + optional
```
nickname
```
```
server_test_tools_path
```
: test tools output path (remove to disable)
```
extraClasses
```
: custom serializable class URIs
```
features
```
: e.g.
```
database: true/false
```

Dart config override

Pass

config: ServerpodConfig(...)

to

Serverpod(...)

to skip file/env loading and use a Dart config object, with CLI flags still merged in.

For tests, it is possible to use

configOverride: (config) => config.copyWith(...)

to adjust the loaded config after YAML/env/CLI processing.

TLS/SSL

Pass

SecurityContextConfig

to

Serverpod(...)

with a

SecurityContext

that loads cert chain and private key. Set on

apiServer

,

webServer

, and/or

insightsServer

. Client: pass

SecurityContext

with trusted certificates to

Client(...)

.

Reference files

references/environment-variables.md

— the full

SERVERPOD_*

environment variable table.

```
references/flutter-apps.md
```
— declaring the Flutter apps that
```
serverpod start
```
can launch.

serverpod-configuration

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Serverpod Configuration

Run mode

API server (minimum)

Database

PostgreSQL

SQLite

Redis

Secrets (passwords.yaml)

generator.yaml

Dart config override

TLS/SSL

Reference files