Brisket Environment Variables

Brisket validates env vars with @t3-oss/env-nextjs in apps/brisket/src/env.js. Variables fall into two pools:

server — accessible only in Node runtime (route handlers, server components, tRPC procedures, middleware). Never bundled into client JS.
client — must be prefixed NEXT_PUBLIC_; values are inlined into the browser bundle at build time. Treat all values as public.

Empty strings are coerced to undefined (emptyStringAsUndefined: true). Set SKIP_ENV_VALIDATION=1 to bypass validation in Docker builds. Reference: apps/brisket/.env.example.

Exposure Boundary

flowchart LR
  subgraph Server[Node runtime — server-only]
    S1[CLERK_SECRET_KEY]
    S2[CHARGE_BEE_API_KEY]
    S3[STRAPI_TOKEN]
    S4[CF_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY]
    S5[INTERCOM_API_TOKEN]
    S6[SIRLOIN_URL]
  end
  subgraph Client[Browser bundle — public]
    C1[NEXT_PUBLIC_*]
  end

Anything required by the client: schema in env.js is shipped to every visitor. Anything in server: stays in the Node process. Crossing the boundary the wrong way (e.g. importing env.CLERK_SECRET_KEY in a client component) will fail the build.

Server Variables

Variable	Required	Default	Source	Purpose
`CLERK_SECRET_KEY`	yes	–	Clerk dashboard	Auth backend secret used by `@clerk/nextjs/server` and middleware.
`CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET`	yes	–	Clerk dashboard → webhooks	Verifies Svix signatures on `/api/webhook/clerk`.
`NODE_ENV`	yes	`development`	runtime	Standard Node env.
`BRISKET_STAGE`	yes	`development`	deploy config / `RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT_NAME` fallback	One of `production \| staging \| sandbox \| development`. Resolved via `resolveBrisketStageInput` in `src/stage.js`. Drives feature gating and logging.
`SIRLOIN_URL`	yes	–	service discovery	gRPC base URL for sirloin (`server/api/sirloin-api.ts`).
`FACEBOOK_ACCESS_TOKEN`	yes	–	Meta Business	Server-side conversions API for ad attribution.
`CHARGE_BEE_API_KEY`	yes	–	Chargebee	Server-side Chargebee REST calls.
`CHARGE_BEE_PAYPAL_PRO_GATEWAY`	yes	–	Chargebee	PayPal Pro gateway selector for billing.
`STRAPI_URL`	yes	–	chuck deploy	Headless CMS base URL (FAQ, marketing).
`STRAPI_TOKEN`	yes	–	chuck admin	Bearer token for Strapi reads.
`CF_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY`	optional	–	Cloudflare Turnstile	Server-side validation of Turnstile tokens during checkout.
`INTERCOM_API_TOKEN`	optional	–	Intercom	Used by `intercom` tRPC router; soft-failure if unset.

OTel exporters use BRISKET_OTEL_URL, BRISKET_OTEL_METRICS_HEADERS, BRISKET_OTEL_TRACES_LOGS_HEADERS from .env.example. Not validated by env.js — consumed directly in the OTel bootstrap at apps/brisket/otel.server.config.ts (trace/metric/log exporter URLs and headers) and gated by apps/brisket/src/otel-runtime-config.ts (shouldEnableMetrics / shouldEnableTraces only enable the SDK if both URL and the corresponding header are non-empty).

Client Variables (`NEXT_PUBLIC_*`)

All values below are baked into the client bundle. Do not store secrets here.

Variable	Required	Default	Source	Purpose
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	yes	–	Clerk	Browser-side Clerk SDK init.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL`	yes	`/sign-in`	static	Clerk redirect target.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL`	yes	`/sign-up`	static	Clerk redirect target.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY`	yes	–	PostHog project	Browser PostHog init.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST`	yes	–	PostHog	EU/US ingest host.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CHARGE_BEE_SITE`	yes	–	Chargebee	Site slug for Chargebee.js.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CHARGE_BEE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	yes	–	Chargebee	Publishable key for Chargebee.js.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL`	optional	–	deploy	Canonical app origin (used in metadata, redirects).
`NEXT_PUBLIC_FACEBOOK_PIXEL_ID`	yes	–	Meta	Pixel ID for client tracking.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_DEV_FEATURES`	optional	–	local / staging	Toggles dev-only UI surfaces (`"true"`).
`NEXT_PUBLIC_FORCE_DEV_KLAVIYO`	optional	–	local	Forces Klaviyo to run in dev.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CF_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY`	optional	–	Cloudflare	Public Turnstile site key for the checkout widget.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY`	optional	–	Stripe	Stripe.js init when Stripe gateway is active.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY`	optional	–	GCP	Maps JS for billing-address autocomplete.
`NEXT_PUBLIC_KLAVIYO_PUBLIC_KEY`	optional	–	Klaviyo	Klaviyo browser SDK. Not in `env.js` schema; consumed directly via `process.env` in `apps/brisket/src/features/analytics/klaviyo/klaviyo-tracking-script/index.tsx` (script src + early-exit when blank). Pair with `NEXT_PUBLIC_FORCE_DEV_KLAVIYO=true` to enable in dev.

Stage Resolution

BRISKET_STAGE is resolved by resolveBrisketStageInput(BRISKET_STAGE, RAILWAY_ENVIRONMENT_NAME, NODE_ENV) in apps/brisket/src/stage.js. Railway environments map to stages so deployments don’t need to set BRISKET_STAGE explicitly.

Local Setup

Copy .env.example to .env.local and fill in dev credentials. The 1Password vault holds the canonical dev values — TODO(@marty): vault item name. Run pnpm --filter brisket dev after env is in place; missing required vars will fail at startup with a Zod aggregate error.