Happier Docs
Server

Server

Backend configuration, deployment notes, and authentication policies.

This section documents the Happier backend (apps/server) behavior and configuration.

  • Quick start: most production self-hosts should set:

    • HANDY_MASTER_SECRET (required)
    • HAPPIER_PUBLIC_SERVER_URL (recommended; used in QR/deep links)
    • HAPPIER_WEBAPP_URL (recommended when self-hosting UI or using OAuth return-to)
    • plus your chosen storage backend env (DATABASE_URL, S3_*, etc.)

  • Minimal setup guide: see Server quickstart

  • Authentication overview + policy env vars: see Auth

  • Encryption storage policy (E2EE vs plaintext): see Encryption & plaintext storage

  • Automatic cleanup for self-hosted data growth: see Server retention policies

  • GitHub OAuth + GitHub allowlists: see GitHub auth

  • Generic OIDC providers (Okta/Auth0/Azure AD/Keycloak, etc.): see OIDC auth

  • mTLS client certificate authentication (enterprise): see mTLS auth

  • Deployment: see Deployment

  • Full server env reference: see Deployment → Environment variables

  • Canonical env template file: apps/server/.env.example

  • Guided self-host runtime install (including remote SSH bootstrap): see /docs/hstack/remote-server

Environment variables

Configuration for the Happier Server.

Server quickstart

Minimal production-oriented server configuration and the env vars that matter most.