Configuration Guide

The application configuration is managed primarily through environment variables loaded from .env files. This allows for separation between code and configuration, making it easier to deploy across different environments (development, production).

Environment Files

The Docker Compose configuration loads variables from several sources in the following priority:

1. .env (Project root - User defined secrets)
2. src/variables.prod.env (Production defaults)
3. src/variables.env (Shared defaults)
4. src/variables.dev.env (Development overrides)

Important: You should create a .env file in the root directory wildlife-reid-app/ to store sensitive keys and local path configurations. This file is ignored by Git.

Key Configuration Variables

General Settings

Variable	Description	Example
CAID_HOST	The hostname or IP address where the application is accessible.	localhost, 192.168.1.50, example.com
DEBUG	Enables Django debug mode. Set to False in production.	True / False
TZ	Timezone setting for containers.	Europe/Prague

Authentication & Integrations

Variable	Description
ALLAUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID	Google OAuth Client ID for social login.
ALLAUTH_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET	Google OAuth Client Secret.
WANDB_API_KEY	API Key for Weights & Biases (used for experiment tracking in workers).

Data & Storage

Variable	Description
CAID_IMPORT	Local path on the host machine to mount for bulk data imports. Defaults to ./caid_import.
SFTP_CMD	Command for mounting external storage via SSHFS (if used).
SFTP_PASSWORD	Password for the SFTP mount.

Database Credentials

These variables control the connection to the PostgreSQL databases.

• POSTGRES_DB
• POSTGRES_USER
• POSTGRES_PASSWORD
• POSTGRES_HOST
• POSTGRES_PORT

Worker Resources

Variable	Description
API_IMAGE	Docker image tag for the API.
TAXON_WORKER_IMAGE	Docker image tag for the Taxon Worker.
IDENTIFICATION_WORKER_IMAGE	Docker image tag for the ID Worker.

Development vs. Production

Development (docker-compose.dev.yml)

• Uses src/variables.dev.env.
• Sets DEBUG=True.
• Mounts local source code directories (./src/api, etc.) into containers for live code updates.
• Exposes ports directly for easier debugging.

Production (docker-compose.yml)

• Uses src/variables.prod.env.
• Should have DEBUG=False.
• Uses built Docker images rather than local code mounts.
• Restarts containers automatically (restart: always).