configuration.md

Configuration

You can choose to configure CodiMD with either a config file or with environment variables.

Environment variables take precedence over configurations from the config files. They generally start with CMD_ for our own options, but we also list node-specific options you can configure this way.

• Environment variables are processed in lib/config/environment.js - so this is the first place to look if anything is missing not obvious from this document. The default values are defined in lib/config/default.js, in case you wonder if you even need to override it.
• The config file is processed in lib/config/index.js - so this is the first place to look if anything is missing not obvious from this document. The default values are defined in lib/config/default.js, in case you wonder if you even need to override it. To get started, it is a good idea to take the config.json.example and copy it to config.json before filling in your own details.

Note: Due to the rename process we renamed all HMD_-prefix variables to be CMD_-prefixed. The old ones continue to work.

Node.JS

config file	environment	example value	description
	NODE_ENV	production or development	set current environment (will apply corresponding settings in the config.json)
debug	DEBUG	true or false	set debug mode, show more logs

CodiMD basics

config file	environment	example value	description
allowPDFExport	CMD_ALLOW_PDF_EXPORT	true or false	Enable or disable PDF exports
	CMD_CONFIG_FILE	/path/to/config.json	optional override for the path to CodiMD's config file
db		{ "dialect": "sqlite", "storage": "./db.codimd.sqlite" }	set the db configs, see more here
dbURL	CMD_DB_URL	mysql://localhost:3306/database	Set the db in URL style. If set, then the relevant db config entries will be overridden.
loglevel	CMD_LOGLEVEL	info, debug ...	Defines what kind of logs are provided to stdout. Available options: debug, verbose, info, warn, error
forbiddenNoteIDs	CMD_FORBIDDEN_NOTE_IDS	['robots.txt'] or 'robots.txt'	disallow creation of notes, even if allowFreeUrl or CMD_ALLOW_FREEURL is true
imageUploadType	CMD_IMAGE_UPLOAD_TYPE	imgur, s3, minio, azure, lutim or filesystem (default)	Where to upload images. For S3, see our Image Upload Guides for S3 or Minio, also there's a whole section on their respective env vars below.
sourceURL	CMD_SOURCE_URL	https://github.com/codimd/server/tree/<current commit>	Provides the link to the source code of CodiMD on the entry page (Please, make sure you change this when you run a modified version)
tooBusyLag	CMD_TOOBUSY_LAG	70	CPU time for one event loop tick until node throttles connections. (milliseconds)
staticCacheTime		1 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000	static file cache time
heartbeatInterval		5000	socket.io heartbeat interval
heartbeatTimeout		10000	socket.io heartbeat timeout
documentMaxLength		100000	note max length

CodiMD paths stuff

these are rarely used for various reasons.

config file	environment	example values	description
defaultNotePath		./public/default.md	default note file path1, empty notes will be created with this template.
dhParamPath		./cert/dhparam.pem	SSL dhparam path1 (only need when you set useSSL)
sslCAPath		['./cert/COMODORSAAddTrustCA.crt']	SSL ca chain1 (only need when you set useSSL)
sslCertPath		./cert/codimd_io.crt	SSL cert path1 (only need when you set useSSL)
sslKeyPath		./cert/client.key	SSL key path1 (only need when you set useSSL)
tmpPath		./tmp/	temp directory path1
docsPath		./public/docs	docs directory path1
viewPath		./public/views	template directory path1
uploadsPath		./public/uploads	uploads directory1 - needs to be persistent when you use imageUploadType filesystem

Note: relative paths are based on CodiMD's base directory

CodiMD Location

config file	environment	example value	description
domain	CMD_DOMAIN	localhost, codimd.org	domain name
urlPath	CMD_URL_PATH	codimd	If CodiMD is run from a subdirectory like www.example.com/<urlpath>
host	CMD_HOST	localhost	interface/ip to listen on
port	CMD_PORT	80	port to listen on
path	CMD_PATH	/var/run/codimd.sock	path to UNIX domain socket to listen on (if specified, host or CMD_HOST and port or CMD_PORT are ignored)
protocolUseSSL	CMD_PROTOCOL_USESSL	true or false	set to use SSL protocol for resources path (only applied when domain is set)
useSSL		true or false	set to use SSL server (if true, will auto turn on protocolUseSSL)
urlAddPort	CMD_URL_ADDPORT	true or false	set to add port on callback URL (ports 80 or 443 won't be applied) (only applied when domain is set)
allowOrigin	CMD_ALLOW_ORIGIN	['localhost'], ['codimd.org'], localhost, codimd.org	domain name whitelist (use comma to separate)

CSP and HSTS

config file	environment	example value	description
hsts		{"enable": true, "maxAgeSeconds": 31536000, "includeSubdomains": true, "preload": true}	HSTS options to use with HTTPS (default is the example value, max age is a year)
	CMD_HSTS_ENABLE	true	set to enable HSTS if HTTPS is also enabled (default is true)
CMD_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS	true	set to include subdomains in HSTS (default is true)
CMD_HSTS_MAX_AGE	31536000	max duration in seconds to tell clients to keep HSTS status (default is a year)
CMD_HSTS_PRELOAD	true	whether to allow preloading of the site's HSTS status (e.g. into browsers)
csp		{"enable": true, "directives": {"scriptSrc": "trustworthy-scripts.example.com"}, "upgradeInsecureRequests": "auto", "addDefaults": true}	Configures Content Security Policy. Directives are passed to Helmet - see their documentation for more information on the format. Some defaults are added to the configured values so that the application doesn't break. To disable this behaviour, set addDefaults to false. Further, if usecdn is on, some CDN locations are allowed too. By default (auto), insecure (HTTP) requests are upgraded to HTTPS via CSP if useSSL is on. To change this behaviour, set upgradeInsecureRequests to either true or false.
	CMD_CSP_ENABLE	true	whether to enable Content Security Policy (directives cannot be configured with environment variables)
CMD_CSP_REPORTURI	https://<someid>.report-uri.com/r/d/csp/enforce	Allows to add a URL for CSP reports in case of violations

Privacy and External Requests

config file	environment	example value	description
allowGravatar	CMD_ALLOW_GRAVATAR	true or false	set to false to disable Libravatar as profile picture source on your instance. Libravatar is a federated open-source alternative to Gravatar.
useCDN	CMD_USECDN	true or false	set to use CDN resources or not (default is false)

Users and Privileges

config file	environment	example value	description
allowAnonymous	CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS	true or false	Set to allow anonymous usage (default is true).
allowAnonymousEdits	CMD_ALLOW_ANONYMOUS_EDITS	true or false	If allowAnonymous is false: allow users to select freely permission, allowing guests to edit existing notes (default is false).
allowFreeURL	CMD_ALLOW_FREEURL	true or false	Set to allow new note creation by accessing a nonexistent note URL. This is the behavior familiar from Etherpad.
defaultPermission	CMD_DEFAULT_PERMISSION	freely, editable, limited, locked, protected or private	Set notes default permission (only applied on signed-in users).
sessionName		connect.sid	Cookie session name.
sessionLife	CMD_SESSION_LIFE	14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, 1209600000 (14 days)	Cookie session life time in milliseconds.
sessionSecret	CMD_SESSION_SECRET	secret	Cookie session secret used to sign the session cookie. If none is set, one will randomly generated on each startup, meaning all your users will be logged out.

Login methods

Email (local account)

config file	environment	example value	description
email	CMD_EMAIL	true or false	Set to allow email sign-in. The default is true.
allowEmailRegister	CMD_ALLOW_EMAIL_REGISTER	true or false	Set to allow registration of new accounts using an email address. If set to false, you can still create accounts using the command line - see bin/manage_users for details (In production mode, remember to run it with NODE_ENV set as production in the enviroment). This setting has no effect if email or CMD_EMAIL is false. The default for allowEmailRegister or CMD_ALLOW_EMAIL_REGISTER is true.

Dropbox Login

config file	environment	example value	description
dropbox		{clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object containing the client ID and the client secret obtained by the Dropbox developer tools
	CMD_DROPBOX_CLIENTID	no example	Dropbox API client id
	CMD_DROPBOX_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Dropbox API client secret

Facebook Login

config file	environment	example value	description
facebook		{clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object containing the client ID and the client secret obtained by the Facebook app console
	CMD_FACEBOOK_CLIENTID	no example	Facebook API client id
	CMD_FACEBOOK_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Facebook API client secret

GitHub Login

config file	environment	example value	description
github		{clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object containing the client ID and the client secret obtained by the GitHub developer page. For more details have a look at the GitHub auth guide.
	CMD_GITHUB_CLIENTID	no example	GitHub API client id
	CMD_GITHUB_CLIENTSECRET	no example	GitHub API client secret

GitLab Login

config file	environment	example value	description
gitlab		{baseURL: ..., scope: ..., version: ..., clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object containing your GitLab application data. Refer to the GitLab guide for more details!
	CMD_GITLAB_SCOPE	read_user or api	GitLab API requested scope (default is api) (GitLab snippet import/export need api scope)
	CMD_GITLAB_BASEURL	no example	GitLab authentication endpoint, set to use other endpoint than GitLab.com (optional)
	CMD_GITLAB_CLIENTID	no example	GitLab API client id
	CMD_GITLAB_CLIENTSECRET	no example	GitLab API client secret
	CMD_GITLAB_VERSION	no example	GitLab API version (v3 or v4)

Google Login

config file	environment	example value	description
google		{clientID: ..., clientSecret: ..., hostedDomain: ...}	An object containing the client ID and the client secret obtained by the Google API console
	CMD_GOOGLE_CLIENTID	no example	Google API client id
	CMD_GOOGLE_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Google API client secret
	CMD_GOOGLE_HOSTEDDOMAIN	example.com	Provided only if the user belongs to a hosted domain. default is undefined

LDAP Login

config file	environment	example value	description
ldap		{providerName: ..., url: ..., bindDn: ..., bindCredentials: ..., searchBase: ..., searchFilter: ..., searchAttributes: ..., usernameField: ..., useridField: ..., tlsca: ...}	An object detailing the LDAP connection. Refer to the LDAP-AD guide for more details!
	CMD_LDAP_URL	ldap://example.com	URL of LDAP server
	CMD_LDAP_BINDDN	no example	bindDn for LDAP access
	CMD_LDAP_BINDCREDENTIALS	no example	bindCredentials for LDAP access
	CMD_LDAP_SEARCHBASE	o=users,dc=example,dc=com	LDAP directory to begin search from
	CMD_LDAP_SEARCHFILTER	(uid={{username}})	LDAP filter to search with
	CMD_LDAP_SEARCHATTRIBUTES	displayName, mail	LDAP attributes to search with (use comma to separate)
	CMD_LDAP_USERIDFIELD	uidNumber or uid or sAMAccountName	The LDAP field which is used uniquely identify a user on CodiMD
	CMD_LDAP_USERNAMEFIELD	Fallback to userid	The LDAP field which is used as the username on CodiMD
	CMD_LDAP_TLS_CA	server-cert.pem, root.pem	Root CA for LDAP TLS in PEM format (use comma to separate)
	CMD_LDAP_PROVIDERNAME	My institution	Optional name to be displayed at login form indicating the LDAP provider

Mattermost Login

config file	environment	example value	description
mattermost		{baseURL: ..., clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object containing the base URL of your Mattermost application data. Refer to the Mattermost guide for more details!
	CMD_MATTERMOST_BASEURL	no example	Mattermost authentication endpoint for versions below 5.0. For Mattermost version 5.0 and above, see guide.
	CMD_MATTERMOST_CLIENTID	no example	Mattermost API client id
	CMD_MATTERMOST_CLIENTSECRET	no example	Mattermost API client secret

OAuth2 Login

config file	environment	example value	description
oauth2		{baseURL: ..., userProfileURL: ..., userProfileUsernameAttr: ..., userProfileDisplayNameAttr: ..., userProfileEmailAttr: ..., tokenURL: ..., authorizationURL: ..., clientID: ..., clientSecret: ...}	An object detailing your OAuth2 provider. Refer to the Mattermost or Nextcloud examples for more details!
	CMD_OAUTH2_USER_PROFILE_URL	https://example.com	Where to retrieve information about a user after successful login. Needs to output JSON. (no default value) Refer to the Mattermost or Nextcloud examples for more details on all of the CMD_OAUTH2... options.
	CMD_OAUTH2_USER_PROFILE_USERNAME_ATTR	name	where to find the username in the JSON from the user profile URL. (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_USER_PROFILE_DISPLAY_NAME_ATTR	display-name	where to find the display-name in the JSON from the user profile URL. (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_USER_PROFILE_EMAIL_ATTR	email	where to find the email address in the JSON from the user profile URL. (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_TOKEN_URL	https://example.com	sometimes called token endpoint, please refer to the documentation of your OAuth2 provider (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_AUTHORIZATION_URL	https://example.com	authorization URL of your provider, please refer to the documentation of your OAuth2 provider (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_CLIENT_ID	afae02fckafd...	you will get this from your OAuth2 provider when you register CodiMD as OAuth2-client, (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_CLIENT_SECRET	afae02fckafd...	you will get this from your OAuth2 provider when you register CodiMD as OAuth2-client, (no default value)
	CMD_OAUTH2_PROVIDERNAME	My institution	Optional name to be displayed at login form indicating the oAuth2 provider

SAML Login

config file	environment	example value	description
saml		{idpSsoUrl: ..., idpCert: ..., issuer: ..., identifierFormat: ..., disableRequestedAuthnContext: ..., groupAttribute: ..., externalGroups: [], requiredGroups: [], attribute: {id: ..., username: ..., email: ...}}	An object detailing your SAML provider. Refer to the OneLogin and SAML guides for more details!
	CMD_SAML_IDPSSOURL	https://idp.example.com/sso	authentication endpoint of IdP. for details, see guide.
	CMD_SAML_IDPCERT	/path/to/cert.pem	certificate file path of IdP in PEM format
	CMD_SAML_ISSUER	no example	Issuer to supply to identity provider (optional, default: serverURL config)"
	CMD_SAML_DISABLEREQUESTEDAUTHNCONTEXT	true or false	true to allow any authentication method, false restricts to password authentication (PasswordProtectedTransport) method (default: false)
	CMD_SAML_IDENTIFIERFORMAT	no example	name identifier format (optional, default: urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.1:nameid-format:emailAddress)
	CMD_SAML_GROUPATTRIBUTE	memberOf	attribute name for group list (optional)
	CMD_SAML_REQUIREDGROUPS	codimd-users	group names that allowed (use vertical bar to separate) (optional)
	CMD_SAML_EXTERNALGROUPS	Temporary-staff	group names that not allowed (use vertical bar to separate) (optional)
	CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_ID	sAMAccountName	attribute map for id (optional, default: NameID of SAML response)
	CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_USERNAME	mailNickname	attribute map for username (optional, default: NameID of SAML response)
	CMD_SAML_ATTRIBUTE_EMAIL	mail	attribute map for email (optional, default: NameID of SAML response if CMD_SAML_IDENTIFIERFORMAT is default)

Twitter Login

config file	environment	example value	description
twitter		{consumerKey: ..., consumerSecret: ...}	An object containing the consumer key and secret obtained by the Twitter developer tools. For more details have a look at the Twitter auth guide
	CMD_TWITTER_CONSUMERKEY	no example	Twitter API consumer key
	CMD_TWITTER_CONSUMERSECRET	no example	Twitter API consumer secret

Upload Storage

These are only relevant when they are also configured in sync with their CMD_IMAGE_UPLOAD_TYPE. Also keep in mind, that filesystem is available, so you don't have to use either of these.

Amazon S3

config file	environment	example value	description
s3		{ "accessKeyId": "YOUR_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID", "secretAccessKey": "YOUR_S3_ACCESS_KEY", "region": "YOUR_S3_REGION" }	When imageuploadtype be set to s3, you would also need to setup this key, check our S3 Image Upload Guide
	CMD_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID	no example	AWS access key id
	CMD_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	no example	AWS secret key
	CMD_S3_REGION	ap-northeast-1	AWS S3 region
s3bucket	CMD_S3_BUCKET	no example	AWS S3 bucket name
	CMD_S3_ENDPOINT ENV	no example	S3 API endpoint if you don't use AWS name

Azure Blob Storage

config file	environment	example value	description
	CMD_AZURE_CONNECTION_STRING	no example	Azure Blob Storage connection string
	CMD_AZURE_CONTAINER	no example	Azure Blob Storage container name (automatically created if non existent)

imgur

config file	environment	example value	description
	CMD_IMGUR_CLIENTID	no example	Imgur API client id

Minio

config file	environment	example value	description
minio		{ "accessKey": "YOUR_MINIO_ACCESS_KEY", "secretKey": "YOUR_MINIO_SECRET_KEY", "endpoint": "YOUR_MINIO_HOST", port: 9000, secure: true }	When imageUploadType is set to minio, you need to set this key. Also check out our Minio Image Upload Guide
	CMD_MINIO_ACCESS_KEY	no example	Minio access key
	CMD_MINIO_SECRET_KEY	no example	Minio secret key
	CMD_MINIO_ENDPOINT	minio.example.org	Address of your Minio endpoint/instance
	CMD_MINIO_PORT	9000	Port that is used for your Minio instance
	CMD_MINIO_SECURE	true	If set to true HTTPS is used for Minio

Lutim

config file	environment	example value	description
lutim		{"url": "YOUR_LUTIM_URL"}	When imageUploadType is set to lutim, you can setup the lutim url
	CMD_LUTIM_URL	https://framapic.org/	When CMD_IMAGE_UPLOAD_TYPE is set to lutim, you can setup the lutim url