> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orbit-dev.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Configuration

> Environment variables that matter when setting up Orbit

Orbit is configured entirely through a standard Laravel `.env` file. This page covers the variables you're likely to actually touch — the rest of `.env.example` is framework boilerplate you can leave at its default.

## Application

| Variable    | Notes                                                                                                       |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `APP_NAME`  | Defaults to `Laravel` in `.env.example` — rename it to `Orbit` (or your instance's name)                    |
| `APP_ENV`   | `local` for development, `production` for a real deployment                                                 |
| `APP_KEY`   | Generate with `php artisan key:generate` — never share this or commit it                                    |
| `APP_DEBUG` | `true` locally; **must** be `false` in production, or error pages leak stack traces and environment details |
| `APP_URL`   | The base URL Orbit is served from                                                                           |

## Database

Orbit defaults to SQLite (`DB_CONNECTION=sqlite`, backed by `database/database.sqlite`) — no other configuration is required for local development. For MySQL or PostgreSQL, switch `DB_CONNECTION` and set the standard `DB_HOST`, `DB_PORT`, `DB_DATABASE`, `DB_USERNAME`, and `DB_PASSWORD` variables.

## Session, cache, and queue

All three default to the `database` driver (`SESSION_DRIVER`, `CACHE_STORE`, `QUEUE_CONNECTION`), which needs no extra infrastructure — just a migrated database. Redis (`REDIS_HOST`, `REDIS_PORT`, `REDIS_PASSWORD`) and Memcached (`MEMCACHED_HOST`) variables are present in `.env.example` if you'd rather run one of those instead, but neither is required.

## File storage

`FILESYSTEM_DISK=local` is used for user avatar uploads. If you want avatars stored on S3 instead, set `FILESYSTEM_DISK=s3` and fill in `AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID`, `AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`, `AWS_DEFAULT_REGION`, and `AWS_BUCKET`.

## Mail and broadcasting

`MAIL_MAILER=log` and `BROADCAST_CONNECTION=log` are Laravel framework defaults present in `.env.example`. Orbit's own [notifications](/concepts/notifications) are in-app only — nothing in the app currently sends mail or broadcasts over a websocket connection, so these variables don't need to be configured for any of Orbit's features to work.

## Frontend

`VITE_APP_NAME="${APP_NAME}"` mirrors `APP_NAME` into the frontend build — update `APP_NAME` and this follows automatically.