Configuration#

Searpa is configured entirely through environment variables (in production) or a .env file (in development). The repository ships an .env.example documenting every variable; this page is the reference.

Core#

Variable	Purpose	Notes
`SECRET_KEY`	Django secret key	Required in production. Long and random.
`DEBUG`	Debug mode	Keep `False` (the default) in production.
`ALLOWED_HOSTS`	Comma-separated hostnames the app will serve	e.g. `search.example.com`.
`DATABASE_URL`	PostgreSQL connection URL	e.g. `postgres://user:pass@host:5432/searpa`.
`LOG_LEVEL`	Logging verbosity	`DEBUG` / `INFO` / `WARNING` / `ERROR` (default `INFO`).

Search providers#

These keys decide which engines, media tabs and knowledge cards are available. A provider with no key is simply hidden (not shown as broken). Full details on Search providers.

Variable	Enables
`BRAVE_API_KEY`	Web, Images, News and Videos via Brave (the baseline).
`BRAVE_SUGGEST_API_KEY`	Autocomplete suggestions (a separate Brave subscription).
`MOJEEK_API_KEY`	The Mojeek web engine.
`MARGINALIA_API_KEY`	The Marginalia web engine (`public` works out of the box).
`TMDB_API_KEY`	The film / TV knowledge card.
`TRIPADVISOR_API_KEY`	The places knowledge card.
`STACKEXCHANGE_API_KEY`	A higher Stack Exchange quota for the Q&A card (optional).
`PIXABAY_API_KEY`	Pixabay images blended into the Images tab.
`WORLDNEWS_API_KEY`	World News API articles blended into the News tab.

Translation#

Variable	Purpose
`LIBRETRANSLATE_URL`	URL of your LibreTranslate instance. Unset disables the Translate tab entirely.
`LIBRETRANSLATE_API_KEY`	Only if your LibreTranslate requires a key (`LT_API_KEYS=true`).
`LIBRETRANSLATE_ORIGIN_COUNTRY`	Two-letter country code for the flag shown next to “Translate” in Settings (default `fr`).

See Translation.

Public API rate limits#

Applied per API key (Django REST Framework throttle rates, <number>/<period>, where period is second / minute / hour / day). Both limits apply together. See the API rate limits page.

Variable	Purpose	Default
`API_THROTTLE_BURST`	Short-term cap, shields upstream providers from a runaway client	`60/min`
`API_THROTTLE_SUSTAINED`	Daily volume cap	`5000/day`

Email (password reset)#

Used only to send password-reset messages, see Users & access.

Variable	Purpose
`EMAIL_BACKEND`	Django email backend (SMTP, console, …).
`EMAIL_HOST` / `EMAIL_PORT`	SMTP server.
`EMAIL_USE_TLS`	`True` / `False`.
`EMAIL_HOST_USER` / `EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD`	SMTP credentials.
`DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL`	The “From” address on outgoing mail.

For a quick test without a real SMTP server, set EMAIL_BACKEND=django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend to print emails to the container log.

The footer ships no privacy policy, terms or legal notice by default, that content is specific to whoever operates the instance and your jurisdiction. Add your own as Label=URL pairs separated by commas:

FOOTER_LINKS=Privacy=https://example.com/privacy,Legal notice=https://example.com/legal

Leave FOOTER_LINKS unset to show no extra footer links.