ApiCharge | Monetize APIs with Nanosubscriptions

Environment Variables

Environment variables are used to configure sensitive settings like private keys and deployment-specific parameters. This approach keeps sensitive information out of configuration files, enhancing security.

Required Environment Variables

These environment variables are essential for ApiCharge to function correctly and must be set in all deployments.

Variable Name	Description	Example
APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY	The ED25519 private key (Stellar secret seed) used to sign quotes and access tokens	SABC...XYZ (56 characters starting with 'S')
APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE	The Stellar network passphrase that matches your chosen network (Testnet or Mainnet)	Test SDF Network ; September 2015

ASP.NET Core Environment Variables

These standard ASP.NET Core environment variables control the web server behavior.

Variable Name	Description	Example
ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT	Sets the runtime environment name, affecting which appsettings.{Environment}.json file is loaded	Development, Production, Staging
ASPNETCORE_URLS	Defines which URLs and ports the web server should listen on	http://0.0.0.0:80;https://0.0.0.0:443
ASPNETCORE_HTTPS_PORT	Specifies which port to use for HTTPS	443

Certificate Environment Variables

These variables are used to configure HTTPS certificates when not using the Kestrel configuration in appsettings.json.

Variable Name	Description	Example
ASPNETCORE_Kestrel__Certificates__Default__Path	The file path to the HTTPS certificate	/app/certs/certificate.pfx
ASPNETCORE_Kestrel__Certificates__Default__Password	The password for the HTTPS certificate	cert_password

Redis Configuration

These variables configure the Redis connection when using Redis for distributed caching in clustered deployments.

Variable Name	Description	Example
REDIS_CONNECTION_STRING	Redis connection string to override the one in appsettings.json	redis:6379,password=password123

Logging Configuration

These variables control logging levels and destinations.

Variable Name	Description	Example
Logging__LogLevel__Default	The default log level	Information, Warning, Error
Logging__LogLevel__Microsoft	Log level for Microsoft namespaces	Warning
Logging__LogLevel__ApiChargePrototype	Log level for ApiCharge-specific code	Debug, Information

Custom Environment Variables

You can define custom environment variables to override any setting in the appsettings.json file. The naming convention follows a double-underscore pattern to represent the hierarchical structure of the JSON.

Examples:

# Override GlobalSettings.UseNetwork
GlobalSettings__UseNetwork=Mainnet

# Override GlobalSettings.ToleratedClockSkew (TimeSpan)
GlobalSettings__ToleratedClockSkew=00:05:00

# Override QuoteValidityDuration 
GlobalSettings__QuoteValidityDuration=01:30:00

# Override a specific route quote price
ApiChargeQuotes__Quotes__0__MicroUnitPrice=500000

Environment Variables in Docker

When deploying with Docker, you can set environment variables in the docker-compose.yml file or using the -e flag with docker run:

# In docker-compose.yml
services:
  apicharge:
    image: apicharge:latest
    environment:
      - APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY=S...
      - APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE=Test SDF Network ; September 2015
      - ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
      - ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://0.0.0.0:80;https://0.0.0.0:443

Or when using docker run:

docker run -e APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY=S... -e APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE="Test SDF Network ; September 2015" apicharge:latest

Environment Variables in Kubernetes

When deploying to Kubernetes, you should use Secrets for sensitive information and ConfigMaps for non-sensitive configuration:

# Create a Secret for sensitive data
kubectl create secret generic apicharge-secrets \
  --from-literal=APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY=S... \
  --from-literal=APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE="Test SDF Network ; September 2015"

# In your deployment YAML
spec:
  containers:
  - name: apicharge
    image: apicharge:latest
    envFrom:
    - secretRef:
        name: apicharge-secrets
    env:
    - name: ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT
      value: "Production"

Setting Environment Variables Locally

For local development, you can set environment variables using:

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY="S..."
$env:APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE="Test SDF Network ; September 2015"

Windows (Command Prompt):

set APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY=S...
set APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE=Test SDF Network ; September 2015

Linux/macOS:

export APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY="S..."
export APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE="Test SDF Network ; September 2015"

Using a .env file with dotnet run:

Create a .env file in your project directory:

APICHARGE_SIGNING_KEY=S...
APICHARGE_NETWORK_PASSPHRASE=Test SDF Network ; September 2015

Then install the dotenv tool and run your application:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-env
dotnet env run -- dotnet run

Next Steps

Now that you understand how to configure ApiCharge, you can learn more about:

• Routes Overview - How to define API routes in ApiCharge
• Rate Limiters - Available rate limiting strategies
• Deployment Options - Different ways to deploy ApiCharge