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Deployment environment variables#

File-based configuration

You can add _FILE to individual variables to provide their configuration in a separate file. Refer to Keeping sensitive data in separate files for more details.

This page lists the deployment configuration options for your self-hosted n8n instance, including setting up access URLs, enabling templates, customizing encryption, and configuring server details.

Variable Type Default Description
N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL String - Public URL where users can access the editor. Also used for emails sent from n8n and the redirect URL for SAML based authentication.
N8N_CONFIG_FILES String - Use to provide the path to any JSON configuration file.
N8N_DISABLE_UI Boolean false Set to true to disable the UI.
N8N_PREVIEW_MODE Boolean false Set to true to run in preview mode.
N8N_TEMPLATES_ENABLED Boolean false Enables workflow templates (true) or disable (false).
N8N_TEMPLATES_HOST String https://api.n8n.io Change this if creating your own workflow template library. Note that to use your own workflow templates library, your API must provide the same endpoints and response structure as n8n's. Refer to Workflow templates for more information.
N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY String Random key generated by n8n Provide a custom key used to encrypt credentials in the n8n database. By default n8n generates a random key on first launch.
N8N_USER_FOLDER String user-folder Provide the path where n8n will create the .n8n folder. This directory stores user-specific data, such as database file and encryption key.
N8N_PATH String / The path n8n deploys to.
N8N_HOST String localhost Host name n8n runs on.
N8N_PORT Number 5678 The HTTP port n8n runs on.
N8N_LISTEN_ADDRESS String 0.0.0.0 The IP address n8n should listen on.
N8N_PROTOCOL Enum string: http, https http The protocol used to reach n8n.
N8N_SSL_KEY String - The SSL key for HTTPS protocol.
N8N_SSL_CERT String - The SSL certificate for HTTPS protocol.
N8N_PERSONALIZATION_ENABLED Boolean true Whether to ask users personalisation questions and then customise n8n accordingly.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_ENABLED Boolean true When enabled, n8n sends notifications of new versions and security updates.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_ENDPOINT String https://api.n8n.io/versions/ The endpoint to retrieve where version information.
N8N_VERSION_NOTIFICATIONS_INFO_URL String https://docs.n8n.io/getting-started/installation/updating.html The URL displayed in the New Versions panel for more information.
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_ENABLED Boolean true Whether to share selected, anonymous telemetry with n8n. Note that if you set this to false, you can't enable Ask AI in the Code node.
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_CONFIG_FRONTEND String 1zPn9bgWPzlQc0p8Gj1uiK6DOTn;https://telemetry.n8n.io Telemetry configuration for the frontend.
N8N_DIAGNOSTICS_CONFIG_BACKEND String 1zPn7YoGC3ZXE9zLeTKLuQCB4F6;https://telemetry.n8n.io/v1/batch Telemetry configuration for the backend.
N8N_PUSH_BACKEND String websocket Choose whether the n8n backend uses server-sent events (sse) or WebSockets (websocket) to send changes to the UI.
VUE_APP_URL_BASE_API String http://localhost:5678/ Used when building the n8n-editor-ui package manually to set how the frontend can reach the backend API. Refer to Configure the Base URL.
N8N_HIRING_BANNER_ENABLED Boolean true Whether to show the n8n hiring banner in the console (true) or not (false).
N8N_PUBLIC_API_SWAGGERUI_DISABLED Boolean false Whether the Swagger UI (API playground) is disabled (true) or not (false).
N8N_PUBLIC_API_DISABLED Boolean false Whether to disable the public API (true) or not (false).
N8N_PUBLIC_API_ENDPOINT String api Path for the public API endpoints.
N8N_GRACEFUL_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT Number 30 How long should the n8n process wait (in seconds) for components to shut down before exiting the process.
N8N_DEV_RELOAD Boolean false When working on the n8n source code, set this to true to automatically reload or restart the application when changes occur in the source code files.
N8N_REINSTALL_MISSING_PACKAGES Boolean false If set to true, n8n will automatically attempt to reinstall any missing packages.
N8N_TUNNEL_SUBDOMAIN String - Specifies the subdomain for the n8n tunnel. If not set, n8n generates a random subdomain.