Configuration Reference

This document lists all environment variables and configuration options for the Signal Bot, including candidates for future externalization.

Currently Configurable Environment Variables

Signal Core

Variable	Description	Example
SIGNAL_PHONE_NUMBER	Signal phone number for the bot	+1234567890
BOT_NUMBER	Alias for bot phone number (used by !rm)	+1234567890
BOT_UUID	Bot’s Signal UUID (used by !rm)	xxxxxxxx-xxxx-...
SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR	Path to signal-cli config directory	/app/signal-data
SIGNAL_CLI_PORT	JSON-RPC port for signal-cli daemon	7583

Admin Access

Variable	Description	Example
ADMIN_PHONE_NUMBERS	Comma-separated admin phone numbers	+1234567890,+0987654321
ADMIN_UUIDS	Comma-separated admin Signal UUIDs	uuid1,uuid2
ADMIN_FALLBACK_NUMBER	Fallback phone number for credential DMs	+1234567890

Database (PostgreSQL)

Variable	Default	Description
DB_HOST	-	Database hostname (use signal-bot-postgres, not postgres)
DB_PORT	5432	Database port
DB_NAME	signal_bot	Database name
DB_USER	signal_bot	Database user
DB_PASSWORD	-	Database password

Redis Cache

Variable	Default	Description
REDIS_HOST	redis	Redis hostname
REDIS_PORT	6379	Redis port
REDIS_URL	-	Full Redis URL (overrides host/port if set)

OpenAI

Variable	Default	Description
OPENAI_API_KEY	-	OpenAI API key
OPENAI_ACTIVE	true	Enable/disable OpenAI integration

Local AI (Open WebUI)

Variable	Default	Description
LOCAL_AI_URL	-	Local AI endpoint (e.g., https://ai.irregularchat.com)
LOCAL_AI_API_KEY	-	Local AI API key
LOCAL_AI_MODEL	-	Model name for !lai (e.g., irregularbot)
LOCAL_AI_UNCENSORED_MODEL	-	Model name for !uai

Discourse Forum

Variable	Default	Description
DISCOURSE_URL	-	Discourse instance URL
DISCOURSE_API_KEY	-	Discourse API key
DISCOURSE_USERNAME	-	Bot username on Discourse
DISCOURSE_QA_CATEGORY	-	Category ID for Q&A/news auto-posts
DISCOURSE_BREAKOUT_CATEGORY	-	Category ID for breakout room summaries

Outline Documentation

Variable	Default	Description
OUTLINE_URL	-	Outline instance URL
OUTLINE_API_KEY	-	Outline API key (starts with ol_api_)
OUTLINE_DEFAULT_COLLECTION	-	UUID of default collection for new docs

Authentik SSO

Variable	Default	Description
AUTHENTIK_BASE_URL	-	Authentik instance URL
AUTHENTIK_API_TOKEN	-	Authentik API token
AUTHENTIK_INVITE_FLOW_ID	-	Flow UUID for invite enrollment
AUTHENTIK_INVITE_FLOW_SLUG	-	Flow slug (e.g., invite-enrollment-flow)

PeerTube Video

Variable	Default	Description
PEERTUBE_URL	-	Internal PeerTube URL (e.g., http://peertube:9000)
PEERTUBE_PUBLIC_URL	-	Public PeerTube URL (e.g., https://videos.irregularchat.com)
PEERTUBE_ACCESS_TOKEN	-	PeerTube long-lived access token
PEERTUBE_CHANNEL_ID	1	PeerTube channel ID for uploads
PEERTUBE_IDP_URL	-	PeerTube SSO login URL

Cloudflare R2 Storage

Variable	Default	Description
R2_ACCOUNT_ID	-	Cloudflare account ID
R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID	-	R2 access key
R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	-	R2 secret key
R2_BUCKET_NAME	-	R2 bucket name
R2_PUBLIC_URL	-	Public R2 URL

Gitea (3D File Archiving)

Variable	Default	Description
GITEA_API_URL	-	Gitea API endpoint (e.g., https://git.irregularchat.com/api/v1)
GITEA_TOKEN	-	Gitea API token
GITEA_DEFAULT_OWNER	-	Default repo owner (e.g., irregulars)
GITEA_DEFAULT_REPO	-	Default repo name (e.g., 3d-files)

Event Service

Variable	Default	Description
EVENT_SERVICE_URL	-	Event service Worker URL
EVENT_SERVICE_API_KEY	-	Event service API key

Group IDs

Variable	Default	Description
BOT_DEV_GROUP_ID	-	Bot development/testing group ID
ENTRY_INDOC_GROUP_ID	-	Entry/indoctrination group ID
ACTIONS_GROUP_ID	-	Actions/notifications group ID

Logging

Variable	Default	Description
VERBOSE_LOGGING	false	Enable verbose debug logging
LOG_LEVEL	info	Log level (debug, info, warn, error)

Miscellaneous

Variable	Default	Description
QA_WEB_URL	-	Q&A web form URL (e.g., https://qa.irregulars.io)
SUMMARIZE_ALLOWED_DOMAINS	-	Comma-separated domains allowed for !summarize
GOOGLE_KG_API_KEY	-	Google Knowledge Graph API key (optional)
GITHUB_TOKEN	-	GitHub token for repo operations
IDENTITY_POLL_INTERVAL_MS	300000	Interval for identity fingerprint polling (5 min)

MinIO S3 Storage

Variable	Default	Description
MINIO_ENDPOINT	-	Internal MinIO API endpoint (e.g., http://minio-irregularchat:9000)
MINIO_ACCESS_KEY	-	MinIO access key (S3 compatible)
MINIO_SECRET_KEY	-	MinIO secret key (S3 compatible)
MINIO_BUCKET	irregularchat	MinIO bucket name
MINIO_REGION	us-east-1	MinIO region (required for S3 API)
MINIO_PUBLIC_URL	-	Public URL for presigned links (e.g., https://s3.irregular.chat)

URL Shortener (Shlink)

Variable	Default	Description
SHLINK_API_URL	-	Shlink API endpoint (e.g., http://shlink-api:8080)
SHLINK_API_KEY	-	Shlink API key
SHLINK_PUBLIC_URL	-	Public base URL for shortened links

File Archive

Variable	Default	Description
IRREGULARCHAT_PATH	/app/irregularchat	Base path for file archive
MEMES_PATH	/app/memes	Path to meme images directory

Auto-Scraper Domain Filtering

Variable	Default	Description
COMMUNITY_DOMAINS	irregularpedia.org,irregularchat.com,irregular.chat,forum.irregularchat.com	Comma-separated list of community domains to skip in auto-scraper

pCloud (Legacy Fallback)

Variable	Default	Description
PCLOUD_PUBLIC_URL	(configured)	pCloud public folder URL
PCLOUD_API_HOST	api.pcloud.com	pCloud API endpoint

Wiki Search

Variable	Default	Description
WIKI_REPO_PATH	/app/wiki-repo	Path to wiki repository clone

GitLab Wiki Push (!wikiadd)

Variable	Default	Description
GITLAB_WIKI_URL	-	GitLab repo URL for wiki push (e.g., http://gitlab:8929/irregulars/IrregularChatWiki.git)
GITLAB_WIKI_TOKEN	-	GitLab personal access token with write_repository scope
WIKI_WORKDIR_PATH	/app/wiki-workdir	Local path for wiki git clone (must be writable by container user)
WIKI_GIT_USER	IrregularBot	Git author name for wiki commits
WIKI_GIT_EMAIL	bot@irregularchat.com	Git author email for wiki commits

Notes:

• The GITLAB_WIKI_URL uses the Docker internal hostname (gitlab:8929) since the bot and GitLab share a Docker network
• The bot user needs Maintainer access on the GitLab project to push to the protected main branch
• The token is embedded in the git remote URL at runtime (never logged)
• WIKI_WORKDIR_PATH must be mounted as a Docker volume for persistence across container restarts

Whisper Transcription (Video TLDR)

Variable	Default	Description
WHISPER_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable Whisper audio transcription for !tldr
WHISPER_MODEL_SIZE	base	Whisper model size: tiny, base, small, medium, large

Notes:

• Whisper is used as a fallback for YouTube (when no captions exist) and as the primary method for Instagram/TikTok/Facebook videos
• The base model offers the best speed/accuracy tradeoff for CPU transcription
• Larger models (small, medium) improve accuracy but are significantly slower on CPU
• Model files are cached in data/whisper-models/ (mounted as a Docker volume)
• Requires faster-whisper Python package (pre-installed in Docker image)

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Candidates for Future Configuration

The following hardcoded values could be externalized to environment variables in future updates.

HIGH Priority

Bypass/Archive Domains

File: src/src/utils/news-detector.ts:270-283

Currently hardcoded list of 13 bypass/archive services to skip:

12ft.io, 12footer.com, archive.org, web.archive.org, archive.is,
archive.ph, archive.today, archive.li, archive.vn, archive.md,
webcache.googleusercontent.com, outline.com, printfriendly.com

Suggested env var: BYPASS_ARCHIVE_DOMAINS Format: Comma-separated list Rationale: Some deployments may want to allow or block different bypass services.

Wiki Base URL

File: src/src/utils/wiki-search.ts:65

Currently hardcoded:

const WIKI_BASE_URL = 'https://irregularpedia.org';

Suggested env var: WIKI_BASE_URL Rationale: Self-hosters will have their own wiki instance.

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MEDIUM Priority

MinIO Presigned URL Expiry

File: src/src/utils/minio-client.ts:31

Currently hardcoded:

const DEFAULT_EXPIRY_SECONDS = 86400; // 24 hours

Suggested env var: MINIO_PRESIGNED_URL_EXPIRY_SECONDS Default: 86400 Rationale: Some deployments may want shorter or longer expiry times.

Shlink Default Expiry

File: src/src/utils/shlink-client.ts:21

Currently hardcoded:

const DEFAULT_EXPIRY_MINUTES = 1440; // 24 hours (matches MinIO presigned URL expiry)

Suggested env var: SHLINK_DEFAULT_EXPIRY_MINUTES Default: 1440 (24 hours) Rationale: Control how long shortened URLs remain valid. Should match MinIO presigned URL expiry.

Discourse Summary AI Model

File: src/src/utils/discourse-poster.ts:157

Currently hardcoded:

model: 'gpt-4o-mini',
temperature: 0.7,
max_tokens: 150

Suggested env vars:

• DISCOURSE_SUMMARY_MODEL (default: gpt-4o-mini)
• DISCOURSE_SUMMARY_TEMPERATURE (default: 0.7)
• DISCOURSE_SUMMARY_MAX_TOKENS (default: 150)

Rationale: Allow using different models or tuning summary behavior.

PDF Processing Limits

File: src/src/utils/pdf-scraper.ts:24-25

Currently hardcoded:

const MAX_PAGES_FOR_FULL_EXTRACTION = 20;
const MAX_CHARS_FOR_LLM = 15000;

Suggested env vars:

• PDF_MAX_PAGES (default: 20)
• PDF_MAX_CHARS (default: 15000)

Rationale: Tune PDF processing for different LLM context windows or performance.

File Index Settings

File: src/src/utils/file-search.ts:52-53

Currently hardcoded:

const INDEX_REFRESH_INTERVAL = 60 * 60 * 1000; // 1 hour
const INDEX_MAX_FILES = 50000;

Suggested env vars:

• FILE_INDEX_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS (default: 3600000)
• FILE_INDEX_MAX_FILES (default: 50000)

Rationale: Tune indexing frequency and limits based on archive size.

pCloud Index TTL

File: src/src/utils/file-search.ts:797

Currently hardcoded:

const PCLOUD_INDEX_TTL = 30 * 60 * 1000; // 30 minutes

Suggested env var: PCLOUD_INDEX_TTL_MS Default: 1800000

Search Session TTL

File: src/src/utils/file-search.ts:984

Currently hardcoded:

const SESSION_TTL = 10 * 60 * 1000; // 10 minutes

Suggested env var: SEARCH_SESSION_TTL_MS Default: 600000

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LOW Priority (Game/Feature Tuning)

Rock Paper Scissors Game

File: src/src/utils/rps-game.ts:65-68

Currently hardcoded:

const CHOICE_TIMEOUT_MS = 120000;       // 2 minutes
const SPAM_WINDOW_MS = 30 * 60 * 1000;  // 30 minutes
const SPAM_DELAY_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000;   // 10 minutes
const SPAM_QUIT_THRESHOLD = 2;

Suggested env vars:

• RPS_CHOICE_TIMEOUT_MS (default: 120000)
• RPS_SPAM_WINDOW_MS (default: 1800000)
• RPS_SPAM_DELAY_MS (default: 600000)
• RPS_SPAM_QUIT_THRESHOLD (default: 2)

Dice Game

File: src/src/utils/dice-game.ts:91-96

Currently hardcoded:

const STARTING_POINTS = 100;
const DEFAULT_MIN_BET = 10;
const DEFAULT_MAX_BET = 50;
const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 60000;
const INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT_MS = 180000;

Suggested env vars:

• DICE_STARTING_POINTS (default: 100)
• DICE_MIN_BET (default: 10)
• DICE_MAX_BET (default: 50)
• DICE_TIMEOUT_MS (default: 60000)
• DICE_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT_MS (default: 180000)

Embedding Configuration

File: src/src/utils/wiki-embeddings.ts:15-18

Currently hardcoded:

const EMBEDDING_MODEL = 'text-embedding-3-small';
const EMBEDDING_DIMENSIONS = 1536;
const MAX_TOKENS_PER_CHUNK = 8000;
const CHUNK_OVERLAP_CHARS = 200;

Suggested env vars:

• EMBEDDING_MODEL (default: text-embedding-3-small)
• EMBEDDING_CHUNK_SIZE (default: 8000)
• EMBEDDING_CHUNK_OVERLAP (default: 200)

Breakout Room Settings

File: src/src/utils/breakout-manager.ts

Variable	Default	Description
BREAKOUT_ARCHIVE_DELAY_SECONDS	120	Delay before removing members after session ends (gives time to save info)
BREAKOUT_BROADCAST_GROUPS	-	Comma-separated group IDs for --broadcast announcements

Currently hardcoded (candidates for future configuration):

const MIN_MESSAGES_FOR_AI = 3;
const MIN_MESSAGES_FOR_AI_CATCHUP = 5;

Suggested env vars:

• BREAKOUT_MIN_MESSAGES_FOR_AI (default: 3)
• BREAKOUT_MIN_MESSAGES_CATCHUP (default: 5)

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Domain Lists (Reference Only)

These lists are kept in code as they are extensive and rarely need per-deployment customization:

• SOCIAL_MEDIA_DOMAINS - 23 social media platforms (news-detector.ts:26-48)
• FILE_HOSTING_DOMAINS - 20 file hosting services (news-detector.ts:51-71)
• NEWS_DOMAINS - 200+ news domains for legacy whitelist (news-detector.ts:74-211)
• SUSPICIOUS_TLDS - Geopolitical TLD mapping (url-security.ts:25-53)
• TRACKING_PARAMS - URL tracking parameters to strip (url-security.ts:58-132)

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Implementation Pattern

When adding new configurable values, follow this pattern:

// At top of file
const DEFAULT_VALUE = 'default';
const CONFIG_VALUE = process.env.CONFIG_NAME
  ? process.env.CONFIG_NAME
  : DEFAULT_VALUE;

// For comma-separated lists
const DEFAULT_LIST = ['item1', 'item2'];
const CONFIG_LIST: string[] = process.env.CONFIG_LIST
  ? process.env.CONFIG_LIST.split(',').map(s => s.trim()).filter(s => s.length > 0)
  : DEFAULT_LIST;

// For numbers
const DEFAULT_NUM = 100;
const CONFIG_NUM = process.env.CONFIG_NUM
  ? parseInt(process.env.CONFIG_NUM, 10)
  : DEFAULT_NUM;

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Related Documentation

• Self-Hosting Guide - Full deployment instructions
• File Management - File storage and search documentation
• MinIO Storage - S3-compatible storage setup