Environment Variables

The HCG AI application requires several environment variables to manage database connections, authentication security, and external API integrations. Create a .env file in the project root and populate it with the variables listed below.

Core Configuration

Security & Authentication

AI Service (OpenAI)

The chatbot feature requires a valid OpenAI API key. Without this, the AI Chat tab will not return responses.

Mail Server (SMTP)

The application uses SMTP to send password reset emails. By default, the system is configured to use Hostinger (smtp.hostinger.com).

Note: If you wish to use a different email provider, you must update the transporter configuration in simple-app-server.js (lines 151–169) in addition to providing the password here.

Example .env File

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development

# Database
# Format: postgresql://[user]:[password]@[host]:[port]/[database]
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/hcgai_db

# Security
# Replace with a unique random string for production
SESSION_SECRET=your_complex_session_secret_here

# Third-Party Services
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SMTP_PASS=your_smtp_app_password

Validation & Troubleshooting

Database: If the application fails to start, verify that the DATABASE_URL is correct by running psql $DATABASE_URL.
Sessions: In production, if users are unable to stay logged in, ensure NODE_ENV is set to production and you are using HTTPS, as cookies are configured to be secure in that environment.
Missing Keys: If OPENAI_API_KEY or SMTP_PASS are missing, the core tracking features will still function, but the AI Chat and Password Reset features will throw errors in the server logs.