DocsReference

Configuration

Every environment variable Gatehouse reads.

Gatehouse is configured with environment variables. Security rules (two-step verification, passwords, sessions, the allow-list and streaming) are set by owners in Settings and stored in the database.

Server

Variable	Default	Purpose
`PORT`	`8787`	Listen port.
`HOST`	`127.0.0.1` (`0.0.0.0` in Docker)	Listen address.
`GATEHOUSE_BASE_URL`	`http://localhost:$PORT`	Public URL. Used for OAuth, SSO callbacks, SCIM and links in email. Use https in production.
`GATEHOUSE_ORG_NAME`	`My organization`	Shown in the console and emails.
`GATEHOUSE_ENV`	unset (`production` in Docker)	`production` requires a provided master key.
`GATEHOUSE_TRUST_PROXY`	unset	Express `trust proxy` value. Set it behind a load balancer so client IPs are right. Prefer the proxy's address range (`10.0.0.0/8`) over `1` when anything else can reach Gatehouse directly.

Storage and keys

Variable	Default	Purpose
`GATEHOUSE_DATA_DIR`	`./data` (`/data` in Docker)	Where the database lives.
`GATEHOUSE_DB`	`<data dir>/gatehouse.db`	Database file path.
`GATEHOUSE_MASTER_KEY_COMMAND`	unset	Command that prints the base64 master key, for KMS or vault.
`GATEHOUSE_MASTER_KEY_FILE`	unset	File holding the master key.
`GATEHOUSE_MASTER_KEY`	unset	The master key itself.

Behavior

Variable	Default	Purpose
`GATEHOUSE_APPROVAL_TIMEOUT_MS`	`300000`	How long a held call waits for a decision.
`GATEHOUSE_ALLOW_SELF_APPROVAL`	`false`	Lets people approve their own calls. For one-person trials only.
`GATEHOUSE_UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT_MS`	`120000`	Timeout for calls to MCP servers.
`GATEHOUSE_AUDIT_ARGS`	`redacted`	`hash` stores only a hash of call arguments in the audit log.

Backups and licensing

Variable	Default	Purpose
`BACKUP_INTERVAL_HOURS`, `BACKUP_KEEP_DAYS`, `BACKUP_DIR`	`24`, `30`, `/backups`	The backup service's schedule and retention. See Backups.
`BACKUP_S3_BUCKET`, `BACKUP_S3_REGION`, `BACKUP_S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID`, `BACKUP_S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY`, `BACKUP_S3_PREFIX`	unset	Off-site copy of each encrypted backup in S3 or a Lightsail bucket.
`GATEHOUSE_LICENSE` / `GATEHOUSE_LICENSE_FILE`	unset	License key for self-hosted installs. See Licensing.

Hardening

Variable	Default	Purpose
`GATEHOUSE_STDIO_COMMANDS`	unset (any)	Comma-separated programs owners may run as local MCP servers, like `npx,uvx`.
`GATEHOUSE_DISABLE_STDIO`	`false`	`true` turns local (stdio) servers off. Only remote MCP servers can be added.
`GATEHOUSE_ALLOW_LINK_LOCAL`	`false`	`true` lets Gatehouse connect to link-local and cloud metadata addresses. Leave it off.
`GATEHOUSE_ALLOW_PLAIN_LDAP`	`false`	`true` allows `ldap://` without StartTLS. For labs only; passwords cross the network in clear text.

Email

Variable	Default	Purpose
`SMTP_HOST`	unset	Turns on email for invites and password resets.
`SMTP_PORT`	`587`
`SMTP_USER`, `SMTP_PASSWORD`	unset	Credentials, if your server needs them.
`SMTP_FROM`	`Gatehouse <no-reply@localhost>`	Sender address.
`SMTP_SECURE`	`false`	`true` for implicit TLS (usually port 465).

Slack

Variable	Purpose
`SLACK_BOT_TOKEN`	Bot token (`xoxb-…`).
`SLACK_APP_TOKEN`	App-level token with `connections:write` (`xapp-…`), for Socket Mode.
`SLACK_CHANNEL`	Channel ID for approval requests.

See Approvals for setup.