Server configuration¶

Configure a self-hosted Silex with environment variables.

Overview¶

Environment variables are the supported way to configure a self-hosted Silex — they control ports, URLs, connectors, limits and SSL, and cover the vast majority of setups. Start there.

To add GrapesJS editor plugins, you don't touch the server config — use the client config instead.

Silex also has an internal server config (the full SaaS setup: dashboard, onboarding, and the connectors wired from the env vars below). It ships with Silex and is loaded automatically — you don't edit it.

Prerequisites¶

A running Silex server (Docker, Node, or self-hosted)
Understanding of storage and hosting connectors

Environment variables¶

All environment variables are optional except SILEX_SESSION_SECRET (recommended for security).

Core server settings¶

Variable	Default	Purpose
`SILEX_PORT`	6805	Port the server listens on
`SILEX_HOST`	localhost	Hostname (0.0.0.0 for remote access)
`SILEX_PROTOCOL`	http	http or https (before reverse proxy)
`SILEX_URL`	`${PROTOCOL}://${HOST}:${PORT}`	Public URL users visit
`SILEX_DEBUG`	false	Set to true for verbose logs and config reloading
`SILEX_SESSION_NAME`	silex-session	Session cookie name
`SILEX_SESSION_SECRET`	(none)	Random key for session encryption; min 32 chars

Express request limits¶

For large file uploads or data:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`SILEX_EXPRESS_JSON_LIMIT`	100mb	Max JSON body size
`SILEX_EXPRESS_TEXT_LIMIT`	100mb	Max text body size
`SILEX_EXPRESS_URLENCODED_LIMIT`	100mb	Max form-encoded body size

The defaults above come from the shipped .env.default. The Docker image overrides them to 1mb / 10mb / 1mb — raise them there if you upload large assets.

SSL/HTTPS¶

For HTTPS without a reverse proxy:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`SILEX_SSL_PORT`	(none)	HTTPS port (e.g., 443)
`SILEX_SSL_PRIVATE_KEY`	(none)	Path to private key file
`SILEX_SSL_CERTIFICATE`	(none)	Path to certificate file
`SILEX_FORCE_HTTPS`	false	Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
`SILEX_FORCE_HTTPS_TRUST_XFP_HEADER`	false	Trust X-Forwarded-Proto header from reverse proxy

CORS and client config¶

Variable	Default	Purpose
`SILEX_CORS_URL`	(none)	Allow requests from this origin (e.g., https://editor.example.com)
`SILEX_CLIENT_CONFIG`	(none)	Path to a client config file — see Client configuration to add GrapesJS plugins

Connectors¶

Variable	Default	Purpose
`STORAGE_CONNECTORS`	ftp	Comma-separated list: fs, gitlab, ftp
`HOSTING_CONNECTORS`	ftp,download	Comma-separated list: fs, gitlab, ftp, download
`SILEX_FS_ROOT`	`<cwd>/silex/storage`	Path for the `fs` storage connector
`SILEX_FS_HOSTING_ROOT`	`<cwd>/silex/hosting`	Path for the `fs` hosting connector
`FTP_STORAGE_PATH`	(none)	Root path on FTP server for storage
`FTP_HOSTING_PATH`	(none)	Root path on FTP server for hosting
`GITLAB_DISPLAY_NAME`	(none)	Display name for the primary GitLab connector
`GITLAB_DOMAIN`	(none)	GitLab instance domain (e.g., gitlab.com)
`GITLAB_CLIENT_ID`	(none)	OAuth application ID for GitLab
`GITLAB_CLIENT_SECRET`	(none)	OAuth application secret for GitLab
`GITLAB2_DISPLAY_NAME`	(none)	Display name for a second GitLab connector
`GITLAB2_DOMAIN`	(none)	Domain for the second GitLab instance
`GITLAB2_CLIENT_ID`	(none)	OAuth application ID for second GitLab
`GITLAB2_CLIENT_SECRET`	(none)	OAuth application secret for second GitLab

See Storage connectors and Hosting connectors for how to choose connectors and set up GitLab OAuth.

NocoDB integration¶

Used only by the SaaS onboarding flow (server/deploy) to store sign-ups. Not needed for self-hosting — leave unset and onboarding stays disabled.

Variable	Default	Purpose
`NOCO_URL`	(none)	NocoDB instance URL
`NOCO_API_KEY`	(none)	NocoDB API key
`NOCO_TABLE`	(none)	NocoDB table name for website metadata

Extending the server¶

The connectors and options above are driven entirely by environment variables — that is the supported way to configure an instance.

There is no supported way to inject custom server-side code or connectors into a Docker or from-source instance. Such code would have to require() Silex internals under dist/…, which are not a public API and change between releases. (The npm @silexlabs/silex package that made this possible is being phased out in favour of the Docker image and from-source builds.)

If the built-in connectors and environment variables don't cover your need:

To extend the editor — blocks, panels, GrapesJS plugins — use the client config.
For a new storage/hosting connector or server behaviour, open an issue or start a discussion. New connectors are added to Silex itself so everyone benefits.

Troubleshooting¶

Connectors not loading¶

Verify the environment variables are set:

env | grep -E 'STORAGE_CONNECTORS|HOSTING_CONNECTORS|GITLAB|FTP'

At startup Silex logs each connector it adds (> Add storage connector from env var: …) — check the server logs to see what was actually loaded.