Environment Variables

Tabby requires environment variables to be configured across three components: the frontend, Next.js backend, and Python memory backend.

Prerequisites

Before configuring environment variables:

Complete the database setup
Run npx supabase status to get your Supabase credentials
Have your API keys ready (OpenAI, Tavily, etc.)

Create Environment Files

Copy the example files to create your environment configuration:

# Frontend
cp frontend/env.example frontend/.env.local

# Next.js Backend
cp nextjs-backend/env.example nextjs-backend/.env.local

# Memory Backend
cp backend/env.example backend/.env

Frontend Configuration

Edit frontend/.env.local:

# Supabase (local Docker) — get values from `npx supabase status`
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:54321"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY="<ANON_KEY from supabase status>"

NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME="Tabby"
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_ICON="/logos/tabby-logo.png"

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL="http://localhost:3001"
NEXT_PUBLIC_MEMORY_API_URL="http://localhost:8000"

Frontend Variables Explained

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL

Your local Supabase API URL. For local development, this is http://127.0.0.1:54321.Get this from npx supabase status output.

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

The anonymous key for client-side Supabase requests.Get this from npx supabase status output.

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL

URL for the Next.js backend API. Default is http://localhost:3001.

NEXT_PUBLIC_MEMORY_API_URL

URL for the Python memory backend. Default is http://localhost:8000.

Next.js Backend Configuration

Edit nextjs-backend/.env.local:

# Supabase (local Docker) — same keys as frontend
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL="http://127.0.0.1:54321"
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY="<ANON_KEY from supabase status>"
SUPABASE_ADMIN="<SERVICE_ROLE_KEY from supabase status>"

# Email (optional)
RESEND_API_KEY=""
RESEND_DOMAIN=""

NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_NAME="Tabby"
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_ICON="/logos/tabby-logo.png"

# AI Providers
OPENAI_API_KEY=""
GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=""
GROQ_API_KEY=""
CEREBRAS_API_KEY=""
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=""

# Tools
TAVILY_API_KEY=""

MEMORY_API_URL="http://localhost:8000"

Backend Variables Explained

Supabase Keys

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL: Same as frontend
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY: Same as frontend
SUPABASE_ADMIN: Service role key for admin operations (from npx supabase status)

AI Provider Keys

OPENAI_API_KEY (Required)

Get from platform.openai.com
Required for core AI functionality

Optional Providers:

GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY: Google’s Gemini models
GROQ_API_KEY: Fast inference platform
CEREBRAS_API_KEY: High-performance inference
OPENROUTER_API_KEY: Access to multiple models

Tool API Keys

TAVILY_API_KEY (Recommended)

Required for web search functionality
Get from tavily.ai

Email Configuration (Optional)

If you want to enable email notifications:

RESEND_API_KEY: API key from resend.com
RESEND_DOMAIN: Your verified domain

Memory Backend Configuration

Edit backend/.env:

OPENAI_API_KEY=""

# Local Supabase PostgreSQL — get DB_URL from `npx supabase status`
SUPABASE_CONNECTION_STRING="postgresql://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:54322/postgres"

# Neo4j (optional - see Neo4j setup guide)
NEO4J_URL=""
NEO4J_USERNAME=""
NEO4J_PASSWORD=""
NEO4J_DATABASE=""
AURA_INSTANCEID=""
AURA_INSTANCENAME=""

Memory Backend Variables Explained

OPENAI_API_KEY

Same OpenAI API key as the Next.js backend.

SUPABASE_CONNECTION_STRING

PostgreSQL connection string for local Supabase.Format: postgresql://postgres:postgres@127.0.0.1:54322/postgres

Note the port 54322 for direct PostgreSQL connection (different from the API port 54321)

You can verify this with npx supabase status and look for the “DB URL” value.

Neo4j Variables (Optional)

Only required if you’re using the knowledge graph feature. See the Neo4j setup guide for details.

NEO4J_URL: Your Neo4j instance URI
NEO4J_USERNAME: Database username (usually “neo4j”)
NEO4J_PASSWORD: Database password
NEO4J_DATABASE: Database name (usually “neo4j”)
AURA_INSTANCEID: Your AuraDB instance ID (if using Neo4j Aura)
AURA_INSTANCENAME: Your AuraDB instance name (if using Neo4j Aura)

Getting Supabase Credentials

To get all your Supabase credentials at once:

npx supabase status

This outputs:

API URL: Use for NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
anon key: Use for NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
service_role key: Use for SUPABASE_ADMIN
DB URL: Use for SUPABASE_CONNECTION_STRING

Verification

After configuring all environment files, verify your setup:

Check file existence

Make sure all three .env files exist:

ls frontend/.env.local
ls nextjs-backend/.env.local
ls backend/.env

Verify required keys

At minimum, you need:

Supabase URL and keys in all three files
OpenAI API key in backend files
Tavily API key (recommended for web search)

Never commit .env files to version control. They are already included in .gitignore.

Next Steps

With environment variables configured, you can:

Run the application and start all services
Optionally set up Neo4j for knowledge graph features
Start developing with Tabby AI Keyboard

Setup

Configuration

Deployment

Prerequisites

Create Environment Files

Frontend Configuration

Frontend Variables Explained

Next.js Backend Configuration

Backend Variables Explained

Memory Backend Configuration

Memory Backend Variables Explained

Getting Supabase Credentials

Verification

Next Steps

​Prerequisites

​Create Environment Files

​Frontend Configuration

​Frontend Variables Explained

​Next.js Backend Configuration

​Backend Variables Explained

​Memory Backend Configuration

​Memory Backend Variables Explained

​Getting Supabase Credentials

​Verification

​Next Steps

Prerequisites

Create Environment Files

Frontend Configuration

Frontend Variables Explained

Next.js Backend Configuration

Backend Variables Explained

Memory Backend Configuration

Memory Backend Variables Explained

Getting Supabase Credentials

Verification

Next Steps