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Slides supports two configuration modes: environment files for development, and a JSON config file for the standalone binary.

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Development configuration

In development, configuration is loaded from .env files in each app directory. Copy the example files before your first run: 
cp apps/server/.env.example apps/server/.env
cp apps/web/.env.example apps/web/.env
Then edit the files to match your local environment. See Environment variables for a full reference of all available variables. The development server runs on two ports by default:
  • Frontend: http://localhost:3001
  • Backend: http://localhost:3000
Make sure VITE_SERVER_URL in apps/web/.env points at the backend URL, and CORS_ORIGIN in apps/server/.env allows the frontend origin.

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Standalone binary configuration

When running the standalone binary, configuration is resolved from three sources in priority order:
  1. CLI flags — highest priority, override everything
  2. Environment variables — middle priority
  3. Saved config file — used as persistent defaults
  4. Built-in defaults — fallback values

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Config file

The config file stores defaults that were saved with --init. The file location is platform-dependent:
PlatformPath
macOS / Linux~/.config/slides/config.json
Windows%APPDATA%\slides\config.json
Example config file: 
{
  "dataDir": "/Users/you/presentations",
  "apiKey": "sk-ant-xxx",
  "port": 4000,
  "open": false
}
The following fields are recognized:
FieldTypeDescription
portnumberPort to listen on
dataDirstringAbsolute path to slideshow JSON directory
apiKeystringAnthropic API key for AI features
openbooleanWhether to open the browser on start

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Saving defaults

The easiest way to write the config file is with the --init flag: 
./slides --init --port 4000 --data-dir ~/presentations --api-key sk-ant-xxx
This saves the provided values and exits. Subsequent runs of slides (with no flags) will use those defaults. You can also edit the config file directly with any text editor. The file is plain JSON.

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Updating saved defaults

Re-run --init with updated values to overwrite the file: 
# Change the port and data directory, keep other saved values
./slides --init --port 8080 --data-dir /new/path
Flags not passed to --init do not carry over from a previous config — the entire file is rewritten on each --init run. Include all values you want to persist.

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Port configuration

Pass --port at the command line or save it as a default:
# One-time
./slides --port 8080

# Persist as default
./slides --init --port 8080

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Data directory

By default the server loads slideshow JSON files from ./data/slideshows (relative to the binary location or the working directory). To use a different directory: 
# One-time
./slides --data-dir /var/data/presentations

# Persist as default
./slides --init --data-dir /var/data/presentations
The data directory fallback order is:
  1. --data-dir flag / DATA_DIR env var
  2. Saved config dataDir
  3. CWD/data/slideshows
  4. Bundled location inside the binary

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CORS configuration

CORS is configured via the CORS_ORIGIN environment variable (development) or is automatically set to allow all origins in standalone binary mode. Development: set CORS_ORIGIN in apps/server/.env to match the frontend origin: 
CORS_ORIGIN=http://localhost:3001
To allow multiple origins or a wildcard in development, set the value accordingly: 
# Allow a specific production frontend
CORS_ORIGIN=https://slides.example.com
Standalone binary: CORS is opened to all origins (*) automatically because the frontend and API are served from the same port, so the same-origin policy already applies.
Do not use a wildcard CORS_ORIGIN in a networked development environment where the API is exposed to untrusted clients.

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