references:

  • bin/silverbullet/src/config.rs
  • bin/silverbullet/src/server.rs

While most of SilverBullet’s configuration happens through the Dashboard these days, a few options remain configurable via environment variables.

Network

  • SB_HOSTNAME: Set to the hostname to bind to (defaults to 127.0.0.0, set to 0.0.0.0 to accept outside connections for the local setup, defaults to 0.0.0.0 for docker)
  • SB_PORT: Sets the port to listen to, e.g. SB_PORT=1234, default is 3000

Docker

Configuration only relevant to docker deployments:

  • PUID: Runs the server process with the specified UID (default: whatever user owns the /data mapped folder)
  • PGID: Runs the server process with the specified GID (default: whatever group owns the /data mapped folder)\

Runtime API

  • SB_CHROME_PATH: Optional explicit path to the Chrome, Chromium, or headless-shell binary. Falls back to the CHROMIUM_PATH environment variable (pre-set in the default Docker image), then auto-detection, which prefers headless shell on PATH.
  • SB_CHROME_SHOW: Set to any non-empty value to run Chrome with a visible window instead of headless (useful for debugging). Requires full Chrome/Chromium; auto-detection skips headless shell in this mode.
  • SB_CHROME_LOG_CONSOLE: Forward the headless Chrome page’s console.* output to the server log (so you can see what the runtime is doing). Enabled by default; set to 0 to disable. The same log is also available via /.runtime/logs (e.g. sb logs).

Metrics

SilverBullet offers a few basic Prometheus metrics, these can be configured with the following environment variables:

  • SB_METRICS_PORT: HTTP port to expose metrics (under the default /metrics endpoint) on

Legacy “single-space” mode options

warning Warning Configuring SilverBullet in a single-space server setup with environment variables is now considered a legacy feature and deprecated.

The environment variables below configure a single-space server. A fresh install will run SilverBullet in multi-space mode and let you configure most options via the Dashboard.

General configuration

  • SB_FOLDER: The data folder to serve, e.g. SB_FOLDER=/home/user/silverbullet. In single-space mode this folder is your space, in multi-space mode it holds the server configuration and (by default) the spaces, see Dashboard.
  • SB_INDEX_PAGE: Sets the default page to load, defaults to index.
  • SB_SPACE_IGNORE: Hide paths from SilverBullet using gitignore-style patterns, e.g. SB_SPACE_IGNORE="IgnoreMe/*". The space folder's actual .gitignore file is not read.
  • SB_HTTP_LOGGING: Set to any value to enable HTTP logging
  • SB_LOG_PUSH: Set to any value to ask clients to push their logs to the server (for debugging purposes)
  • SB_DISABLE_SERVICE_WORKER: Set to any value to disable the client-side service worker for all clients. In this mode, Sync is disabled (so your space is not copied into the browser) and the app will not function when offline. All loads and saves will go directly to the server.
  • SB_FS_WATCH: Controls how the server detects files changed on disk by other programs, for the whole server instance. auto (default) watches the space folder natively and pushes changes to open clients, so an externally edited page updates in the editor within moments. poll scans for changes instead — use it when the space lives on a network mount (NFS/SMB) where writes from other machines produce no native file-system events. off disables watching entirely: clients fall back to checking for changes periodically, as they did before this existed.
  • SB_FS_POLL_INTERVAL: How often SB_FS_WATCH=poll scans, in whole seconds (default 30). Only consulted in poll mode. Each scan re-checks every file in the space, so a short interval is expensive on a large space or a network mount; lower it only if you need external edits picked up faster than the default. Values that are not a positive whole number are ignored with a warning.

Network

  • SB_UNIX_SOCKET: Instead of listening to a TCP port, listen to a Unix socket at the specified path, e.g. SB_UNIX_SOCKET=/tmp/silverbullet.sock. Note: when this is set, SB_HOSTNAME and SB_PORT are ignored.
  • SB_URL_PREFIX: Host SilverBullet on a particular URL prefix, e.g. SB_URL_PREFIX=/notes

Authentication

  • SB_USER (single-space only): Sets single-user credentials, e.g. SB_USER=pete:1234 allows you to login with username “pete” and password “1234”.
  • SB_AUTH_TOKEN (single-space only): Enables Authorization: Bearer <token> style authentication on the HTTP API. In multi-space mode this is replaced by per-account API tokens.
  • SB_LOCKOUT_LIMIT: Specifies the number of failed login attempt before locking the user out (for a SB_LOCKOUT_TIME specified amount of seconds), defaults to 10
  • SB_LOCKOUT_TIME: Specifies the amount of time (in seconds) a client will be blocked until attempting to log back in, defaults to 60.
  • SB_REMEMBER_ME_HOURS: Sets the session duration in hours when "Remember me" is checked during login, defaults to 7 days. Sessions where "Remember me" was left unchecked always last one week.

Run mode

  • SB_READ_ONLY: If you want to run the SilverBullet client and server in read-only mode (you get the full SilverBullet client, but all edit functionality and commands are disabled), you can do this by setting this environment variable to a non-empty value. Upon the server start a full space index will happen, after which all write operations will be disabled.

Web app manifest

Configure aspects of web app appearance as well as the authentication page:

  • SB_NAME: Sets name and short_name members of web app manifest to whatever specified in SB_NAME
  • SB_DESCRIPTION: Sets description member of web app manifest to whatever specified in SB_DESCRIPTION