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Environment Configuration — PhotoSwipe Pro with AI SEO

This document explains all environment variables needed for payment processing, license validation, and AI features.

Quick Start​

Copy the example below to your .env file or set in your deployment platform (Vercel, Netlify, Railway, etc.).

Payment Processing (LemonSqueezy)​

Required Variables​

# Get from https://app.lemonsqueezy.com/settings/api
LEMON_SQUEEZY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# Store ID from LS dashboard
LEMON_SQUEEZY_STORE_ID=12345

# Product Variant IDs (create products in LS first)
LEMON_SQUEEZY_VARIANT_ID_SITE=67890
LEMON_SQUEEZY_VARIANT_ID_AGENCY=67891

How to Get These Values​

  1. API Key:

  2. Store ID:

  3. Variant IDs:

    • Create products in LS dashboard (Settings → Products)
    • For each product, create pricing variants (e.g., "Site License", "Agency License")
    • Click variant → URL shows variants/XXXXX → that's your Variant ID

License Validation​

# Product ID for license validation (single product if all tiers share one)
LEMON_SQUEEZY_PRODUCT_ID=your_product_id

AI Provider (Optional)​

# If using OpenAI for AI caption generation
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-...

# Or custom AI endpoint
AI_API_BASE_URL=https://your-ai-api.com/v1

Client-side Configuration​

# Optional: Pre-configure a license key at build time
# Better to pass at runtime via plugin config
PSWP_PRO_KEY=pswp_paid_XXXX

Contact Information​

# Displayed in checkout and support pages
SALES_EMAIL=sales@your-domain.com
SUPPORT_EMAIL=support@your-domain.com

Deployment Examples​

Vercel​

# Install Vercel CLI
npm i -g vercel

# Set environment variables
vercel env add LEMON_SQUEEZY_API_KEY
vercel env add LEMON_SQUEEZY_STORE_ID
vercel env add LEMON_SQUEEZY_VARIANT_ID_SITE
vercel env add LEMON_SQUEEZY_VARIANT_ID_AGENCY

# Deploy
vercel --prod

Or via Vercel dashboard:

  1. Go to Project → Settings → Environment Variables
  2. Add each variable for Production, Preview, and Development
  3. Redeploy

Netlify​

# Set via Netlify CLI
netlify env:set LEMON_SQUEEZY_API_KEY "your_key"

# Or use netlify.toml

netlify.toml:

[build.environment]
  # Don't put secrets here! Use Netlify dashboard instead

Via Netlify dashboard:

  1. Site Settings → Environment Variables
  2. Add variables
  3. Trigger new deploy

Railway​

# Set via Railway CLI
railway variables set LEMON_SQUEEZY_API_KEY=your_key

# Or in dashboard: Variables tab

Docker / Self-hosted​

Create .env file:

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your values

Then:

docker run --env-file .env your-image

Security Notes​

⚠️ Never commit .env to Git! Add to .gitignore:

.env
.env.local
.env.*.local

✅ Server-side only: Payment and license secrets must NEVER be exposed to the browser. Our proxy architecture ensures secrets stay on the server.

✅ Rotation: Rotate API keys quarterly or if compromised.

Testing​

For development/testing:

# Use LemonSqueezy test mode
LEMON_SQUEEZY_API_KEY=test_key_...

# Or mock the payment provider
MOCK_PAYMENTS=true

Troubleshooting​

"Payment system not configured"​

  • Check /api/payment/health endpoint
  • Verify all required env vars are set
  • Restart your server after adding env vars

"Failed to create checkout"​

"License validation failed"​

  • Verify LEMON_SQUEEZY_PRODUCT_ID matches your LS product
  • Check license key format: pswp_paid_XXXX
  • Test via /api/license/validate endpoint

Next Steps​

  1. Set up environment variables
  2. Deploy backend with server/payment/router.js and server/lemonsqueezy/router.js
  3. Test checkout flow: /checkout → select tier → complete test purchase
  4. Verify license delivery via email
  5. Test activation in demo or your site

See also: