Configuration Configuration Overview

Configuration Overview

How DEX configuration works, where values come from, and how to set them.

DEX ships with sensible defaults, and you override them using environment variables.

Where configuration comes from

DEX reads its configuration from two places, in this order:

  1. Defaults in the package config class
  2. DEX_* environment variables (from .env, server env, Docker, etc.)

Naming

Each config property maps to an environment variable using this rule:

  • routePrefix → DEX_ROUTE_PREFIX
  • captureShutdownFatals → DEX_CAPTURE_SHUTDOWN_FATALS

Types and casting

DEX casts environment values based on the default property type:

  • Booleans: true, false, 1, 0, yes, no
  • Integers / floats: 1000, 48_000 (use plain numbers in env: 48000)
  • Arrays: either JSON (["a","b"]) or comma-separated (a,b)
For array options, JSON is the most reliable format (especially when values contain spaces).

Example .env

# Enable DEX
DEX_ENABLED=true

# Put the dashboard under /ops/dex instead of /dex
DEX_ROUTE_PREFIX=ops/dex

# Allow dashboard access in production (still protected by allowlists)
DEX_ALLOW_IN_PRODUCTION=true

# Allow your office VPN CIDR
DEX_UI_ALLOWLIST=10.0.0.0/8,192.168.0.0/16

Next steps