trilium/docs/User Guide/User Guide/Advanced Usage/Configuration (config.ini or e.md

Configuration (config.ini or environment variables)

Trilium supports configuration via a file named config.ini and environment variables. This document provides a comprehensive reference for all configuration options.

Location of the configuration file

The configuration file is not located in the same directory as the application. Instead, the config.ini is located in the Data directory. As such, the configuration file is only available after starting the application and creating a database.

Configuration Precedence

Configuration values are loaded in the following order of precedence (highest to lowest):

1. Environment variables (checked first)
2. config.ini file values
3. Default values

Environment Variable Patterns

Trilium supports multiple environment variable patterns for flexibility. The primary pattern is: TRILIUM_[SECTION]_[KEY]

Where:

• SECTION is the INI section name in UPPERCASE
• KEY is the camelCase configuration key converted to UPPERCASE (e.g., instanceName → INSTANCENAME)

Additionally, shorter aliases are available for common configurations (see Alternative Variables section below).

Environment Variable Reference

General Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_GENERAL_INSTANCENAME	string	""	Instance name for API identification
TRILIUM_GENERAL_NOAUTHENTICATION	boolean	false	Disable authentication (server only)
TRILIUM_GENERAL_NOBACKUP	boolean	false	Disable automatic backups
TRILIUM_GENERAL_NODESKTOPICON	boolean	false	Disable desktop icon creation
TRILIUM_GENERAL_READONLY	boolean	false	Enable read-only mode

Network Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_NETWORK_HOST	string	"0.0.0.0"	Server host binding
TRILIUM_NETWORK_PORT	string	"3000"	Server port
TRILIUM_NETWORK_HTTPS	boolean	false	Enable HTTPS
TRILIUM_NETWORK_CERTPATH	string	""	SSL certificate path
TRILIUM_NETWORK_KEYPATH	string	""	SSL key path
TRILIUM_NETWORK_TRUSTEDREVERSEPROXY	boolean/string	false	Reverse proxy trust settings
TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWORIGIN	string	""	CORS allowed origins
TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWMETHODS	string	""	CORS allowed methods
TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWHEADERS	string	""	CORS allowed headers

Session Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_SESSION_COOKIEMAXAGE	integer	1814400	Session cookie max age in seconds (21 days)

Sync Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCSERVERHOST	string	""	Sync server host URL
TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCSERVERTIMEOUT	string	"120000"	Sync server timeout in milliseconds
TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCPROXY	string	""	Sync proxy URL

MultiFactorAuthentication Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHBASEURL	string	""	OAuth/OpenID base URL
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHCLIENTID	string	""	OAuth client ID
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHCLIENTSECRET	string	""	OAuth client secret
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERBASEURL	string	"https://accounts.google.com"	OAuth issuer base URL
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERNAME	string	"Google"	OAuth issuer display name
TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERICON	string	""	OAuth issuer icon URL

Logging Section

Environment Variable	Type	Default	Description
TRILIUM_LOGGING_RETENTIONDAYS	integer	90	Number of days to retain log files

Alternative Environment Variables

The following alternative environment variable names are also supported and work identically to their longer counterparts:

Network CORS Variables

• TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN (alternative to TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWORIGIN)
• TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORS_ALLOW_METHODS (alternative to TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWMETHODS)
• TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORS_ALLOW_HEADERS (alternative to TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWHEADERS)

Sync Variables

• TRILIUM_SYNC_SERVER_HOST (alternative to TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCSERVERHOST)
• TRILIUM_SYNC_SERVER_TIMEOUT (alternative to TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCSERVERTIMEOUT)
• TRILIUM_SYNC_SERVER_PROXY (alternative to TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCPROXY)

OAuth/MFA Variables

• TRILIUM_OAUTH_BASE_URL (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHBASEURL)
• TRILIUM_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHCLIENTID)
• TRILIUM_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHCLIENTSECRET)
• TRILIUM_OAUTH_ISSUER_BASE_URL (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERBASEURL)
• TRILIUM_OAUTH_ISSUER_NAME (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERNAME)
• TRILIUM_OAUTH_ISSUER_ICON (alternative to TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHISSUERICON)

Logging Variables

• TRILIUM_LOGGING_RETENTION_DAYS (alternative to TRILIUM_LOGGING_RETENTIONDAYS)

Boolean Values

Boolean environment variables accept the following values:

• True: "true", "1", 1
• False: "false", "0", 0
• Any other value defaults to false

Using Environment Variables

Both naming patterns are fully supported and can be used interchangeably:

• The longer format follows the section/key pattern for consistency with the INI file structure
• The shorter alternatives provide convenience for common configurations
• You can use whichever format you prefer - both are equally valid

Examples

Docker Compose Example

services:
  trilium:
    image: triliumnext/notes
    environment:
      # Using full format
      TRILIUM_GENERAL_INSTANCENAME: "My Trilium Instance"
      TRILIUM_NETWORK_PORT: "8080"
      TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORSALLOWORIGIN: "https://myapp.com"
      TRILIUM_SYNC_SYNCSERVERHOST: "https://sync.example.com"
      TRILIUM_MULTIFACTORAUTHENTICATION_OAUTHBASEURL: "https://auth.example.com"
      
      # Or using shorter alternatives (equally valid)
      # TRILIUM_NETWORK_CORS_ALLOW_ORIGIN: "https://myapp.com"
      # TRILIUM_SYNC_SERVER_HOST: "https://sync.example.com"
      # TRILIUM_OAUTH_BASE_URL: "https://auth.example.com"

Shell Export Example

# Using either format
export TRILIUM_GENERAL_NOAUTHENTICATION=false
export TRILIUM_NETWORK_HTTPS=true
export TRILIUM_NETWORK_CERTPATH=/path/to/cert.pem
export TRILIUM_NETWORK_KEYPATH=/path/to/key.pem
export TRILIUM_LOGGING_RETENTIONDAYS=30

# Start Trilium
npm start

config.ini Reference

For the complete list of configuration options and their INI file format, please review the config-sample.ini file in the Trilium repository