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.

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