Environment Variables
Configure your development environment
Encore works out of the box without configuration, but provides several environment variables for advanced use cases such as debugging, testing, or adapting Encore to specific workflow requirements.
Daemon & Development Dashboard
These variables control how the Encore daemon operates and where it exposes its services.
ENCORE_DAEMON_LOG_PATH
Controls the location of the Encore daemon log file.
Default: <user_cache_dir>/encore/daemon.log
Example:
export ENCORE_DAEMON_LOG_PATH=/var/log/encore/daemon.log
ENCORE_DEVDASH_LISTEN_ADDR
Overrides the listen address for the local development dashboard.
Default: Automatically assigned by the daemon
Format: Network address (e.g., localhost:9400)
Example:
export ENCORE_DEVDASH_LISTEN_ADDR=localhost:8080
encore run
ENCORE_MCPSSE_LISTEN_ADDR
Overrides the listen address for the MCP SSE (Model Context Protocol Server-Sent Events) endpoint.
Default: Automatically assigned by the daemon
Format: Network address
Example:
export ENCORE_MCPSSE_LISTEN_ADDR=localhost:9401
ENCORE_OBJECTSTORAGE_LISTEN_ADDR
Overrides the listen address for the object storage service endpoint.
Default: Automatically assigned by the daemon
Format: Network address
Example:
export ENCORE_OBJECTSTORAGE_LISTEN_ADDR=localhost:9402
Logging Configuration
ENCORE_LOG
Sets the log level for your application code. This is especially useful when running encore test, where the --level flag is not available.
Default: trace (log everything)
Valid values: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic, disabled
Example:
# Only show warnings and above during tests
ENCORE_LOG=warn encore test ./...
# Show debug logs during local development
ENCORE_LOG=debug encore run
Please note
ENCORE_LOG takes precedence over the log level set via the --level flag or the log_level field in encore.app. This makes it useful as a per-invocation override.
Advanced Development
These variables are primarily useful for advanced development scenarios, such as contributing to Encore itself or using custom builds.
ENCORE_RUNTIMES_PATH
Specifies the path to the Encore runtimes directory.
Default: Auto-detected relative to the Encore installation (<install_root>/runtimes)
Example:
export ENCORE_RUNTIMES_PATH=/path/to/custom/runtimes
ENCORE_GOROOT
Specifies the path to the custom Encore Go runtime.
Default: Auto-detected relative to the Encore installation (<install_root>/encore-go)
Example:
export ENCORE_GOROOT=/path/to/custom/encore-go
Please note
For most users, these paths are automatically detected and don't need to be set. They are primarily useful when contributing to Encore or testing custom builds.