Environment Variables

Complete reference for configuring SHIELD.

Required Variables

Database

POSTGRES_URL=postgresql://user:password@host:port/database

PostgreSQL connection string using Neon or your provider.

Authentication

JWT_SECRET=your_random_32_character_string

Secret for signing JWT sessions. Generate with:

openssl rand -base64 32

Blockchain RPC

BASE_RPC_URL=https://mainnet.base.org
# or for development:
BASE_MAINNET_RPC_URL=https://mainnet.base.org

Base network RPC endpoint. Can use public endpoint or private RPC.

Smart Contracts

NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x...

Shield contract address on Base mainnet.

WalletConnect

NEXT_PUBLIC_WALLETCONNECT_PROJECT_ID=your_project_id

Get from WalletConnect Cloud.

IPFS (Pinata)

PINATA_JWT=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...
NEXT_PUBLIC_PINATA_API_KEY=your_pinata_api_key

PINATA_JWT: Server-side JWT for IPFS operations
NEXT_PUBLIC_PINATA_API_KEY: Client-side restricted key for uploads

Upgrade Payments

NEXT_PUBLIC_UPGRADE_WALLET_ADDRESS=0x...
NEXT_PUBLIC_USDC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913
USDC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913
UPGRADE_WALLET_ADDRESS=0x...

Upgrade wallet: Where USDC payments are sent
USDC contract: Base mainnet USDC token address

Optional Variables

Application URLs

FRONTEND_URL=https://app.shieldhq.xyz
NEXT_PUBLIC_FRONTEND_URL=https://app.shieldhq.xyz
VERCEL_URL=your-project.vercel.app

Admin Configuration

ADMIN_ADDRESSES=0x123...,0x456...
SUPER_ADMIN_ADDRESSES=0xabc...,0xdef...
TEAM_ADMIN_ADDRESSES=0x789...,0x012...

Comma-separated list of admin wallet addresses.

Cron Jobs

CRON_SECRET=your_cron_secret

Secret for authorizing cron job requests.

Third-Party APIs

TALENT_PROTOCOL_API_KEY=your_api_key
ETHERSCAN_API_KEY=your_api_key

Monitoring

NEXT_PUBLIC_VERCEL_ANALYTICS_ID=...
SENTRY_DSN=...

Configuration by Environment

Development

NODE_ENV=development
NEXT_PUBLIC_FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000
FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000
POSTGRES_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/shield
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x...sepolia...
BASE_RPC_URL=https://sepolia.base.org

Production

NODE_ENV=production
NEXT_PUBLIC_FRONTEND_URL=https://app.shieldhq.xyz
FRONTEND_URL=https://app.shieldhq.xyz
POSTGRES_URL=postgresql://...neon.tech/shield
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS=0x...mainnet...
BASE_RPC_URL=https://mainnet.base.org

Security Best Practices

❌ Never Commit

JWT_SECRET
POSTGRES_URL
PINATA_JWT
CRON_SECRET
UPGRADE_WALLET_ADDRESS (private)

✅ Safe to Expose (NEXT_PUBLIC_*)

NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS
NEXT_PUBLIC_WALLETCONNECT_PROJECT_ID
NEXT_PUBLIC_FRONTEND_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_PINATA_API_KEY (restricted)
NEXT_PUBLIC_UPGRADE_WALLET_ADDRESS
NEXT_PUBLIC_USDC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS

Platform-Specific

Vercel

Add in Project Settings → Environment Variables:

Name	Value
POSTGRES_URL	postgresql://…
JWT_SECRET	…
PINATA_JWT	eyJ…
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS	0x…
…	…

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause
”JWT_SECRET is missing”	JWT_SECRET not set
”POSTGRES_URL is missing”	Database URL not configured
IPFS upload fails	PINATA_JWT invalid or expired
Contract calls fail	NEXT_PUBLIC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS wrong
Database connection fails	POSTGRES_URL malformed

Getting Started

API Reference

Smart Contracts

Environment Variables

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Database

Authentication

Blockchain RPC

Smart Contracts

WalletConnect

IPFS (Pinata)

Upgrade Payments

Optional Variables

Application URLs

Admin Configuration

Cron Jobs

Third-Party APIs

Monitoring

Configuration by Environment

Development

Production

Security Best Practices

❌ Never Commit

✅ Safe to Expose (NEXT_PUBLIC_*)

Platform-Specific

Vercel

Troubleshooting

​Environment Variables

​Required Variables

​Database

​Authentication

​Blockchain RPC

​Smart Contracts

​WalletConnect

​IPFS (Pinata)

​Upgrade Payments

​Optional Variables

​Application URLs

​Admin Configuration

​Cron Jobs

​Third-Party APIs

​Monitoring

​Configuration by Environment

​Development

​Production

​Security Best Practices

​❌ Never Commit

​✅ Safe to Expose (NEXT_PUBLIC_*)

​Platform-Specific

​Vercel

​Troubleshooting

Environment Variables

Required Variables

Database

Authentication

Blockchain RPC

Smart Contracts

WalletConnect

IPFS (Pinata)

Upgrade Payments

Optional Variables

Application URLs

Admin Configuration

Cron Jobs

Third-Party APIs

Monitoring

Configuration by Environment

Development

Production

Security Best Practices

❌ Never Commit

✅ Safe to Expose (NEXT_PUBLIC_*)

Platform-Specific

Vercel

Troubleshooting