Apollo Universal Starter Kit Configurations

This section contains information about Apollo Universal Starter Kit configurations. You can follow to various sections by clicking the links below:

General Information
Apollo Engine
Basic Application Settings
Build Configuration
Built-In UI Libraries
Database
Internationalization
Mailer
Mobile Chat
Pagination
Stripe Subscription
Server Side Rendering
Upload Module
User Authentication

General Information

The main configuration file in Apollo Universal Starter Kit is called settings.js and it's stored in the root of the project. This file doesn't contain any project properties but imports the configuration files from the config folder. The starter kit modules use settings.js to get the necessary values specified in the config/*.js files.

The flow looks similar to this:

config/*.js => settings.js => ApplicationFile.js

If you wish to add specific configurations to your Apollo Universal Starter Kit project, we recommend creating the configuration file under the config folder. Then, you can import the settings in your concrete module as shown in the example below:

// entry index.ts file located in packages/server/src/modules/yourModule
import settings from '../../../../../settings';

// your code

Apollo Engine

Apollo Universal Starter Kit uses Apollo Engine and stores the Engine configurations in the config/engine.js file.

Property	Type	Description
apiKey	String	Sets the Apollo Engine API key
logging	Object	Holds the Apollo Engine properties such as the logging level
level	String	Sets the `logging` level for Apollo Engine

NOTE: we advise against setting the Apollo Engine API key directly in the config/engine.js file. Instead, set your Apollo Engine API key in the packages/server/.env file as shown in the example below:

# Apollo Engine API Key
APOLLO_ENGINE_API_KEY=your_api_key

NOTE: you can set the logging level for Apollo Engine to 'DEBUG', 'INFO', 'WARN', or 'ERROR'. Consult Apollo Engine documentation for logging levels.

Basic Application Settings

You can set the basic application settings in the config/app.js file.

Property	Type	Description
name	String	The project name. Defaults to 'Apollo Starter Kit'
stackFragmentFormat	String	Special URL setting for Visual Studio Code IDE
logging	Object	Stores various logging properties

You can learn more about stackFragmentFormat in the following documents:

Consult Opening Visual Studio Code with URLs for Windows and MacOS
Consult Visual Studio Code URL Handler for Linux

Logging Properties `logging`

Property	Type	Description
level	String	Sets the `logging` level to `debug` for development and `info` for production
debugSQL	Boolean	Logs the SQL commands that are executed on the back end. Defaults to `false`
apolloLogging	Boolean	Logs all Apollo operations in the development environment. Defaults to `false`

Build Configuration

Apollo Universal Starter Kit contains build-time settings in a build.config.js. These files are located in packages/*/build.config.js plus global build-time settings are located in <monorepoRoot>/build.config.js. These files are evaluated during build-phase. They typically give precedence to environment variables and if those are not set use default values.

Built-In UI Libraries

Apollo Universal Starter Kit uses various UI libraries for the three clients.

With React, you can use either Twitter Bootstrap or Ant Design. For the React Native mobile app, you can use NativeBase. The Angular app comes with Angular Material, and the Vue client also uses Bootstrap.

By default, Apollo Universal Starter Kit enables Twitter Bootstrap for the React and Vue clients and NativeBase for the mobile app. Angular uses the Material library.

You can enable Ant Design styles for React by changing the module look exports:

To use Ant Design instead of Twitter Bootstrap, uncomment the respective export for Ant Design and comment out the export for Bootstrap in the modules/look/client-react/look.ts file:

// export * from './ui-bootstrap';
export * from './ui-antd';

Database

Apollo Universal Starter Kit supports SQL databases (the commonest examples are PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite; the latter is used by default by the starter kit). The database configurations are located in the config/db.js file.

To be able to use PostgreSQL or MySQL, you only need to add necessary environment variables to config/db.js file. packages/server/.env file:

DB_CLIENT. Use mysql for MySQL or pg for PostgreSQL. If you don't set this property, SQLite will be used by default
DB_HOST, you can use localhost for development mode.
DB_USER, database username
DB_PASSWORD, database password
DB_DATABASE, the database to which the application will connect
DB_SOCKET_PATH, the socket path
DB_SSL, use the SSL certificate to connect with SSL

NOTE: we advise against setting the environment variables directly in the configurations. Instead, set the variables in the packages/server/.env file:

# Database
DB_CLIENT="use mysql or pg or leave empty"
DB_HOST=
DB_SOCKET_PATH=
DB_USER=
DB_PASSWORD=
DB_DATABASE=
DB_SSL=

To set the correct values for the listed variables, consult the following documentation:

For PostgreSQL:

Connection URIs
Secure TCP/IP Connections with SSL
PostgreSQL socket path

For MySQL:

Connecting using a URI String
Using Encrypted Connections
MySQL socket path

Internationalization

The internationalization configurations are stored in the config/i18n.js file. Apollo Universal Starter Kit uses the i18next library to implement internationalization for all the platforms – client, server, and mobile.

Property	Type	Description
enabled	Boolean	Enables the i18n module for all the platforms. Defaults to `true`
langPickerRender	Boolean	Enables the select component on the HTML page. Defaults to `true`
langList	Array	Sets the list of supported languages. Defaults to `['en-US', 'ru-RU']`
fallbackLng	Object	Sets the default language. Defaults to `'en-US'`
cookie	String	Sets the name for the cookie to store the language. Defaults to `'lang'`

NOTE: the langList and fallbackLng properties are used by i18next. Consult the i18next documentation for more information. The cookie property is used by i18next-express-middleware.

Mailer

Apollo Universal Starter Kit uses Nodemailer to provide the emailing functionality. The Nodemailer configurations are stored in the config/mailer.js file.

To make the mailer module work, you need to specify these data in packages/server/.env:

Property	Type	Description
host	String	Sets the email host. Defaults to `smtp.ethereal.email`
port	Number	Sets the email host port. Defaults to `587`
auth	Object	Sets the user and password for authentication

Authentication Properties `auth`

Property	Type	Description
user	String	Sets the user emails address. Defaults to `olgv7abv3lcmipb7@ethereal.email`
pass	String	Sets the password for authenticating the requests

NOTE: we advise against setting the values directly in the config/mailer.js file. Instead, set the Nodemailer properties in the packages/server/.env file as shown in the example below:

# Email
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.ethereal.email
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USER=olgv7abv3lcmipb7@ethereal.email
EMAIL_PASSWORD=VTKxTbK7RPFNBjQwp9

Consult Nodemailer general options and authentication documentation for more information about the properties.

Mobile Chat

To configure the mobile chat module, follow to the dedicated section:

docs/modules/mobileChat.md

Pagination

You can change the pagination settings in the config/pagination.js file. Apollo Universal Starter Kit lets you configure pagination for the client-side application and for the mobile app separately.

Apollo Universal Starter Kit implements the relay- and cursor-based pagination types:

The relay pagination provides the Load More button. By clicking Load More, the user tell the application to load a number of the new items asynchronously and show them in the same page.
The standard pagination is cursor-based: the items are shown page by page, and the user needs to navigate between pages to see the items. You can learn more about the cursor-based pagination in the dedicated Apollo blog post.

Pagination Settings for the Client-Side Application

Property	Type	Description
itemsNumber	Number	Sets the number of the displayed items per page. Defaults to `10`
type	String	Sets the pagination type. Use `'relay'` or `'standard'`. Defaults to `'relay'`

Usage example (the configuration set in config/pagination.js):

export default {
  web: {
    itemsNumber: 10,
    type: 'relay' // Use 'standard' or 'relay' for the web application
  }
}

Pagination Settings for the Mobile App

Property	Type	Description
itemsNumber	Number	Sets the number of the displayed items per page. Defaults to `10`
type	String	Sets the pagination type. Use `'relay'` or `'standard'`. Defaults to `'relay'`

Usage example (the configuration set in config/pagination.js):

export default {
  mobile: {
    itemsNumber: 10,
    type: 'relay' // Use 'standard' or 'relay' for the mobile app
  }
};

Server Side Rendering

Apollo Universal Starter Kit supports Server Side Rendering (SSR), and this features is enabled by default for both Express server application and React client app.

NOTE: SSR is disabled by default for the Angular application in packages/client-angular because the current Angular app implementation doesn't support SSR.

If you want to disable SSR for React and Express applications, you need to change a dedicated SpinJS setting in two .spinrc.js files:

For the Express application, set config.options.ssr to false in packages/server/.spinrc.js
For the React application, set config.options.ssr to false in packages/client/.spinrc.js

NOTE: If you're going to disable SSR, do this in both server and client packages!

Disabling SSR

You can disable SSR mode either by settings environment variable SSR to false during build. For example SSR=false yarn build or if you want to disable SSR by default you can edit root build.config.js. Change the line:

__SSR__: (process.env.SSR || 'true') === 'true'

to

__SSR__: (process.env.SSR || 'false') === 'true'

Stripe Subscription

To configure the Stripe subscription module, follow to the dedicated section:

docs/modules/stripeSubscription.md

Upload Module

The upload module configuration is located in the config/upload.js file. Currently, you can only change the folder for the uploaded files.

Property	Type	Description
uploadDir	String	Sets the upload directory. Defaults to `public`

NOTE: the path to the upload directory is resolved from packages/server. If you set the uploadDir property to uploads, the uploaded files will be located under packages/server/uploads. The upload directory is automatically generated when you upload a file to the server.

User Authentication

You can configure authentication for your Apollo Universal Starter Kit-based application in the config/user.js file.

`secret`

Sets AUTH_SECRET for development and production modes.

AUTH_SECRET is the secret string used for signing the authentication tokens on the server if user sessions are controlled by JWT. If you're using the session-based authentication, AUTH_SECRET is used to validate the secret encryption key and private key for sessions.

You need to add the AUTH_SECRET string into the packages/server/.env file. Find the following line and add your secret string (typically, an alphanumeric sequence of random characters) instead of "secret":

# Auth
AUTH_SECRET=secret, change for production

`auth`

Contains authentication properties such as the type of authentication, the password and certificate details, as well as the social authentication properties for Facebook, GitHub, LinkedIn, and Google.

`access`

Configures the authentication methods. By default, Apollo Universal Starter Kit uses both JSON Web Token and session-based authentication mechanisms.

Usage Example

export default {
  auth: {
    access: {
      session: {
        enabled: true
      },
      jwt: {
        enabled: true,
        tokenExpiresIn: '1m',
        refreshTokenExpiresIn: '7d'
      }
    }
  }
}

Session Properties

access.session	Object	Contains the global properties for the server session-based authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables the session mechanism for authentication. Defaults to `true`

JWT Properties

access.jwt	Object	Contains the global properties for the JWT-based authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables the JWT-based authentication. Defaults to `true`
tokenExpiresIn	String	Sets the expiration period for the authentication token. Defaults to `'1m'`
refreshTokenExpiresIn	String	Sets the expiration period for the refresh token. Defaults to `'7d'`

`password`

Configures the password validation and other settings for the server-side and client-side validation.

password	Object	Contains the global properties for the `password` configurations
requireEmailConfirmation	Boolean	Require email confirmation for new registered users. Defaults to `true`
sendPasswordChangesEmail	Boolean	Sends the confirmation email after the user changes their password. Defaults to `true`
minLength	Number	Sets the minimal password length for validation. Defaults to `8`
enabled	Boolean	Enables or disables the password field on the client. Defaults to `true`

Usage example:

export default {
  auth: {
    password: {
      confirm: true,
      requireEmailConfirmation: true,
      sendAddNewUserEmail: true,
      minLength: 8,
      enabled: true
    }
  }
}

`certificate`

Configures your application for using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

certificate	Object	Contains the global properties for the SSL certificate
devSerial	String	Sets the SSL certificate serial number number. Defaults to `00`
enabled	Boolean	Enables the use of SSL certificate. Defaults to `false`

NOTE: the CERTIFICATE_DEVSERIAL constant is initialized to 00 in the config/user.js file.

Usage example:

export default {
  auth: {
    certificate: {
      devSerial: CERTIFICATE_DEVSERIAL,
      enabled: false
    }
  }
}

`facebook`

The facebook property contains configurations for Facebook authentication implemented with passport-facebook.

facebook	Object	Contains the global properties for Facebook authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables authentication via Facebook
clientID	String	Sets the Facebook app ID
clientSecret	String	Sets the Facebook app secret
callbackURL	String	Sets the Facebook app callback URL
scope	Array	Sets the Facebook app scope
profileFields	Array	Sets the profile fields that Facebook returns upon the authentication request

NOTE: To enable authentication with Facebook, set auth.facebook.enabled to true. Also, add the FACEBOOK_CLIENTID and FACEBOOK_CLIENTSECRET values into the packages/server/.env file:

FACEBOOK_CLIENTID="set to your Facebook client ID"
FACEBOOK_CLIENTSECRET="set to your Facebook client secret"

To get the client ID and client secret values, you need to register with Facebook Apps. Consult Connect Your App to Facebook for details.

NOTE: When you create a Facebook application with Facebook Apps, you need to enter the correct absolute callback URL into the Valid OAuth redirect URIs field.

The auth.facebook.callbackURL property stores the relative callback URL /auth/facebook/callback, which gets concatenated with http://localhost:3000/ in development mode. The absolute callback URL for Facebook Login is http://localhost:3000/auth/facebook/callback, and you need to add this URL to Facebook Login for development mode.

`github`

The github property contains configurations for GitHub authentication implemented with passport-github.

github	Object	Contains the global properties for GitHub authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables authentication via GitHub
clientID	String	Sets the GitHub app ID
clientSecret	String	Sets the GitHub app secret
callbackURL	String	Sets the GitHub app callback URL
scope	Array	Sets the GitHub OAuth apps scopes

NOTE: To enable authentication with GitHub, set auth.github.enabled to true. Also, add the GITHUB_CLIENTID and GITHUB_CLIENTSECRET values into the packages/server/.env file:

GITHUB_CLIENTID="Use your GitHub client ID"
GITHUB_CLIENTSECRET="Use your GitHub client secret"

To get the client ID and client secret values, you need to register with GitHub OAuth Apps. Consult Connect Your App to GitHub for details.

NOTE: When you create a GitHub application with GitHub OAuth Apps, you need to enter the correct absolute callback URL into the Authorization callback URL input field.

The auth.github.callbackURL property stores the relative callback URL /auth/github/callback, which gets concatenated with http://localhost:3000/. The absolute callback URL for GitHub is http://localhost:3000/auth/github/callback, and you need to add this URL to your app in GitHub OAuth Apps settings for development mode.

`linkedin`

The linkedin property contains configurations for LinkedIn authentication implemented with passport-linkedin.

linkedin	Object	Contains the global properties for LinkedIn authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables authentication via LinkedIn
clientID	String	Sets the LinkedIn app ID
clientSecret	String	Sets the LinkedIn app secret
callbackURL	String	Sets the LinkedIn app callback URL
scope	Array	Sets LinkedIn application permissions

NOTE: To enable authentication with LinkedIn, set auth.linkedin.enabled to true. Also, add the LINKEDIN_CLIENTID and LINKEDIN_CLIENTSECRET values into the packages/server/.env file:

LINKEDIN_CLIENTID="Use your LinkedIn client ID"
LINKEDIN_CLIENTSECRET="Use your LinkedIn client secret"

To get the client ID and client secret values from LinkedIn, you need to register with LinkedIn OAuth Apps. Consult Connect Your App to LinkedIn for details.

NOTE: When you create a LinkedIn application with LinkedIn OAuth Apps, you need to enter the correct absolute callback URL into the Authorized Redirect URLs input field.

The auth.linkedin.callbackURL property stores the relative callback URL /auth/linkedin/callback, which gets concatenated with http://localhost:3000/. The absolute callback URL for LinkedIn is http://localhost:3000/auth/linkedin/callback, and you need to add this URL to your app in LinkedIn OAuth Apps settings for development mode.

`google`

The google property contains configurations for Google authentication implemented with passport-google.

google	Object	Contains the global properties for Google authentication
enabled	Boolean	Enables authentication with Google OAuth
clientID	String	Sets the Google app ID
clientSecret	String	Sets the Google app secret
callbackURL	String	Sets the Google app callback URL
scope	Array	Sets the Google auth scopes

NOTE: To enable authentication with Google, set auth.google.enabled to true. Also, add the GOOLGE_CLIENTID and GOOLGE_CLIENTSECRET values into the packages/server/.env file:

GOOLGE_CLIENTID="Use your Google client ID"
GOOLGE_CLIENTSECRET="Use your Google client secret"

To get the client ID and client secret values from Google, you need to register with Google Identity Platform. Consult Connect Your App to Google for details.

NOTE: When you create a Google application with Google Identity Platform, you need to enter the correct absolute callback URL into the Authorized redirect URIs input field.

The auth.google.callbackURL property points to the relative callback URL /auth/google/callback, which gets concatenated with http://localhost:3000/. The absolute callback URL for Google is http://localhost:3000/auth/google/callback, and you need to add this URL to your app in Google Identity Platform settings for development mode.

NOTE: You may also need to activate the Google+ API to be able to authenticate with Google. Otherwise, you may see the error ServerError: Access Not Configured. Google+ API has not been used in project 245355975001 before or it is disabled. (Instead of 245355975001 the error will contain the actual number of your project.)

You can also view the error in the console:

name: 'GooglePlusAPIError',
message: 'Access Not Configured. Google+ API has not been used in project 245355975001 before or it is disabled. Enable
it by visiting https://console.developers.google.com/apis/api/plus.googleapis.com/overview?project=245355975001 then
retry. If you enabled this API recently, wait a few minutes for the action to propagate to our systems and retry.',
code: 403 }

If the error was produced, you need to visit the link shown in the terminal and activate Google+ for your application.

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Configuration.md

Configuration.md

Apollo Universal Starter Kit Configurations

General Information

Apollo Engine

Basic Application Settings

Logging Properties `logging`

Build Configuration

Built-In UI Libraries

Database

Internationalization

Mailer

Authentication Properties `auth`

Mobile Chat

Pagination

Pagination Settings for the Client-Side Application

Pagination Settings for the Mobile App

Server Side Rendering

Disabling SSR

Stripe Subscription

Upload Module

User Authentication

`secret`

`auth`

`access`

`password`

`certificate`

`facebook`

`github`

`linkedin`

`google`

Files

Configuration.md

Latest commit

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Configuration.md

File metadata and controls

Apollo Universal Starter Kit Configurations

General Information

Apollo Engine

Basic Application Settings

Logging Properties logging

Build Configuration

Built-In UI Libraries

Database

Internationalization

Mailer

Authentication Properties auth

Mobile Chat

Pagination

Pagination Settings for the Client-Side Application

Pagination Settings for the Mobile App

Server Side Rendering

Disabling SSR

Stripe Subscription

Upload Module

User Authentication

secret

auth

access

password

certificate

facebook

github

linkedin

google

Logging Properties `logging`

Authentication Properties `auth`

`secret`

`auth`

`access`

`password`

`certificate`

`facebook`

`github`

`linkedin`

`google`