Environment Variables

Configure environment variables for Dirly – your premium AI tools directory.

Site URL

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL string required

The base URL of your application. For production, set to your domain (e.g., https://dirly.com). Used for generating absolute links and webhook endpoints.

NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL="http://localhost:3000"

Clerk Authentication

Configure Clerk for user authentication and session management.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY string required

Your Clerk publishable key. Get this from your Clerk Dashboard  → API Keys.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY="pk_test_..."

CLERK_SECRET_KEY string required

Your Clerk secret key. Keep this secure and never commit it to version control.

CLERK_SECRET_KEY="sk_test_..."

CLERK_ISSUER_URL string required

Your Clerk issuer URL, typically https://your-clerk-domain.clerk.accounts.dev.

• Used for Convex authentication.

• How Create Authentication

CLERK_ISSUER_URL="https://your-clerk-domain.clerk.accounts.dev"

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL string default:"/sign-in"

Path to the sign-in page.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL=/sign-in

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL string default:"/sign-up"

Path to the sign-up page.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL=/sign-up

Convex Database

Configure Convex for real‑time database and backend functionality.

Convex Account - Sign up at convex.dev 

CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT string required

Your Convex deployment name. Generated when you run npx convex dev for the first time.

CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT="prod:your-project"

NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL string required

Your Convex deployment URL. Displayed after running convex dev.

NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL="https://your-project.convex.cloud"

CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY string

Required for CI/CD and production deployments. Get this from your Convex dashboard under Deployment Settings. Not needed for local development.

CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY="your_convex_deploy_key"

Stripe Payments

Dirly uses Stripe to handle one‑time payments for featuring tools.

🧭 How to get your Stripe keys:

1. Go to Stripe Dashboard  and log in / sign up.
2. In the dashboard, navigate to Developers → API keys.
3. Copy the Publishable key (starts with pk_) and Secret key (starts with sk_).

NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY string required

Your Stripe publishable key (client‑side).

NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY="pk_live_..."

STRIPE_SECRET_KEY string required

Your Stripe secret key (server‑side). Keep this secure.

STRIPE_SECRET_KEY="sk_live_..."

🔌 Webhook setup:

For production, Stripe needs to send events (like successful payments) to your app.

Go to Developers → Webhooks and create an endpoint pointing to:

https://yourdomain.com/api/stripe/webhook

For local development, use a tool like ngrok  to expose your local server.

After creating the endpoint, copy the Signing secret (starts with whsec_).

STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET string required (for webhooks)

The webhook signing secret.

STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET="whsec_..."

💰 Featured price:

NEXT_PUBLIC_FEATURED_PRICE string

Price in cents for featuring a tool (e.g., 4900 = $49.00). Used on the client for checkout.

NEXT_PUBLIC_FEATURED_PRICE=4900

Email Configuration (Resend)

Configure Resend for transactional email notifications (e.g., submission approved/rejected, admin alerts).

This is optional but recommended for production.

RESEND_API_KEY string

Your Resend API key. Get one from resend.com .

RESEND_API_KEY="re_..."

FROM_EMAIL string default:"Dirly <noreply@yourdomain.com>"

The sender email address. Must be verified in your Resend dashboard.

FROM_EMAIL="Dirly <noreply@dirly.com>"

NEXT_PUBLIC_ADMIN_EMAIL string

Email address that receives notifications about new tool submissions (if omitted, no notifications are sent).

NEXT_PUBLIC_ADMIN_EMAIL="admin@dirly.com"

Example Complete .env.local

# Site URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=http://localhost:3000
 
# Clerk Authentication
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
CLERK_ISSUER_URL=https://your-clerk-domain.clerk.accounts.dev
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL=/sign-in
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL=/sign-up
 
# Convex Database
CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT=prod:your-project
NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL=https://your-project.convex.cloud
CONVEX_DEPLOY_KEY=your_convex_deploy_key   # only for production
 
# Stripe
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
NEXT_PUBLIC_FEATURED_PRICE=4900
 
 
# Email (Resend)
RESEND_API_KEY=re_...
FROM_EMAIL="Dirly <noreply@dirly.com>"
NEXT_PUBLIC_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@dirly.com
 

Security Best Practices

• Use different keys for development and production. Create separate Clerk, Convex, and Stripe projects for each environment.

• Rotate keys regularly – especially if they may have been exposed.

• Limit admin access – only add trusted user IDs to NEXT_PUBLIC_ADMIN_USER_IDS.

• Use webhook signing – always verify Stripe webhook signatures using STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET to prevent fraudulent events.

Verifying Configuration

After setting up your environment variables:

1. Restart both development servers (Convex and Next.js).

2. Check the browser console for any authentication errors.

3. Try signing in to verify Clerk is working.

4. Check the Convex dashboard to ensure database connection is active.

5. Test admin access by navigating to /admin (if your user ID is in the admin list).

6. Test a payment using Stripe test keys to confirm checkout and webhook handling.