Environment variables

Environment variables can be used to tailor the behaviour of a running SurrealDB instance.

Environment variables are divided into four types:

SurrealDB environment variables: environment variables that pertain to the overall running of a SurrealDB server. Example: SURREAL_DEFAULT_DATABASE. Includes an operator and internal config subsection for advanced settings.
Command environment variables: environment variables that can be used in lieu of a command flag. Example: SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL=true surreal start, equivalent to surreal start --allow-all.
Storage backend environment variables: environment variables that pertain to a certain storage backend. Example: SURREAL_SURREALKV_MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE.
SurrealDB Cloud environment variables: environment variables that are set via the Configure instance sidebar for a SurrealDB Cloud instance.

Many environment variables have a maximum value equivalent to the greatest possible usize, which is an unsigned integer with a number of bytes depending on the target that the database runs on. For most systems this will be 64 bits, leading to a maximum size of 18_446_744_073_709_551_615 (2⁶⁴), while for 32 bits the maximum will be 4_294_967_296 (2³²).

SurrealDB environment variables

These environment variables can be used to configure a SurrealDB server to configure areas such as the HTTP server and client, limits, telemetry, and so on.

Batch config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_NORMAL_FETCH_SIZE`	500	A usize	The maximum number of keys that should be scanned at once in general queries.
`SURREAL_EXPORT_BATCH_SIZE`	1000	A usize	The maximum number of keys that should be scanned at once for export queries.
`SURREAL_COUNT_BATCH_SIZE`	10,000	A usize	The maximum number of keys that should be scanned at once for count queries.
`SURREAL_INDEXING_BATCH_SIZE`	250	A usize	The maximum number of keys to scan at once per concurrent indexing batch.

Cache config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_TRANSACTION_CACHE_SIZE`	10,000	A usize	Specifies the number of items which can be cached within a single transaction.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_CACHE_SIZE`	1,000	A usize	The number of definitions which can be cached across transactions.
`SURREAL_HNSW_CACHE_SIZE`	268,435,456 (256 MiB)	A usize	The maximum size of the HNSW vector cache.
`SURREAL_DISKANN_CACHE_SIZE`	268,435,456 (256 MiB)	A usize	The maximum total size, in bytes, of the DISKANN index cache, shared across all DISKANN indexes in the process. DISKANN graph data lives in the key-value store and is paged through this bounded cache. The DISKANN counterpart of `SURREAL_HNSW_CACHE_SIZE` .

File config

Server-side filesystem access for features that read paths from disk (notably the mapper() filter on DEFINE ANALYZER). This is separate from SURREAL_BUCKET_FOLDER_ALLOWLIST (below), which gates the experimental files feature.

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_FILE_ALLOWLIST`	none (deny all)	Colon-separated paths on Unix; semicolon-separated on Windows	Directories the server may read when an analyzer uses `mapper('<path>')` . An empty or unset value denies every path. Each dictionary file must resolve under one of the listed directories. See DEFINE ANALYZER — mapper .
`SURREAL_BUCKET_FOLDER_ALLOWLIST`	none	Comma-separated paths	Specifies a list of paths in which files can be accessed.
`SURREAL_GLOBAL_BUCKET`	none	A string	Specifies the name of a global bucket for file data.
`SURREAL_GLOBAL_BUCKET_ENFORCED`	false	true, false	Whether to enforce a global bucket for file data.

HTTP client config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_MAX_HTTP_REDIRECTS`	10	A usize	The maximum number of HTTP redirects allowed within http functions.
`SURREAL_MAX_HTTP_IDLE_CONNECTIONS_PER_HOST`	128	A usize	The maximum number of idle HTTP connections to maintain per host.
`SURREAL_MAX_HTTP_IDLE_CONNECTIONS`	1000	A usize	The maximum number of idle HTTP connections to maintain.
`SURREAL_HTTP_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECS`	90	A usize	The timeout for idle HTTP connections before closing.
`SURREAL_HTTP_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECS`	30	A usize	The timeout for connecting to HTTP endpoints.
`SURREAL_USER_AGENT`	SurrealDB	A string	The USER-AGENT string used by HTTP requests.

HTTP server config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_NET_MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS`	1,048,576	A usize	How many concurrent network requests can be handled at once
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_ML_BODY_SIZE`	4,398,046,511,104 (4 GiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /ml endpoints
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_MCP_BODY_SIZE`	4,194,304 (4 MiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP `/mcp` endpoint. See MCP.
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_SQL_BODY_SIZE`	1,048,576 (1 MiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /sql endpoint
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_GQL_BODY_SIZE`	1,048,576 (1 MiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP `/gql` endpoint. See GQL via HTTP .
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_API_BODY_SIZE`	4,194,304 (4 MiB)	A usize	The maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /api endpoint.
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_RPC_BODY_SIZE`	4,194,304 (4 MiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /rpc endpoint.
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_KEY_BODY_SIZE`	16,384 (16 KiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /key endpoints
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_SIGNUP_BODY_SIZE`	1024 (1 KiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /signup endpoint.
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_IMPORT_BODY_SIZE`	4,398,046,511,104 (4 GiB)	A usize	Maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /import endpoints
`SURREAL_HTTP_MAX_SIGNIN_BODY_SIZE`	1024 (1 KiB)	A usize	The maximum HTTP body size of the HTTP /signin endpoints

MCP config
Available since: v3.1.0

Used by the built-in Model Context Protocol server (/mcp on surreal start, surreal mcp on stdio). Stdio namespace/database selection uses SURREAL_MCP_NS and SURREAL_MCP_DB on the mcp subcommand.

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_MCP_QUERY_TIMEOUT_SECS`	60	Seconds (integer); `0` disables	Outer timeout on each MCP tool execution.
`SURREAL_MCP_MAX_RESULT_BYTES`	262,144 (256 KiB)	Bytes (integer); `0` disables	Maximum serialised tool / resource response size; larger results are truncated with a marker.
`SURREAL_MCP_RUN_MAX_ARGS`	64	A positive integer	Maximum arguments for a single `run` tool call.
`SURREAL_MCP_PARAMS_MAX_KEYS`	256	A positive integer	Maximum top-level keys in MCP parameter / data objects.

GQL config
Available since: v3.2.0

Resource limits for experimental ISO GQL MATCH execution. Errors name the limit when it is exceeded. The language can be enabled by passing in the --allow-experimental gql flag when starting the database.

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_GQL_MAX_PATH_ROWS`	1,000,000	A usize	Per source row, bounds live and emitted rows during variable-length path expansion in a GQL `MATCH` .
`SURREAL_GQL_MAX_JOIN_BUILD_ROWS`	1,000,000	A usize	Bounds the in-memory build side of hash joins between GQL match patterns (and distinct-operator working sets).
`SURREAL_GQL_MAX_OUTPUT_ROWS`	1,000,000	A usize	Bounds cumulative rows emitted by GQL hash-join operators (including cross joins).

Environment variable

Default

Allowed values

Notes

SURREAL_GQL_MAX_PATH_ROWS

1,000,000

A usize

Per source row, bounds live and emitted rows during variable-length path expansion in a GQL

MATCH

SURREAL_GQL_MAX_JOIN_BUILD_ROWS

1,000,000

A usize

Bounds the in-memory build side of hash joins between GQL match patterns (and distinct-operator working sets).

SURREAL_GQL_MAX_OUTPUT_ROWS

1,000,000

A usize

Bounds cumulative rows emitted by GQL hash-join operators (including cross joins).

Limits config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_EXTERNAL_SORTING_BUFFER_LIMIT`	50000	A usize	The number of result records which will trigger on-disk sorting.
`SURREAL_STRING_SIMILARITY_LIMIT`	16384	A usize	The maximum input string length for similarity/distance functions
`SURREAL_GENERATION_ALLOCATION_LIMIT`	1,048,576	A usize	Limits memory allocation for certain built-in functions (e.g., string::replace) to avoid uncontrolled memory usage. Default is 1,048,576 bytes (computed as 2 ²⁰ ).
`SURREAL_IDIOM_RECURSION_LIMIT`	256	A usize	The maximum recursive idiom path depth allowed.
`SURREAL_MAX_COMPUTATION_DEPTH`	120	A usize	Specifies how deep recursive computation will go before erroring.
`SURREAL_MAX_CONCURRENT_TASKS`	64	A usize	Specifies how many concurrent jobs can be buffered in the worker channel.
`SURREAL_MAX_OBJECT_PARSING_DEPTH`	100	A usize	Specifies how deep the parser will parse nested objects and arrays in a query.
`SURREAL_MAX_ORDER_LIMIT_PRIORITY_QUEUE_SIZE`	1000	A usize	The maximum size of the priority queue triggering usage of the priority queue for the result collector.
`SURREAL_MAX_QUERY_PARSING_DEPTH`	20	A usize	Specifies how deep the parser will parse recursive queries (queries within queries).
`SURREAL_OPERATOR_BUFFER_SIZE`	2	A usize	The number of batches each operator buffers ahead of downstream demand. Set to 0 to disable operator-level pipeline buffering.
`SURREAL_REGEX_SIZE_LIMIT`	10,485,760 (10 MiB)	A usize	Limits the maximum allowed size (in bytes) for regular expressions. This prevents excessive memory consumption when building complex or very large regex patterns.

Runtime config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_RUNTIME_MAX_BLOCKING_THREADS`	512	A usize	Number of threads which can be started for blocking operations.
`SURREAL_RUNTIME_STACK_SIZE`	10,485,760 (10 MiB)	A usize	Runtime thread memory stack size. Default stack size is doubled if compiled from source in Debug mode.
`SURREAL_RUNTIME_WORKER_THREADS`	Number of CPU cores (minimum 4)	A usize	Number of runtime worker threads used to start.

Scripting config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_SCRIPTING_MAX_STACK_SIZE`	262_144 (256 KiB)	A usize	Maximum stack size of the JavaScript function runtime.
`SURREAL_SCRIPTING_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT`	2,097,152 (2 MiB)	A usize	Maximum memory limit of the JavaScript function runtime.
`SURREAL_SCRIPTING_MAX_TIME_LIMIT`	5000 (5000 milliseconds or 5 seconds)	A usize	Maximum allowed time in milliseconds that a JavaScript function is allowed to run for.

Security config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_INSECURE_FORWARD_ACCESS_ERRORS`	false	true, false	Forward all signup/signin/authenticate query errors to a client performing authentication. Do not use in production.

Surrealism config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_LAZY_SURREALISM`	false	true, false	Whether to lazy-load Surrealism modules instead of eagerly compiling them at server startup.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_CACHE_SIZE`	100	A usize	The number of surrealism modules which can be cached across transactions.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_MAX_POOL_SIZE`	8	A usize	Per-module controller pool size ceiling for Surrealism WASM modules.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_MAX_MEMORY`	None (unlimited)	A usize	Per-module WASM linear memory ceiling in bytes.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_MAX_EXECUTION_TIME`	None (unlimited)	A u64 (milliseconds)	Per-invocation execution time ceiling for Surrealism WASM modules.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_MAX_KV_ENTRIES`	None (unlimited)	A usize	Per-module KV store entry count ceiling.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_MAX_KV_VALUE_BYTES`	None (unlimited)	A usize	Per-module KV store maximum value size in bytes.
`SURREAL_SURREALISM_LOG_LEVEL`	debug	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	Controls the tracing level at which Surrealism module stdout is emitted.

Telemetry config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_TELEMETRY_DISABLE_METRICS`	false	true, false	Whether to disable sending metrics to the GRPC OTEL collector.
`SURREAL_TELEMETRY_DISABLE_TRACING`	false	true, false	Whether to disable sending traces to the GRPC OTEL collector.
`SURREAL_TELEMETRY_NAMESPACE`	none	A string	If set then use this as value for the namespace label when sending telemetry
`SURREAL_TELEMETRY_PROVIDER`	none	otlp	If set to "otlp" then telemetry is sent to the GRPC OTEL collector.
`SURREAL_TOKIO_CONSOLE_ENABLED`	false	true, false	Whether to enable tokio console.
`SURREAL_TOKIO_CONSOLE_RETENTION`	60	A usize	How long, in seconds, to retain data for completed events.
`SURREAL_TOKIO_CONSOLE_SOCKET_ADDR`	none	String to a socket address	The socket address that Tokio Console will bind to.

WebSocket config

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE`	134,217,728 (128 MiB)	A usize	The maximum WebSocket message size.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_MAX_WRITE_BUFFER_SIZE`	Greatest possible usize value	A usize	The maximum write buffer size before backpressure is applied.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_READ_BUFFER_SIZE`	131,072 (128 KiB)	A usize	The size of the read buffer for WebSocket connections. This controls how much data can be buffered when reading from WebSocket connections. Larger values can improve performance for high-throughput connections but consume more memory per connection.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_WRITE_BUFFER_SIZE`	131,072 (128 KiB)	A usize	The size of the write buffer for WebSocket connections. This controls how much data can be buffered when writing to WebSocket connections. Larger values can improve performance for high-throughput connections but consume more memory per connection.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_RESPONSE_BUFFER_SIZE`	0	A usize	How many responses can be buffered when delivering to the client.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_RESPONSE_CHANNEL_SIZE`	100	A usize	Number of messages that can be queued for sending via WebSocket.
`SURREAL_WEBSOCKET_RESPONSE_FLUSH_PERIOD`	3	A usize	How often (in milliseconds) any buffered responses are flushed to the WebSocket client.

Operator and internal config

Available since: v3.2.0

These settings are for operators, benchmarks, and advanced debugging — not typical application configuration. They are documented so core contributors and self-hosted deployments can find configuration options that already exist in the engine. Changing them can affect performance, reproducibility, or live-query behaviour; leave defaults in place unless you have a specific reason to tune them.

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_RAND_SEED`	none (non-deterministic)	A `u64`	Seeds the engine-wide RNG for reproducible runs in benchmarks and tests. Do not use in production.
`SURREAL_LIVE_QUERY_ENGINE`	`inline`	`inline` , `router`	Selects the live-query execution engine. `inline` is the historical behaviour; `router` decouples write cost from subscriber count (experimental rollout).
`SURREAL_LIVE_QUERY_RETENTION`	1h	A duration	How long the router engine retains live-query event history for subscriber resume. Only applies when `SURREAL_LIVE_QUERY_ENGINE=router` .
`SURREAL_HNSW_BUILD_SEED`	none	A `u64`	Seeds HNSW index construction for reproducible graph layouts in benchmarks. Do not use in production.

Other environment variables

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_BUILD_METADATA`	Automatically populated	A string	The version identifier of this build. Defaults to the CARGO_PKG_VERSION environment variable if not specified.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_AOL`	never	never\|sync\|async	Append-only log mode. Only used by the memory engine.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_PERSIST`	none	String to a file path	Filesystem path for persistence. Only used by the memory engine.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_RETENTION`	0 (unlimited)	A duration	Version retention period as a duration string. Used by memory and surrealkv engines.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_SNAPSHOT`	never	never\|duration	Snapshot interval. Only used by the memory engine.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_SYNC_DATA`	every	never\|every\|duration	The sync mode for the database. Used by memory, rocksdb, and surrealkv engines.
`SURREAL_DATASTORE_VERSIONED`	false	true\|false\|0\|1	Whether MVCC versioning is enabled. Used by memory and surrealkv engines.
`SURREAL_MEMORY_THRESHOLD`	0	A usize or suffixed integer	Configuring the memory threshold which can be used across the programme to check if the amount of memory available to the programme is lower than required. The value can be specified as bytes (b, or without any suffix), kibibytes (k, kb, or kib), mebibytes (m, mb, or mib), or gibibytes (g, gb, or gib). If the environment variable is not specified, then the threshold is not used, and no memory limit is enabled.
`SURREAL_REGEX_CACHE_SIZE`	1000	A usize	The number of computed regexes which can be cached in the engine.

Command environment variables

Many of the arguments passed into the CLI can be set using the above environment variables instead.

As each of these environment variables correspond to a flag or a required argument passed into a command, it is good practice to put together a command that matches the environment variables you wish to set. Once the database server conforms to your expected behaviour, you can then pull out the values passed into each flag for your environment variables.

For example, take the following command to start the database.

surreal start --user root --pass secret --allow-net --deny-funcs "crypto::md5, http::post, http::delete"

If we now wanted to use environment variables instead of the --allow-net and --deny-funcs flags, we would use the SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_NET and SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_FUNC environment variables.

As the --allow-net flag was passed in without a following value, the same will be the case with the SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_NET environment variable, becoming SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_NET=. The --deny-funcs flag can also be used on its own to deny execution of all functions, but in this case is followed by a string to indicate which exact functions are not allowed to be executed. As such, the SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_FUNC environment variable must also be followed by a string, becoming SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_FUNC="crypto::md5, http::post, http::delete".

The command would then look like the following:

SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_NET
SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_FUNC="crypto::md5, http::post, http::delete"
surreal start --user root --pass secret

A command environment variable that takes a boolean will be set to true if the flag is present, and following it with true will cause an error.

For example, the SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL environment variable is used to set whether to allow all capabilities such as scripting and allowing network access. The flag --allow-all is all that is needed to set to true. But as an environment variable, the value true must be included to override its default false value.

SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL example

# set to default false
surreal start

# Same, but implicitly shown
SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL=false surreal start

# Set to true
SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL=true surreal start

# Set to true
surreal start --allow-all

# Error: only --allow-all needed to set to true
surreal start --allow-all true

Environment variable	Command arg	For command(s)	Default	Allowed values	Details
`SURREAL_ASYNC_EVENT_PROCESSING_INTERVAL`	`async-event-processing-interval`	`start`	5s	A duration	The interval at which to process async events.
`SURREAL_AUTH_LEVEL`	`auth-level`	`export`, `import`, `sql`	root	root, namespace, ns, database, db	Authentication level to use when connecting.
`SURREAL_BIND`	`bind`	`start`	127.0.0.1:8000	String to an address	The hostname or IP address(es) to listen for connections on.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL`	`allow-all`	`start`	false	true, false	Allow all capabilities.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ARBITRARY_QUERY`	`allow-arbitrary-query`	`start`	none	guest, record, system (comma-separated)	Allows arbitrary queries to be used by user groups except when specifically denied. Alternatively, you can provide a comma-separated list of user groups to allow specifically denied user groups to prevail over any other allowed user group.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_EVAL_QUERY`	`allow-eval-query`	`start`, `sql`	none (denied for all subjects)	guest, record, system (comma-separated)	Allow `eval::surql` and `eval::gql` for listed subject groups. Not enabled by `--allow-all` . Still subject to arbitrary-query restrictions — `--deny-arbitrary-query` blocks `eval` for that subject even when eval is allowed here. For remote clients, set on the `start` process only. See Capabilities and remote connections .
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_EXPERIMENTAL`	`allow-experimental`	`start`, `sql`	none	files, surrealism, gql (comma-separated)	Allow execution of experimental features. For remote clients, set on the `start` process. On `surreal sql` , affects embedded engines and REPL parse validation only. See experimental capabilities .
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_FUNC`	`allow-funcs`	`start`	all functions allowed	Empty, `*` , or comma-separated function paths	Allow execution of all functions except for functions that are specifically denied. Set to an empty value or `*` to allow all functions. Use a comma-separated list (for example, `array,string::len,http::get` ) to allow specific function families or names. Values such as `true` are not valid. The environment variable name is singular ( `FUNC` ), matching the `--allow-funcs` flag.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_GUESTS`	`allow-guests`	`start`	true	true, false	Allow guest users to execute queries.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_NET`	`allow-net`	`start`	none	Comma-separated list of paths	Allow all or certain outbound network access.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_SCRIPT`	`allow-scripting`	`start`	true	true, false	Allow execution of embedded scripting functions.
`SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_INSECURE_STORABLE_CLOSURES`	`allow-insecure-storable-closures`	`start`	false	true, false	Takes a boolean. Prevents closures from being stored, which eliminates a potential attack surface. For version 2.5.0, this can still be allowed by using this capability.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_ALL`	`deny-all`	`start`	false	true, false	Deny all capabilities.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_EVAL_QUERY`	`deny-eval-query`	`start`, `sql`	none	guest, record, system (comma-separated)	Deny `eval::surql` and `eval::gql` for listed subject groups. Deny prevails over allow at the same specificity. For remote clients, set on the `start` process.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_FUNC`	`deny-funcs`	`start`	false	true, false, comma-separated list	Deny execution of all or certain functions.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_GUESTS`	`deny-guests`	`start`	true	true, false	Deny guest users from executing queries.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_NET`	`deny-net`	`start`	true	true, false, comma-separated list	Deny all or certain outbound access paths.
`SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_SCRIPT`	`deny-scripting`	`start`	true	true, false	Deny execution of embedded scripting functions.
`SURREAL_CHANGEFEED_GC_INTERVAL`	`changefeed-gc-interval`	`start`	30s	A duration	The interval at which to perform changefeed garbage collection.
`SURREAL_CLIENT_IP`	`client-ip`	`start`	none	none, socket, CF-Connecting-IP, Fly-Client-IP, True-Client-IP, X-Real-IP, X-Forwarded-For, Forwarded	The method of detecting the client's IP address. `Forwarded` parses the RFC 7239 `Forwarded` header ( `for=` parameter).
`SURREAL_DATABASE`	`database`	`sql`	main	A string	The database selected when starting the REPL.
`SURREAL_DATABASE`	`database`	`export`, `import`	none	A string	The database selected for the import or export.
`SURREAL_DEFAULT_DATABASE`	`default-database`	`start`	main	A string	The default database to use when starting a SurrealDB instance.
`SURREAL_DEFAULT_NAMESPACE`	`default-namespace`	`start`	main	A string	The default namespace to use when starting a SurrealDB instance.
`SURREAL_HIDE_WELCOME`	`hide-welcome`	`sql`	false	true, false	Whether to show the welcome message when starting the REPL.
`SURREAL_IMPORT_FILE`	`import-file`	`start`	none	A file path	Path to a SurrealQL file that will be imported when starting the server.
`SURREAL_INDEX_COMPACTION_INTERVAL`	`index-compaction-interval`	`start`	5s	A duration	The interval at which to perform changefeed garbage collection.
`SURREAL_KEY`	`key`	`start`	none	A string 16, 24, or 32 bytes long	Encryption key to use for on-disk encryption. Not currently in use.
`SURREAL_KVS_CA`	`kvs-ca`	`start`	none	String to a path	Path to the CA file used when connecting to the remote KV store.
`SURREAL_KVS_CRT`	`kvs-crt`	`start`	none	String to a path	Path to the certificate file used when connecting to the remote KV store.
`SURREAL_KVS_KEY`	`kvs-key`	`start`	none	String to a path	Path to the private key file used when connecting to the remote KV store.
`SURREAL_LAZY_SURREALISM`	`lazy-surrealism`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether to lazy-load Surrealism modules instead of eagerly compiling them at server startup.
`SURREAL_LOG`	`log`	`start`, `fix`	info	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	The logging level for the database server.
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_ENABLED`	`log-file-enabled`	`start`	false	true, false	Toggles file output.
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_FORMAT`	`log-file-format`	`start`	none	text, json	The format for log file output.
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_LEVEL`	`log-file-level`	`start`	none	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	Override the logging level for file output
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_NAME`	`log-file-name`	`start`	surrealdb.log	String to a file	Filename for logs (default: `surrealdb.log`)
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_PATH`	`log-file-path`	`start`	logs	String to a path	Sets the directory for logs
`SURREAL_LOG_FILE_ROTATION`	`log-file-rotation`	`start`	daily	daily, hourly, never	Sets the rotation duration for logs.
`SURREAL_LOG_FORMAT`	`log-format`	`start`	text	text, json	Sets the format for logs.
`SURREAL_LOG_OTEL_LEVEL`	`log-otel-level`	`start`	SURREAL_LOG logging level	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	Override the logging level for OpenTelemetry
`SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET`	`log-socket`	`start`	none	String to a host:port	Send logs to the specified host:port
`SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET_FORMAT`	`log-socket-format`	`start`	text	text, json	Set the format of the logs to the socket.
`SURREAL_LOG_SOCKET_LEVEL`	`log-socket-level`	`start`	SURREAL_LOG logging level	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	Override the logging level for socket logs. Possible values: none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace
`SURREAL_NAME`	`name`	`ml export`	none	A string	The name of the model.
`SURREAL_NAMESPACE`	`namespace`	`sql`	main	A string	The namespace to connect to via the REPL.
`SURREAL_NAMESPACE`	`namespace`	`export`, `import`	none	A string	The namespace selected for the import/export operation.
`SURREAL_NO_BANNER`	`no-banner`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether to hide the startup banner.
`SURREAL_NO_DEFAULTS`	`no-defaults`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether to disable default namespace and database creation. Conflicts with SURREAL_DEFAULT_DATABASE and SURREAL_DEFAULT_NAMESPACE, which set a default value for namespace and database for a new instance.
`SURREAL_NO_IDENTIFICATION_HEADERS`	`no-identification-headers`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether to suppress the server name and version headers.
`SURREAL_NODE_MEMBERSHIP_CHECK_INTERVAL`	`node-membership-check-interval`	`start`	15s	A duration	The interval at which to process and archive inactive nodes.
`SURREAL_NODE_MEMBERSHIP_CLEANUP_INTERVAL`	`node-membership-cleanup-interval`	`start`	300s	A duration	The interval at which to process and cleanup archived nodes.
`SURREAL_NODE_MEMBERSHIP_REFRESH_INTERVAL`	`node-membership-refresh-interval`	`start`	3s	A duration	The interval at which to refresh node registration information.
`SURREAL_PASS`	`pass`	`export`, `import`, `sql`, `start`	none	A string	Database authentication password to use when connecting.
SURREAL_PATH	`path`	`fix`, `start`	memory	A string	Database path used for storing data. As a required argument (albeit with a default), it is not passed in via `--path`.
`SURREAL_PLANNER_STRATEGY`	`planner-strategy`	`start`	best-effort	best-effort\|compute-only\|all-read-only	Which strategy to use with the new query planner introduced in SurrealDB 3.0. The default setting uses the new planner for read-only statements, falling back to the previous compute planner on unimplemented paths. The new planner can be skipped entirely by using compute-only.
`SURREAL_QUERY_TIMEOUT`	`query-timeout`	`start`	none	A duration	The maximum duration that a set of statements can run for.
`SURREAL_RECLAIM_INTERVAL`	`reclaim-interval`	`start`	60s	A duration	How often the background reaper scans for tombstoned namespace, database, and index data to physically delete after a `REMOVE` statement.
`SURREAL_RECLAIM_GRACE`	`reclaim-grace`	`start`	10m	A duration	Minimum age a removed namespace, database, or index must reach before its data is reclaimed. The effective grace is the maximum of this value and `--tikv-gc-lifetime` on TiKV backends.
`SURREAL_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_THRESHOLD`	`slow-log-threshold`	`start`	none	A duration	A duration specifying the minimum execution time after which a log is made to indicate a slow query
`SURREAL_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_PARAM_ALLOWslow-log-param-allow`	`slow-log-param-allow`	`start`	none	Comma-separated strings	A comma-separated list of parameter names to include in slow query logs.
`SURREAL_SLOW_QUERY_LOG_PARAM_DENY`	`slow-log-param-deny`	`start`	none	Comma-separated strings	A comma-separated list of parameter names to omit from slow query logs.
`SURREAL_STRICT`	`strict`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether strict mode is enabled on this database instance. Ignored since SurrealDB 3.0 after which strictness is defined per database instead of instance.
`SURREAL_TEMPORARY_DIRECTORY`	`temporary-directory`	`start`	none	String to a directory	Sets the directory for storing temporary database files
`SURREAL_TOKEN`	`token`	`export`, `import`, `sql`	none	A string	Authentication token in JWT format to use when connecting.
`SURREAL_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT`	`transaction-timeout`	`start`	none	A duration	The maximum duration that any single transaction can run for.
`SURREAL_UNAUTHENTICATED`	`unauthenticated`	`start`	false	true, false	Whether to allow unauthenticated access.
`SURREAL_USER`	`user`	`export`, `import`, `sql`, start	none	A string	Database authentication username to use when connecting.
`SURREAL_VERSION`	`version`	`ml export`	none	A string	The version of the ML model.
`SURREAL_WEB_CRT`	`web-crt`	`start`	none	String to a path	Path to the certificate file for encrypted client connections.
`SURREAL_WEB_KEY`	`web-key`	`start`	none	String to a path	Path to the private key file for encrypted client connections.

Storage backend environment variables

These environment variables are used to configure the storage backend for SurrealDB.

RocksDB environment variables

Many RocksDB environment variables pertain to memory use. The default configuration results in the following rough estimates of RocksDB memory use on different instances:

Instance memory size	Estimate
512 MiB	~ 80MiB
1 GiB	~ 80MiB
2 GiB	~ 640MiB
4 GiB	~ 1.25GiB
8 GiB	~ 3.25GiB
24 GiB	~ 12GiB
128 GiB	~ 67GiB

The available environment variables for configuring a RocksDB instance are:

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BACKGROUND_FLUSH`	true	false, true	Whether to enable background WAL file flushing.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BACKGROUND_FLUSH_INTERVAL`	200 (milliseconds)	A usize	The interval in milliseconds between background flushes.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOB_COMPRESSION_TYPE`	snappy	none, snappy, lz4, zstd	Compression type used for blob files.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOB_FILE_SIZE`	268,435,456 (256 MiB)	A usize	The target blob file size for RocksDB.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_ENABLE_BLOB_GC`	true	true, false	Whether to enable blob garbage collection for RocksDB.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOB_GC_AGE_CUTOFF`	0.5	Float between 0 and 1	Fractional age cutoff for blob GC.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOB_GC_FORCE_THRESHOLD`	0.5	Float between 0 and 1	Discardable ratio threshold to force GC.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOB_COMPACTION_READAHEAD_SIZE`	0	A usize	Readahead size for blob compaction/GC.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOCK_CACHE_SIZE`	Dynamically calculated via greater of ((system memory / 2) - 1 GiB) and 16MiB	A usize	RocksDB block cache size in bytes
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BLOCK_SIZE`	65,536 (64 KiB)	A usize	The size of each uncompressed data block in bytes.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_COMPACTION_READAHEAD_SIZE`	4 MiB (systems under 4 GiB), 8 MiB (up to 16 GiB), 16 MiB (others)	A usize	The readahead buffer size used during compaction.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_COMPACTION_STYLE`	level	level, universal	Use to specify the database compaction style.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_DELETION_FACTORY_DELETE_COUNT`	50	A usize	The number of deletions to track in the window.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_DELETION_FACTORY_RATIO`	0.5	A float	The ratio of deletions to track in the window.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_DELETION_FACTORY_WINDOW_SIZE`	1000	A usize	The size of the window used to track deletions.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_ENABLE_BLOB_FILES`	true	true, false	Whether to enable separate key and value file storage.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_ENABLE_PIPELINED_WRITES`	true	true, false	Whether to use separate queues for WAL writes and memtable writes.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT`	true	true, false	Whether to enable grouped commit when sync is enabled. When enabled, multiple transaction commits are batched together and flushed to disk with a single fsync operation, improving throughput. When disabled, each transaction is committed and synced individually, which may provide lower latency for single transactions at the cost of reduced throughput under high load. Only used when SURREAL_SYNC_DATA is enabled and SURREAL_ROCKSDB_BACKGROUND_FLUSH is disabled.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE`	4096	A usize	The maximum number of transactions in a single grouped commit batch. Used to prevent unbounded memory growth while still allowing large batches for efficiency. Larger batches improve throughput but increase memory usage and commit latency.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT_TIMEOUT`	5ms	A duration	The maximum wait time in nanosecond before forcing a grouped commit. Used to ensure that transactions do not wait indefinitely when concurrency is low, and to balance between transaction latency and write throughput.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT_WAIT_THRESHOLD`	12	A usize	Threshold for deciding whether to wait for more transactions. If the current batch size is greater or equal to this threshold (and below ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE), then the coordinator will wait up to ROCKSDB_GROUPED_COMMIT_TIMEOUT to collect more transactions. Smaller batches are flushed immediately to preserve low latency.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_FILE_COMPACTION_TRIGGER`	4	A usize	The number of files needed to trigger level 0 compaction.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_JOBS_COUNT`	Number of CPUs * 2	A usize	The maximum number of threads to use for flushing and compaction.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_KEEP_LOG_FILE_NUM`	10	A usize	The maximum number of information log files to keep.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_MAX_CONCURRENT_SUBCOMPACTIONS`	4	A usize	The maximum number threads which will perform compactions.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_MAX_OPEN_FILES`	1024	A usize	The maximum number of open files which can be opened by RocksDB.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_MAX_WRITE_BUFFER_NUMBER`	2 (systems under 4 GiB), 4 (up to 16 GiB), 8 (up to 64 GiB), 32 (others)	A usize	The maximum number of write buffers which can be used.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_MIN_BLOB_SIZE`	4096	A usize	The minimum size in bytes of a value for it to be stored in blob files.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_MIN_WRITE_BUFFER_NUMBER_TO_MERGE`	2	A usize	The minimum number of write buffers to merge before writing to disk.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_SST_MAX_ALLOWED_SPACE_USAGE`	0	A usize	The maximum allowed space usage for SST files in bytes. The default of 0 means unlimited and disables space monitoring. When this limit is reached, the datastore enters read-and-deletion-only mode, where only read and delete operations are allowed. This allows gradual space recovery through data deletion.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_STORAGE_LOG_LEVEL`	warn	none, full, error, warn, info, debug, trace	The information log level of the RocksDB library.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_TARGET_FILE_SIZE_BASE`	67,108,864 (64 MiB)	—	The target file size for compaction in bytes.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_TARGET_FILE_SIZE_MULTIPLIER`	2	A usize	The target file size multiplier for each compaction level.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_THREAD_COUNT`	Number of CPUs on machine	A usize	The number of threads to start for flushing and compaction.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_WAL_SIZE_LIMIT`	0	A usize	The write-ahead-log size limit in MiB.
`SURREAL_ROCKSDB_WRITE_BUFFER_SIZE`	32 MiB (systems under 1 GiB), 64 MiB (up to 16 GiB), 128 MiB (others)	A usize	The amount of data each write buffer can build up in memory.
`SURREAL_SYNC_DATA`	true	true, false	Whether to sync writes to disk before acknowledgement.

SurrealKV environment variables

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_ENABLE_VLOG`	true	true, false	Whether to enable value log separation.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_VERSIONED_INDEX`	false	true, false	Whether to enable versioned index. Only applies when versioning is enabled.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_BLOCK_SIZE`	65_536 (64 KiB)	A usize	The block size in bytes.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_VLOG_MAX_FILE_SIZE`	64 MiB (systems under 4 GiB), 128 MiB (up to 16 GiB), 256 MiB (up to 64 GiB), 512 MiB (others)	A usize	The readahead buffer size used during compaction.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_VLOG_THRESHOLD`	4096 (4 KiB)	A usize	The value log threshold in bytes. Values larger than this are stored in the value log.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_BLOCK_CACHE_CAPACITY`	Dynamically calculated via greater of ((system memory / 2) - 1 GiB) and 16MiB	A usize	The maximum log file size in bytes.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_GROUPED_COMMIT_TIMEOUT`	5ms	A duration in nanoseconds	The maximum wait time in nanoseconds before forcing a grouped commit. Ensures that transactions do not wait indefinitely under low concurrency and balances commit latency against write throughput.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_GROUPED_COMMIT_WAIT_THRESHOLD`	12	A usize	Threshold for deciding whether to wait for more transactions. If the current batch size is greater or equal to this threshold (and below SURREAL_SURREALKV_GROUPED_COMMIT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE), then the coordinator will wait up to SURREAL_SURREALKV_GROUPED_COMMIT_TIMEOUT to collect more transactions. Smaller batches are flushed immediately to preserve low latency.
`SURREAL_SURREALKV_GROUPED_COMMIT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE`	4096	A usize	The maximum number of transactions in a single grouped commit batch. This prevents unbounded memory growth while still allowing large batches for efficiency. Larger batches improve throughput but increase memory usage and commit latency.

TiKV environment variables

Environment variable	Default	Allowed values	Notes
`SURREAL_TIKV_API_VERSION`	1	A u8	Which TiKV cluster API version to use.
`SURREAL_TIKV_ASYNC_COMMIT`	true	true, false	Whether to use asynchronous transactions.
`SURREAL_TIKV_KEYSPACE`	none	A string	A string specifying the keyspace identifier for data isolation.
`SURREAL_TIKV_GRPC_MAX_DECODING_MESSAGE_SIZE`	4,194,304 (4 MiB)	A usize	Sets the maximum decoding size of a gRPC message.
`SURREAL_TIKV_ONE_PHASE_COMMIT`	true	true, false	Whether to use one-phase transaction commit.
`SURREAL_TIKV_REQUEST_TIMEOUT`	10	A usize	The duration in seconds for requests before they time out.

FoundationDB environment variables

Warning

FoundationDB support is deprecated in SurrealDB 3.0. Please plan to migrate to a supported storage backend.

Environment variable	Default value	Notes
`SURREAL_FOUNDATIONDB_TRANSACTION_MAX_RETRY_DELAY`	500	The maximum delay between transaction retries in milliseconds.
`SURREAL_FOUNDATIONDB_TRANSACTION_RETRY_LIMIT`	5	The maximum number of times a transaction can be retried.
`SURREAL_FOUNDATIONDB_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT`	5000	The maximum transaction timeout in milliseconds.

SurrealDB Cloud environment variables

Instances on SurrealDB Cloud are not started with a CLI command or environment variables. Instead, they can be set on the Configure Instance panel.

Environment variables

SurrealDB environment variables

Batch config

Cache config

File config

HTTP client config

HTTP server config

MCP config Available since: v3.1.0

GQL config Available since: v3.2.0

Limits config

Runtime config

Scripting config

Security config

Surrealism config

Telemetry config

WebSocket config

Operator and internal config

Other environment variables

Command environment variables

Storage backend environment variables

RocksDB environment variables

SurrealKV environment variables

TiKV environment variables

FoundationDB environment variables

SurrealDB Cloud environment variables

MCP config
Available since: v3.1.0

GQL config
Available since: v3.2.0