Configuration and environment reference

Full reference for server flags, environment variables, storage layout, and enterprise protocol settings.

The existd server daemon and exist CLI are configured through environment variables or command-line flags. Flags take precedence over environment variables.

Server Daemon (`existd`)

Environment Variables & Network Flags

Variable	CLI Flag	Default	Description
`EXIST_LISTEN_ADDR`	`--addr`	`127.0.0.1:8080`	Network address and port to bind the HTTP REST, MCP, and Web server
`EXIST_SSH_ADDR`	`--ssh-addr`	`0.0.0.0:2222`	Network address and port for the embedded pure-Go SSH server
`EXIST_SSH_HOST_KEY_PATH`	`--ssh-host-key`	(auto-generated)	Path to Ed25519/RSA host key PEM file for SSH server identity
`EXIST_DATA_DIR`	`--data-dir`	`data`	Directory where SQLite metadata, Git repos, and LFS objects are stored
`EXIST_PUBLIC_URL`	`--public-url`	`http://127.0.0.1:8080`	Publicly reachable base URL used for webhook callbacks and SSO redirects
`EXIST_GIT_URL`	`--git-url`	`127.0.0.1:8080`	Public host string returned in clone URLs
`EXIST_LFS_ENABLED`	`--lfs`	`true`	Enable or disable the Git Large File Storage (LFS) v1 Batch engine
`EXIST_LFS_STORAGE_DIR`	`--lfs-dir`	`<data-dir>/lfs`	Path to store Content-Addressable (CAS) binary objects
`EXIST_LOG_LEVEL`	`--log-level`	`info`	Minimum log verbosity level (`debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`)

Subcommand: `bootstrap`

Used for offline, one-time initialization of the SQLite database and creation of the primary administrator account:

existd bootstrap \
  --email <admin-email> \
  --namespace <namespace-slug> \
  [--data-dir <path>]

Flag	Required	Default	Description
`--email`	Yes	(none)	Email address for the root administrator account
`--namespace`	Yes	(none)	Namespace slug to create for the initial workspace
`--data-dir`	No	`./data`	Target directory for database and storage

On-Disk Storage Layout

When --data-dir is configured (for example, ./data), existd organizes files in the following structure:

data/
├── meta.db          # Primary SQLite metadata database
├── meta.db-wal      # SQLite Write-Ahead Log
├── meta.db-shm      # SQLite shared memory file
├── ssh/             # Auto-generated or custom host keys
│   └── id_ed25519   # Server host private key
├── lfs/             # Git LFS Content-Addressable Storage (CAS)
│   └── objects/
│       └── 4a/
│           └── f3/
│               └── 4af3a8... (SHA-256 payload)
└── repos/           # Bare Git repositories (go-git engine)
    └── acme/
        ├── demo-app.git/
        └── backend.git/

meta.db: Stores users, password hashes, web sessions, tokens, namespaces, repository records, permissions, pull requests, review comments, status checks, rulesets, CIDR allowlists, SSH CAs, and SSO configurations.
lfs/objects/{oid[0:2]}/{oid[2:4]}/{oid}: Sharded directory storing raw binary payloads indexed by their cryptographic SHA-256 hash.
repos/{owner}/{repo}.git: Standard bare Git repositories storing commits, trees, blobs, refs, and packfiles managed via go-git/v6.

SQLite Pragmas

existd automatically applies the following database pragmas upon connection:

PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL: High-concurrency Write-Ahead Logging for zero-lock multi-reader execution.
PRAGMA busy_timeout = 5000: 5-second wait on lock contention before returning busy error.
PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON: Strict relational integrity for cascading deletes and reference checks.
Connection limit: Single writer connection pool to eliminate SQLite database lock contention entirely.