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Installing Voiceflow API

Install project dependencies, configure environment variables, and apply database migrations.

Learn how to install dependencies, configure environment settings, and apply database migrations for the Voiceflow API backend.

Prerequisites#

Before setting up the project, make sure your environment includes:

  • Node.js 22 or newer
  • A PostgreSQL database
  • An S3-compatible storage bucket (such as AWS S3, Supabase Storage, Cloudflare R2, or MinIO)
  • Accounts and API keys for Resend, Sarvam, and OpenRouter

Dependency Installation#

  1. Install project dependencies using npm. This command installs required packages and automatically runs prisma generate:
npm install

The postinstall script triggers prisma generate to build the Prisma client whenever dependencies are installed.

Configuring Environment Variables#

Configuration is validated at application startup using zod via env. The service will fail to start if any required variables are missing.

  1. Create a local .env configuration file from the template:
cp .env.example .env
  1. Fill in all required environment variables:
VariableRequiredDescription
NODE_ENVNoEnvironment mode: development (default), production, or test
PORTNoListening port (defaults to 3000)
DATABASE_URLYesPostgreSQL connection string. When using Supabase, provide the session pooler URL
BETTER_AUTH_SECRETYesSecret key of at least 32 characters
BETTER_AUTH_URLYesPublic origin for authentication
CLIENT_URLYesFrontend application origin used for CORS
RESEND_API_KEYYesResend API key for outbound emails
EMAIL_FROMYesSender address, e.g., Voiceflow <hi@your-domain.com>
S3_ENDPOINTNoCustom S3 endpoint URL (omit for AWS S3; required for Supabase, Cloudflare R2, or MinIO)
S3_REGIONNoS3 region (defaults to us-east-1)
S3_BUCKETYesTarget storage bucket name
S3_ACCESS_KEY_IDYesS3 access key credential
S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEYYesS3 secret access key credential
S3_FORCE_PATH_STYLENoBoolean flag (true for Supabase or MinIO; defaults to false)
SARVAM_API_KEYYesAPI key for Sarvam speech transcription
OPENROUTER_API_KEYYesAPI key for OpenRouter AI processing
SENTIMENT_MODELNoModel name (defaults to openai/gpt-4o-mini)
INNGEST_EVENT_KEYNoInngest event key (required in production)
INNGEST_SIGNING_KEYNoInngest signing key (required in production)

Database Migrations#

Prisma uses DATABASE_URL to connect to your database. Run the following command to apply schema migrations:

npx prisma migrate deploy