From 0dc3add8ffac1873dce6280687874280dffd0a1a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Evan Reichard <evan@reichard.io>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2026 22:35:13 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] feat(backend): add environment variable configuration support

Add AETHERA_ prefixed env vars for server configuration:
- AETHERA_DATA_DIR: data directory path
- AETHERA_LISTEN: listen address
- AETHERA_PORT: listen port

Env vars take precedence over defaults but CLI flags override both.
---
 backend/cmd/config.go | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 backend/cmd/main.go   | 12 ++++++------
 2 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/backend/cmd/config.go b/backend/cmd/config.go
index a7961d6..5be1511 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/config.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/config.go
@@ -4,8 +4,11 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path"
+	"strconv"
 )
 
+const envPrefix = "AETHERA_"
+
 type cliParams struct {
 	ListenAddr   string
 	ListenPort   int
@@ -13,6 +16,24 @@ type cliParams struct {
 	SettingsFile string
 }
 
+// getEnvOrDefault returns the value of an environment variable or a default value
+func getEnvOrDefault(key, defaultValue string) string {
+	if value := os.Getenv(envPrefix + key); value != "" {
+		return value
+	}
+	return defaultValue
+}
+
+// getEnvIntOrDefault returns the integer value of an environment variable or a default value
+func getEnvIntOrDefault(key string, defaultValue int) int {
+	if value := os.Getenv(envPrefix + key); value != "" {
+		if intVal, err := strconv.Atoi(value); err == nil {
+			return intVal
+		}
+	}
+	return defaultValue
+}
+
 func (p *cliParams) Validate() error {
 	// Ensure Generated Directories
 	imgDir := path.Join(p.DataDir, "generated/images")
diff --git a/backend/cmd/main.go b/backend/cmd/main.go
index 329ecc7..938135d 100644
--- a/backend/cmd/main.go
+++ b/backend/cmd/main.go
@@ -13,17 +13,17 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	params = cliParams{
-		ListenAddr: "localhost",
-		ListenPort: 8080,
-		DataDir:    "./data",
+		ListenAddr: getEnvOrDefault("LISTEN", "localhost"),
+		ListenPort: getEnvIntOrDefault("PORT", 8080),
+		DataDir:    getEnvOrDefault("DATA_DIR", "./data"),
 	}
 	rootCmd = &cobra.Command{Use: "aethera"}
 )
 
 func init() {
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&params.DataDir, "data-dir", "data", "Directory to store generated images")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&params.ListenAddr, "listen", "localhost", "Address to listen on")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVar(&params.ListenPort, "port", 8080, "Port to listen on")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&params.DataDir, "data-dir", params.DataDir, "Directory to store generated images (env: AETHERA_DATA_DIR)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&params.ListenAddr, "listen", params.ListenAddr, "Address to listen on (env: AETHERA_LISTEN)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVar(&params.ListenPort, "port", params.ListenPort, "Port to listen on (env: AETHERA_PORT)")
 }
 
 func main() {