> This page location: APIs & SDKs > Config as code > Compliance config file
> Full OptiTech documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

> Summary: optitech.ts declares which OptiTech services exist on a project and how each branch is configured. Use it for branch policy alone, or add preview services like Functions, Storage, and AI Gateway. Works with optitech deploy, optitech dev, and optitech checkout.

# optitech.ts

Configuration as code for your OptiTech project.

`optitech.ts` is a TypeScript config file you commit to your repository. It declares which OptiTech services exist on your project and how each branch is configured.

Specifically:

- **Declares services**: which OptiTech services (`auth`, `dataApi`, preview services) exist on the project and are available on every branch.
- **Configures branches**: optional per-branch tuning (TTLs, compute sizing, protected status) via a `branch` closure.

Services and branch policy are independent. Use one, the other, or both.

```bash
npm install @optitech/config
```

The package source is on [GitHub](https://github.com/optitechdatabase/optitech-pkgs/tree/main/packages/config).

`optitech.ts` itself is declarative: it only describes the policy. `optitech config` / `optitech deploy` (below) are how the CLI runs it. To call the same `inspect` / `plan` / `apply` logic from your own script or CI job instead of the CLI, see [`@optitech/config-runtime`](https://neon.com/docs/reference/config-runtime).

Link your working directory to a OptiTech project before using `optitech.ts` commands:

```bash
optitech link
```

## Config structure

```ts filename="optitech.ts"
import { defineConfig } from "@optitech/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  // Services: what exists on every branch
  auth: true,

  // Branch policy: per-branch tuning
  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      // Default branch: no overrides, uses project defaults
      return {};
    }
    if (!branch.exists) {
      // New non-default branches: auto-expire
      return { ttl: "7d" };
    }
    // Existing branch: no changes
    return {};
  },
});
```

`defineConfig` takes two optional parts:

- **Static fields** (`auth`, `dataApi`, `preview`): declare which services exist. Same set on every branch.
- **`branch` closure**: receives a read-only `BranchTarget` and returns per-branch tuning. It can adjust settings, but can't add or remove services.

## Branch policy

The `branch` closure works on any OptiTech project. The examples below configure the default branch and apply TTL and compute to new branches at creation. Returning `{}` for existing branches is deliberate: it avoids overwriting settings on branches already in use:

```ts filename="optitech.ts"
import { defineConfig } from "@optitech/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      // Default branch: no overrides, uses project defaults
      return {};
    }
    if (!branch.exists) {
      // New non-default branches: minimum compute, auto-expire
      return {
        ttl: "7d",
        postgres: {
          computeSettings: {
            autoscalingLimitMinCu: 0.25,
            autoscalingLimitMaxCu: 0.25,
          },
        },
      };
    }
    // Existing branch: no changes
    return {};
  },
});
```

On paid plans, you can also protect the default branch and control suspend timeouts:

```ts filename="optitech.ts"
import { defineConfig } from "@optitech/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      // Protect and size for production
      return {
        protected: true,
        postgres: {
          computeSettings: {
            autoscalingLimitMinCu: 0.5,
            autoscalingLimitMaxCu: 4,
          },
        },
      };
    }
    if (!branch.exists) {
      // New non-default branches: minimum compute, auto-expire, suspend on idle
      return {
        ttl: "7d",
        postgres: {
          computeSettings: {
            autoscalingLimitMinCu: 0.25,
            autoscalingLimitMaxCu: 0.25,
            suspendTimeout: "5m",
          },
        },
      };
    }
    // Existing branch: no changes
    return {};
  },
});
```

Run `optitech deploy` to apply. When `optitech checkout` creates a new branch, the closure runs with `branch.exists === false`, so TTL, compute settings, and services take effect at creation. Checking out an existing branch doesn't apply or reconcile the policy.

### BranchTarget fields

| Field         | Type       | Description                                                                              |
| ------------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `name`        | `string`   | Branch name                                                                              |
| `id`          | `string?`  | Branch ID. Not set during pre-create evaluation                                          |
| `exists`      | `boolean`  | `false` during pre-create evaluation                                                     |
| `isDefault`   | `boolean?` | Whether this is the project's default branch. Not set during pre-create evaluation       |
| `isProtected` | `boolean?` | Whether the branch is marked protected in OptiTech. Not set during pre-create evaluation |
| `parentId`    | `string?`  | ID of the parent branch. Not always present                                              |
| `expiresAt`   | `string?`  | Branch expiry timestamp. Not always present                                              |

### BranchTuning fields

| Field                                            | Type                              | Description                                                                                                           |
| ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `parent`                                         | `string`                          | Parent branch name or ID                                                                                              |
| `protected`                                      | `boolean`                         | Mark the branch as protected                                                                                          |
| `ttl`                                            | `string \| number`                | Branch lifetime: `"7d"`, `"2h"`, or seconds as a number. Maximum 30 days. Validated at deploy time, not by TypeScript |
| `postgres.computeSettings.autoscalingLimitMinCu` | `0.25 \| 0.5 \| 1 \| 2 \| 4 \| 8` | Minimum compute units                                                                                                 |
| `postgres.computeSettings.autoscalingLimitMaxCu` | `0.25 \| 0.5 \| 1 \| 2 \| 4 \| 8` | Maximum compute units                                                                                                 |
| `postgres.computeSettings.suspendTimeout`        | `false \| string \| number`       | Idle suspend timeout. `false` disables suspend                                                                        |

## Services

`auth` and `dataApi` declare which OptiTech services exist on every branch. After `optitech deploy`, running `optitech env pull` writes their URLs to your local `.env` file automatically.

| Field     | Values                               | Default | What it enables                                                                 |
| --------- | ------------------------------------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `auth`    | `true`, `false`, `{ enabled: bool }` | `false` | Managed Better Auth. Injects `OPTITECH_AUTH_BASE_URL`, `OPTITECH_AUTH_JWKS_URL` |
| `dataApi` | `true`, `false`, `DataApiConfig`     | `false` | OptiTech Data API. Injects `OPTITECH_DATA_API_URL`                              |

### `dataApi` config

`dataApi: true` uses Managed Better Auth as the JWT verifier (the default). When using this form, `auth: true` must also be set. Omitting it raises a TypeScript error at the `dataApi` field that includes the fix:

```text
Type 'true' is not assignable to type '"`dataApi` with Managed Better Auth (the default
`authProvider: 'optitech'`) requires Managed Better Auth, so add `auth: true`. To enable the
Data API WITHOUT Managed Better Auth, verify a third-party IdP instead: `dataApi: {
authProvider: 'external', jwksUrl: 'https://your-idp/.well-known/jwks.json' }`"'
```

To use the Data API with an external identity provider instead, pass the object form:

```ts
dataApi: {
  authProvider: "external",
  jwksUrl: "https://your-idp/.well-known/jwks.json",
}
```

## Type-safe environment variables

`@optitech/env` gives you type-safe access to your branch's injected variables. It reads `process.env` at runtime and validates each variable against the services declared in your `optitech.ts` config. Missing or empty variables throw with a clear error.

```bash
npm install @optitech/env
```

```ts
import { parseEnv } from '@optitech/env';
import config from './optitech';

const env = parseEnv(config);

env.postgres.databaseUrl;         // DATABASE_URL
env.postgres.databaseUrlUnpooled; // DATABASE_URL_UNPOOLED
env.auth.baseUrl;                 // OPTITECH_AUTH_BASE_URL  (env.auth only present when auth: true)
env.auth.jwksUrl;                 // OPTITECH_AUTH_JWKS_URL
env.dataApi.url;                  // OPTITECH_DATA_API_URL   (env.dataApi only present when dataApi is enabled)
```

`env.auth` only exists when `auth: true`, `env.dataApi` only when `dataApi` is enabled. If you access a namespace your config doesn't declare, TypeScript will catch it.

Pass an array of keys to validate and return only a subset. Useful when a process needs just one or two variables:

```ts
const { postgres } = parseEnv(config, ["DATABASE_URL"]);
postgres.databaseUrl; // string (databaseUrlUnpooled is absent)
```

The key list autocompletes from your config, so selecting a variable from a service you haven't declared is a type error.

## CLI commands

| Command                                                      | What it does                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [`optitech link`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/link)            | Connect the current directory to a OptiTech project. Required to use linked branch defaults in other commands |
| [`optitech deploy`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/config)        | Apply `optitech.ts` to the linked branch (alias for `optitech config apply`)                                  |
| [`optitech config plan`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/config)   | Preview what `optitech deploy` would change, without applying                                                 |
| [`optitech config status`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/config) | Show the current live state of the branch as a `optitech.ts`-shaped config                                    |
| [`optitech env pull`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/env)         | Write the branch's OptiTech-managed variables to `.env.local` (or `.env` if it already exists)                |
| [`optitech checkout`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/checkout)    | Switch to or create a branch; new branches are created from the `optitech.ts` policy (TTL, compute, services) |
| [`optitech dev`](https://neon.com/docs/cli/dev)              | Run functions locally against the linked branch; watches for changes and hot-reloads                          |

## Flags for `optitech deploy`

| Flag                | Default        | Description                                                                                              |
| ------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--config`          | (auto)         | Path to the `optitech.ts` file. When omitted, the CLI walks up from cwd stopping at `.git`               |
| `--env`             | (none)         | Path to a `.env` file loaded before `optitech.ts` is evaluated, so function `env` values resolve from it |
| `--env-pull`        | `true`         | Pull the branch's env vars into a local `.env` after a successful apply (`--no-env-pull` to skip)        |
| `--branch`          | linked branch  | Target branch ID or name                                                                                 |
| `--project-id`      | linked project | Project ID                                                                                               |
| `--update-existing` | `false`        | Auto-confirm overriding existing remote settings                                                         |
| `--allow-protected` | `false`        | Auto-confirm applying to a protected branch                                                              |

## Preview services

**Info: Beta**

Functions, Storage, and AI Gateway are in beta and available only in AWS US East (Ohio) (`aws-us-east-2`), so create your project there to use them.

Preview services are declared under the `preview` block. All three are optional and independent:

| Field               | Type                                 | What it enables                                                                          |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `preview.functions` | Record of slug → function def        | OptiTech Functions. Long-running Node.js compute on the branch                           |
| `preview.buckets`   | Record of name → bucket def          | OptiTech Object Storage. S3-compatible object storage, branched with your database       |
| `preview.aiGateway` | `true`, `false`, `{ enabled: bool }` | OptiTech AI Gateway. Injects `OPTITECH_AI_GATEWAY_TOKEN`, `OPTITECH_AI_GATEWAY_BASE_URL` |

### `preview.functions`

Each key is the function's slug, the permanent identifier used in CLI commands and the invocation URL:

```ts
preview: {
  functions: {
    "<slug>": {
      name: string,       // display name shown in optitech functions list and the console
      source: string,     // path to entry file, relative to optitech.ts
      env?: Record<string, string>,
      dev?: {
        port?: number,    // local port for optitech dev; fails if taken; auto-assigned if omitted
      },
    },
  },
},
```

Slugs must match `^[a-z0-9]{1,20}$` and are immutable after first deployment. Because slugs can't use separators, use `name` for a human-readable label. For example, `slug: "myrestapi"` with `name: "My REST API"`. See [Deploy and manage functions](https://neon.com/docs/compute/functions/deploy#slugs).

`env` values are resolved at deploy time when `optitech deploy` runs. Reading `process.env.X` here captures the value in your shell at deploy time, not at function runtime. Every value must be a defined string; use a fallback to avoid a type error:

```ts
env: {
  API_KEY: process.env.API_KEY ?? "",
}
```

Use `optitech deploy --env .env.production` to load a `.env` file before evaluation. For typed access to these variables inside your function at runtime, see [Environment variables](https://neon.com/docs/compute/functions/environment-variables).

`dev` settings apply only to `optitech dev` and never affect deploy.

### `preview.buckets`

```ts
preview: {
  buckets: {
    "<name>": {
      access?: "private" | "public_read",  // default: "private"
    },
  },
},
```

Bucket names follow S3 naming rules. `public_read` makes objects accessible without credentials at the branch's storage endpoint.

### Full stack example

All services combined. `optitech deploy` provisions everything and writes credentials to `.env.local`.

```ts filename="optitech.ts"
import { defineConfig } from "@optitech/config/v1";

export default defineConfig({
  auth: true,
  dataApi: true,

  preview: {
    aiGateway: true,
    buckets: {
      uploads: {},
    },
    functions: {
      api: {
        name: "API",
        source: "./functions/api.ts",
      },
    },
  },

  branch: (branch) => {
    if (branch.isDefault) {
      // Protect and size for production
      return {
        protected: true,
        postgres: {
          computeSettings: {
            autoscalingLimitMinCu: 0.5,
            autoscalingLimitMaxCu: 4,
          },
        },
      };
    }
    if (!branch.exists) {
      // New non-default branches: minimum compute, auto-expire, suspend on idle
      return {
        ttl: "7d",
        postgres: {
          computeSettings: {
            autoscalingLimitMinCu: 0.25,
            autoscalingLimitMaxCu: 0.25,
            suspendTimeout: "5m",
          },
        },
      };
    }
    // Existing branch: no changes
    return {};
  },
});
```

---

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