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Bichon Configuration Reference

Each setting can be specified as a command-line argument (--option-name) or via an environment variable (auto-detected by Bichon). Settings are grouped by functionality.

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1. Logging & Output

Option	CLI / Env	Default	Description
bichon_log_level	--bichon-log-level / BICHON_LOG_LEVEL	"info"	Sets the log level for Bichon. Options: trace, debug, info, warn, error.
bichon_ansi_logs	--bichon-ansi-logs / BICHON_ANSI_LOGS	true	Enable ANSI color formatting in logs.
bichon_log_to_file	--bichon-log-to-file / BICHON_LOG_TO_FILE	false	Write logs to a file instead of stdout.
bichon_json_logs	--bichon-json-logs / BICHON_JSON_LOGS	false	Enable JSON formatted logs.
bichon_max_server_log_files	--bichon-max-server-log-files / BICHON_MAX_SERVER_LOG_FILES	5	Maximum number of server log files to retain.

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2. Server & Network

Option	CLI / Env	Default	Description
bichon_http_port	--bichon-http-port / BICHON_HTTP_PORT	15630	Port for the HTTP server.
bichon_bind_ip	--bichon-bind-ip / BICHON_BIND_IP	"0.0.0.0"	IPv4 address the server binds to (required in cluster mode). Must be valid IPv4.
bichon_public_url	--bichon-public-url / BICHON_PUBLIC_URL	"http://localhost:15630"	Public URL for accessing Bichon.
bichon_cors_origins	--bichon-cors-origins / BICHON_CORS_ORIGINS	"http://localhost:5173, http://localhost:15630, *"	Comma-separated list of allowed CORS origins. * allows all.
bichon_cors_max_age	--bichon-cors-max-age / BICHON_CORS_MAX_AGE	86400	Maximum age in seconds for CORS preflight cache.
bichon_enable_access_token	--bichon-enable-access-token / BICHON_ENABLE_ACCESS_TOKEN	false	Enable HTTP access token validation.
bichon_enable_rest_https	--bichon-enable-rest-https / BICHON_ENABLE_REST_HTTPS	false	Enable HTTPS for REST API endpoints.

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3. Database & Storage

Option	CLI / Env	Default	Description
bichon_root_dir	--bichon-root-dir / BICHON_ROOT_DIR	none	Absolute path for Bichon core data. Contains encrypted account info.
bichon_index_dir	--bichon-index-dir / BICHON_INDEX_DIR	${bichon_root_dir}/envelope	Path for the metadata Tantivy index. Stores envelopes and server sync info.
bichon_data_dir	--bichon-data-dir / BICHON_DATA_DIR	${bichon_root_dir}/eml	Path for the data Tantivy index. Stores raw email content (unencrypted).
bichon_metadata_cache_size	--bichon-metadata-cache-size / BICHON_METADATA_CACHE_SIZE	134_217_728	Cache size (bytes) for metadata database.
bichon_envelope_cache_size	--bichon-envelope-cache-size / BICHON_ENVELOPE_CACHE_SIZE	1_073_741_824	Cache size (bytes) for envelope database.
bichon_encrypt_password	--bichon-encrypt-password / BICHON_ENCRYPT_PASSWORD	"change-this-default-password-now"	Encryption password for core database/files. ⚠️ Change in production.

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Storage Customization (v0.3.2+)

Starting from version 0.3.2, you can decouple the search index and data storage from the root directory. This is useful for moving large datasets to different drives.

• BICHON_INDEX_DIR (Metadata Index): A standalone Tantivy index instance. It stores metadata extracted from emails and other information retrieved from mail servers.
• BICHON_DATA_DIR (Data Index): A standalone Tantivy index instance. It contains the primary email message data. While it functions as an index, you can think of it as the storage for your entire collection of emails.

Migration & Backup:

• Migration: You can manually move the existing envelope and eml directories from your root folder to new locations, then update these parameters accordingly. Renaming the directories after moving is also supported.
• Security: These two directories are not encrypted. They are designed for high-performance indexing and search.
• Backup: A complete backup requires all three locations: bichon_root_dir (encrypted settings), bichon_index_dir (metadata), and bichon_data_dir (email content).

4. Email Synchronization

Option	CLI / Env	Default	Description
bichon_sync_concurrency	--bichon-sync-concurrency / BICHON_SYNC_CONCURRENCY	#CPU cores × 2	Maximum number of concurrent email sync tasks. Must be ≥ 1.

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5. HTTP / API Features

Option	CLI / Env	Default	Description
bichon_http_compression_enabled	--bichon-http-compression-enabled / BICHON_HTTP_COMPRESSION_ENABLED	true	Enable HTTP compression for API responses.

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6. Compression Algorithm (Optional Enum)

Algorithm	CLI Value	Description
None	none	No compression.
Gzip	gzip	Use Gzip compression.
Brotli	brotli	Use Brotli compression.
Zstd	zstd	Use Zstandard compression.
Deflate	deflate	Use Deflate compression.

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Usage Notes

1. Command-line arguments take precedence over environment variables:

bichon --bichon-log-level debug --bichon-http-port 8080

2. **Environment variables can be used to configure without CLI arguments:

export BICHON_LOG_LEVEL=debug
export BICHON_HTTP_PORT=8080