Environment Variables

MockForge supports extensive configuration through environment variables. This page documents all available environment variables, their purposes, and usage examples.

Core Functionality

Server Control

  • MOCKFORGE_LATENCY_ENABLED=true|false (default: true)

    • Enable/disable response latency simulation
    • When disabled, responses are immediate

  • MOCKFORGE_FAILURES_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable/disable failure injection
    • When enabled, can simulate HTTP errors and timeouts

  • MOCKFORGE_LOG_LEVEL=debug|info|warn|error (default: info)

    • Set the logging verbosity level
    • Available: debug, info, warn, error

Recording and Replay

  • MOCKFORGE_RECORD_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable recording of HTTP requests as fixtures
    • Recorded fixtures can be replayed later

  • MOCKFORGE_REPLAY_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable replay of recorded fixtures
    • When enabled, serves recorded responses instead of generating new ones

  • MOCKFORGE_PROXY_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable proxy mode for forwarding requests
    • Useful for testing against real APIs

HTTP Server Configuration

Server Settings

  • MOCKFORGE_HTTP_PORT=3000 (default: 3000)

    • Port for the HTTP server to listen on

  • MOCKFORGE_HTTP_HOST=127.0.0.1 (default: 0.0.0.0)

    • Host address for the HTTP server to bind to

  • MOCKFORGE_CORS_ENABLED=true|false (default: true)

    • Enable/disable CORS headers in responses

  • MOCKFORGE_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SECS=30 (default: 30)

    • Timeout for HTTP requests in seconds

OpenAPI Integration

  • MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC=path/to/spec.json
    • Path to OpenAPI specification file
    • Enables automatic endpoint generation from OpenAPI spec

Validation and Templating

  • MOCKFORGE_REQUEST_VALIDATION=enforce|warn|off (default: enforce)

    • Level of request validation
    • enforce: Reject invalid requests with error
    • warn: Log warnings but allow requests
    • off: Skip validation entirely

  • MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_VALIDATION=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable validation of generated responses
    • Useful for ensuring response format compliance

  • MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_TEMPLATE_EXPAND=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable template expansion in responses
    • Allows use of {{uuid}}, {{now}}, etc. in responses

  • MOCKFORGE_AGGREGATE_ERRORS=true|false (default: true)

    • Aggregate multiple validation errors into a single response
    • When enabled, returns all validation errors at once

  • MOCKFORGE_VALIDATION_STATUS=400|422 (default: 400)

    • HTTP status code for validation errors
    • 400: Bad Request (general)
    • 422: Unprocessable Entity (validation-specific)

WebSocket Server Configuration

Server Settings

  • MOCKFORGE_WS_PORT=3001 (default: 3001)

    • Port for the WebSocket server to listen on

  • MOCKFORGE_WS_HOST=127.0.0.1 (default: 0.0.0.0)

    • Host address for the WebSocket server to bind to

  • MOCKFORGE_WS_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_SECS=300 (default: 300)

    • WebSocket connection timeout in seconds

Replay Configuration

  • MOCKFORGE_WS_REPLAY_FILE=path/to/replay.jsonl
    • Path to WebSocket replay file
    • Enables scripted WebSocket message sequences

gRPC Server Configuration

Server Settings

  • MOCKFORGE_GRPC_PORT=50051 (default: 50051)

    • Port for the gRPC server to listen on

  • MOCKFORGE_GRPC_HOST=127.0.0.1 (default: 0.0.0.0)

    • Host address for the gRPC server to bind to

Admin UI Configuration

Server Settings

  • MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable/disable the Admin UI
    • When enabled, provides web interface for management

  • MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_PORT=8080 (default: 8080)

    • Port for the Admin UI server to listen on

  • MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_HOST=127.0.0.1 (default: 127.0.0.1)

    • Host address for the Admin UI server to bind to

UI Configuration

  • MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_MOUNT_PATH=/admin (default: none)

    • Mount path for embedded Admin UI
    • When set, Admin UI is available under HTTP server

  • MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_API_ENABLED=true|false (default: true)

    • Enable/disable Admin UI API endpoints
    • Controls whether /__mockforge/* endpoints are available

Data Generation Configuration

Faker Control

  • MOCKFORGE_RAG_ENABLED=true|false (default: false)

    • Enable Retrieval-Augmented Generation for data
    • Requires additional setup for LLM integration

  • MOCKFORGE_FAKE_TOKENS=true|false (default: true)

    • Enable/disable faker token expansion
    • Controls whether {{faker.email}} etc. work

Fixtures and Testing

Fixtures Configuration

  • MOCKFORGE_FIXTURES_DIR=path/to/fixtures (default: ./fixtures)

    • Directory where fixtures are stored
    • Used for recording and replaying HTTP requests

  • MOCKFORGE_RECORD_GET_ONLY=true|false (default: false)

    • When recording, only record GET requests
    • Reduces fixture file size for read-only APIs

Configuration Files

Configuration Loading

  • MOCKFORGE_CONFIG_FILE=path/to/config.yaml
    • Path to YAML configuration file
    • Alternative to environment variables

Usage Examples

Basic HTTP Server with OpenAPI

export MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC=examples/openapi-demo.json
export MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_TEMPLATE_EXPAND=true
export MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_ENABLED=true
cargo run -p mockforge-cli -- serve --http-port 3000 --admin-port 8080

Full WebSocket Support

export MOCKFORGE_WS_REPLAY_FILE=examples/ws-demo.jsonl
export MOCKFORGE_WS_PORT=3001
export MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC=examples/openapi-demo.json
export MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_TEMPLATE_EXPAND=true
cargo run -p mockforge-cli -- serve --admin

Development Setup

export MOCKFORGE_LOG_LEVEL=debug
export MOCKFORGE_LATENCY_ENABLED=false
export MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_TEMPLATE_EXPAND=true
export MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_ENABLED=true
export MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC=examples/openapi-demo.json
cargo run -p mockforge-cli -- serve

Production Setup

export MOCKFORGE_LOG_LEVEL=warn
export MOCKFORGE_LATENCY_ENABLED=true
export MOCKFORGE_FAILURES_ENABLED=false
export MOCKFORGE_REQUEST_VALIDATION=enforce
export MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_ENABLED=false
export MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC=path/to/production-spec.json
cargo run -p mockforge-cli -- serve --http-port 80

Environment Variable Priority

Environment variables override configuration file settings. CLI flags take precedence over both. The priority order is:

  1. CLI flags (highest priority)
  2. Environment variables
  3. Configuration file settings
  4. Default values (lowest priority)

Security Considerations

  • Be careful with MOCKFORGE_ADMIN_ENABLED=true in production
  • Consider setting restrictive host bindings (127.0.0.1) for internal use
  • Use MOCKFORGE_FAKE_TOKENS=false for deterministic testing
  • Review MOCKFORGE_CORS_ENABLED settings for cross-origin requests

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Environment variables not taking effect

    • Check variable names for typos
    • Ensure variables are exported before running the command
    • Use env | grep MOCKFORGE to verify variables are set

  2. Port conflicts

    • Use different ports via MOCKFORGE_HTTP_PORT, MOCKFORGE_WS_PORT, etc.
    • Check what processes are using ports with netstat -tlnp

  3. OpenAPI spec not loading

    • Verify file path in MOCKFORGE_HTTP_OPENAPI_SPEC
    • Ensure JSON/YAML syntax is valid
    • Check file permissions

  4. Template expansion not working

    • Set MOCKFORGE_RESPONSE_TEMPLATE_EXPAND=true
    • Verify token syntax (e.g., {{uuid}} not {uuid})

For more detailed configuration options, see the Configuration Files documentation.