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Container crashes on start when DATABASE_URL is set: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'dbURL') #6905
Description
Description
- HedgeDoc 1.12.0 (official image) crashes straight away when the environment has a DATABASE_URL variable, even when
CMD_DB_URL is set as well. Without DATABASE_URL the same container starts fine. - Platforms that give every app a DATABASE_URL (Heroku-style hosts, ours) cannot start HedgeDoc at all because of it.
Steps to reproduce
- Run:
docker run --rm -e CMD_DB_URL=sqlite:///tmp/db.sqlite -e CMD_SESSION_SECRET=test -e DATABASE_URL=postgres://u:p@localhost:5432/db quay.io/hedgedoc/hedgedoc:latest - It exits at once with the error in Logs below.
- Run the same command without "-e DATABASE_URL=...": it starts ("HTTP Server listening at 0.0.0.0:3000").
Expected behaviour
It starts, using CMD_DB_URL, the same as without DATABASE_URL.
Logs
error: uncaughtException: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'dbURL')
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'dbURL')
at Object.<anonymous> (/hedgedoc/lib/config/index.js:153:15)Config
No config file of our own: the image's /hedgedoc/config.json (which is {}) and only these environment variables:
CMD_DB_URL=sqlite:///tmp/db.sqlite
CMD_SESSION_SECRET=test
DATABASE_URL=postgres://u:p@localhost:5432/dbYour Setup
- Host OS: Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, Docker 28.5.1
- NodeJS version: v24.21.0 (the one in the image)
- HedgeDoc version: 1.12.0 (quay.io/hedgedoc/hedgedoc:latest, 21 Oct 2026)
Additional context
- The image's config.json is {}, so in lib/config/index.js fileConfig = require(config.json)[env] is undefined.
- DATABASE_URL is read by lib/config/oldEnvironment.js into the legacy setting
dburl. - The "merge legacy values" loop then reads fileConfig[keys[i]] for
dbURL(line ~153) while fileConfig is undefined. - A guard like (fileConfig || {})[keys[i]], or defaulting fileConfig to {}, should fix it.
- Workaround for now: don't pass DATABASE_URL to the container, only CMD_DB_URL.
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