> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dbdock.xyz/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# dbdock init

> Interactive setup wizard — run once per project.

```bash theme={null}
npx dbdock init
```

`init` creates your initial configuration. It's interactive — DBDock asks questions, you answer, and it generates the right files.

## What it asks

1. **Database connection** — host, port, user, database name
2. **Storage provider** — DBDock Storage (managed, recommended), local, S3, R2, or Cloudinary
3. **Storage credentials** (for your own cloud buckets; DBDock Storage needs none)
4. **Encryption** — enable/disable, generates a key if yes
5. **Compression** — enable/disable, compression level
6. **Alerts** — optional email (SMTP) and Slack setup

## What it creates

Two files:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="dbdock.config.json" icon="file-lines">
    Non-sensitive configuration. Commit this.
  </Card>

  <Card title=".env" icon="file-shield">
    Secrets. **Never commit.** Automatically added to `.gitignore`.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

It also updates `.gitignore` to include `.env`, `backups/`, and `*.backup`.

## Environment-only setup

If you prefer to skip the config file entirely, you can configure DBDock via environment variables alone. Set these in `.env`:

```bash theme={null}
DBDOCK_DB_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/db
STORAGE_PROVIDER=s3
STORAGE_BUCKET=my-backups
DBDOCK_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY=...
DBDOCK_STORAGE_SECRET_KEY=...
```

See the [Configuration reference](/core/configuration) for the full list.

## Re-running init

Running `init` again in a directory that already has a config file will ask whether to overwrite it. Existing values become defaults in the prompts, so you only need to change what you want to change.

## After init

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Verify setup" icon="stethoscope" href="/cli/test">
    Run `dbdock test` to validate everything.
  </Card>

  <Card title="First backup" icon="download" href="/cli/backup">
    Run `dbdock backup` to create your first backup.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>