CONFIGURATION.md

Configuration Guide

Environment Setup

Development Environment

Create an .env file in the project root:

cp .env.example .env

See .env.example for all available configuration options.

AI Providers

OpenAI Configuration (Recommended)

1. Get API key from OpenAI Platform
2. Update bloggingAgent/appsettings.json:

{
  "OpenAISettings": {
    "ApiKey": "sk-your-key-here",
    "Model": "gpt-3.5-turbo",
    "Temperature": 0.7,
    "MaxTokens": 1000
  }
}

Or use environment variable:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-key-here

Parameters:

• ApiKey - Your OpenAI API key
• Model - Model to use (gpt-3.5-turbo, gpt-4, etc.)
• Temperature - Response creativity (0-1, default: 0.7)
• MaxTokens - Maximum response length (default: 1000)

Ollama Configuration (Local AI)

1. Install Ollama
2. Start Ollama service: ollama serve
3. Pull model: ollama pull llama2
4. Update bloggingAgent/appsettings.json:

{
  "LlmSettings": {
    "OllamaEndpoint": "http://localhost:11434",
    "OllamaModel": "llama2"
  }
}

Parameters:

• OllamaEndpoint - Ollama service URL
• OllamaModel - Model name (llama2, neural-chat, etc.)

Application Settings

Core Settings

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft": "Warning",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*"
}

Database Configuration

SQL Server (Production Recommended)

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Server=your-server.databaseasp.net; Database=your-db; User Id=your-user; Password=your-password; Encrypt=True; TrustServerCertificate=True; MultipleActiveResultSets=True;"
  }
}

Parameters:

• Server - SQL Server hostname or IP address
• Database - Database name
• User Id - SQL Server authentication user
• Password - User password
• Encrypt=True - Encrypt connection (recommended)
• TrustServerCertificate=True - Trust self-signed certs (set to False in production)
• MultipleActiveResultSets=True - Allow multiple active queries

Example with Your Database:

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Server=db54433.public.databaseasp.net; Database=db54433; User Id=db54433; Password=h#7LNr-28=Xb; Encrypt=True; TrustServerCertificate=True; MultipleActiveResultSets=True;"
  }
}

PostgreSQL (Alternative for Production)

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Host=localhost;Database=blogging_agent;Username=user;Password=password;Port=5432;SSL Mode=Require"
  }
}

SQLite (Development Only)

Content Settings

{
  "ContentSettings": {
    "DefaultAuthor": "AI Assistant",
    "MaxPostLength": 5000,
    "DefaultTags": ["blog", "ai-generated"],
    "AutoPublish": false,
    "AutoOptimizeContent": true
  }
}

SEO Settings

{
  "SeoSettings": {
    "MinTitleLength": 30,
    "MaxTitleLength": 60,
    "MinDescriptionLength": 120,
    "MaxDescriptionLength": 160,
    "AutoGenerateMetaDescription": true,
    "AutoOptimizeContent": true,
    "MinReadingTimeMinutes": 2,
    "MaxReadingTimeMinutes": 20
  }
}

Cache Settings

{
  "CacheSettings": {
    "ExpirationMinutes": 30,
    "EnableDistributedCache": false,
    "RedisConnectionString": "localhost:6379"
  }
}

Security Settings

{
  "SecuritySettings": {
    "JwtSecret": "your-secret-key-min-32-chars-long",
    "JwtExpiryHours": 24,
    "EnableCors": true,
    "CorsOrigins": ["http://localhost:3000", "https://yourdomain.com"]
  }
}

Environment Variables

Development

ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://localhost:5000;https://localhost:5001
LOG_LEVEL=Information

Production

ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production
ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://0.0.0.0:80;https://0.0.0.0:443
LOG_LEVEL=Warning

appsettings.json Structure

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*",
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Data Source=bloggingagent.db"
  },
  "OpenAISettings": {
    "ApiKey": "",
    "Model": "gpt-3.5-turbo",
    "Temperature": 0.7,
    "MaxTokens": 1000
  },
  "LlmSettings": {
    "OllamaEndpoint": "http://localhost:11434",
    "OllamaModel": "llama2"
  },
  "ContentSettings": {
    "DefaultAuthor": "AI Assistant",
    "MaxPostLength": 5000,
    "DefaultTags": ["blog"],
    "AutoPublish": false
  },
  "SeoSettings": {
    "MinTitleLength": 30,
    "MaxTitleLength": 60
  },
  "CacheSettings": {
    "ExpirationMinutes": 30
  }
}

Development vs Production

Development Mode

dotnet run

Features:

• Detailed error pages
• Verbose logging
• Database resets on startup
• Hot reload enabled

Production Mode

dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish
cd publish
./bloggingAgent

Features:

• Minimal error information
• Warning level logging
• Production database handling
• Performance optimized

Docker Environment Variables

Set environment variables when running Docker:

docker run -e OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx \
           -e ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production \
           -e ASPNETCORE_URLS=http://0.0.0.0:80 \
           -p 5000:80 \
           blogging-agent:latest

Configuration Priority

Settings are loaded in this order (later overrides earlier):

1. appsettings.json
2. appsettings.{Environment}.json
3. Environment variables
4. User secrets (development only)

User Secrets (Development)

Store sensitive data without committing to repository:

# Initialize secrets storage
dotnet user-secrets init

# Set a secret
dotnet user-secrets set "OpenAISettings:ApiKey" "sk-your-key"

# List all secrets
dotnet user-secrets list

# Remove a secret
dotnet user-secrets remove "OpenAISettings:ApiKey"

Troubleshooting Configuration

API Key Not Recognized

• Verify key is set in correct location (appsettings.json or .env)
• Check environment variable name exactly matches
• Restart application after changes
• Check for trailing spaces in keys

Database Connection Failed

• Verify ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection is correct
• Check file permissions for SQLite database
• Ensure database directory exists
• For PostgreSQL: verify server is running and accessible

Cache Not Working

• Check CacheSettings:ExpirationMinutes is set
• For distributed cache: verify Redis connection string
• Restart application to clear cache

SEO Analysis Failing

• Verify SeoSettings values are reasonable
• Check minimum/maximum lengths aren't conflicting
• Ensure content meets minimum length requirements

Performance Tuning

For Large Deployments

{
  "CacheSettings": {
    "ExpirationMinutes": 60,
    "EnableDistributedCache": true,
    "RedisConnectionString": "your-redis-server:6379"
  },
  "OpenAISettings": {
    "MaxTokens": 500,
    "Temperature": 0.5
  }
}

For High Traffic

• Enable distributed cache with Redis
• Increase cache expiration time
• Optimize database queries
• Use production build (-c Release)

Next Steps

• Getting Started
• Deployment Guide