Settings

../_images/overview-features.png

If you are looking for installation instructions, please refer to Install Kinto.

Kinto is built to be highly configurable. As a result, the related configuration can be verbose, but don’t worry, all configuration flags are listed below.

Note

In order to ease deployment or testing strategies, Kinto reads settings from environment variables, in addition to .ini files.

The environment variables are exactly the same as the settings, but they are capitalised and . are replaced by _.

For example, kinto.storage_backend is read from environment variable KINTO_STORAGE_BACKEND if defined.

All settings are read first from the environment variables, then from application .ini, and finally from internal defaults.

Feature settings

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.readonly False If set to true, the whole service will reject every write operation. Note that with this option, the default bucket cannot be used and request will be rejected with a 405 Method Not Allowed error response.
kinto.batch_max_requests 25 The maximum number of requests that can be sent to the batch endpoint.
kinto.paginate_by None The maximum number of items to include on a response before enabling pagination. If set to None, no pagination will be used. It is recommended to set-up pagination if the server is under high load. If not defined, a collection response cannot contain more elements than defined by the kinto.storage_max_fetch_size setting.
kinto.id_generator UUID4 The Python dotted location of the generator class that should be used to generate identifiers on a POST on a records endpoint.
kinto.experimental_collection_schema_validation False Experimental: Allow definition of JSON schema at the collection level, in order to validate submitted records. It is marked as experimental because the API might subjet to changes.
kinto.trailing_slash_redirect_enabled True Try to redirect resources removing slash or adding it for the root URL endpoint: /v1 redirects to /v1/ and /buckets/default/ to /buckets/default. No redirections are made when turned off.

Backends

Kinto relies on three types of backends: storage, cache and permission. The settings names have a different prefix for each.

For each of them, the supported services are currently PostgreSQL, Redis, and Memory.

Storage

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.storage_backend kinto.core.storage.memory The Python dotted location of the storage backend to use.
kinto.storage_url '' The URL to use to authenticate to the storage backend. e.g. redis://localhost:6378/1 or postgres://user:pass@database/db
kinto.storage_max_fetch_size 10000 The maximum number of items that can be returned by one request to the storage backend. If no pagination is enabled, this is the maximum number of items that can be stored in a collection (otherwise some of them won’t be returned). With pagination enabled, this limitation doesn’t apply.
kinto.storage_pool_size 25 The size of the pool of connections to use for the storage backend.
kinto.storage_max_overflow 5 Number of connections that can be opened beyond pool size.
kinto.storage_pool_recycle -1 Recycle connections after the given number of seconds has passed.
kinto.storage_pool_timeout 30 Number of seconds to wait before giving up on getting a connection from the pool.
kinto.storage_max_backlog -1 Number of threads that can be in the queue waiting for a connection.
kinto.storage_backend = kinto.core.storage.redis
kinto.storage_url = redis://localhost:6379/1

# Safety limit while fetching from storage
# kinto.storage_max_fetch_size = 10000

# Control number of pooled connections
# kinto.storage_pool_size = 50

Cache

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.cache_backend kinto.core.cache.memory The Python dotted location of the cache backend to use.
kinto.cache_url '' The URL to use to authenticate to the cache backend. e.g. redis://localhost:6378/1 or postgres://user:pass@database/db
kinto.cache_prefix '' A prefix added to each key. Useful when having multiple Kinto using the same cache database.
kinto.cache_pool_size 25 The size of the pool of connections to use for the cache backend.
kinto.cache_max_overflow 5 Number of connections that can be opened beyond pool size.
kinto.cache_pool_recycle -1 Recycle connections after the given number of seconds has passed.
kinto.cache_pool_timeout 30 Number of seconds to wait before giving up on getting a connection from the pool.
kinto.cache_max_backlog -1 Number of threads that can be in the queue waiting for a connection.
kinto.cache_backend = kinto.core.cache.redis
kinto.cache_url = redis://localhost:6379/0

# Control number of pooled connections
# kinto.cache_pool_size = 50

Permissions

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.permission_backend kinto.core.permission.memory The Python dotted location of the permission backend to use.
kinto.permission_url '' The URL to use to authenticate to the permission backend. e.g. redis://localhost:6379/1
kinto.permission_pool_size 25 The size of the pool of connections to use for the permission backend.
kinto.permission_max_overflow 5 Number of connections that can be opened beyond pool size.
kinto.permission_pool_recycle -1 Recycle connections after the given number of seconds has passed.
kinto.permission_pool_timeout 30 Number of seconds to wait before giving up on getting a connection from the pool.
kinto.permission_max_backlog -1 Number of threads that can be in the queue waiting for a connection.
kinto.permission_backend = kinto.core.permission.redis
kinto.permission_url = redis://localhost:6379/1

# Control number of pooled connections
# kinto.permission_pool_size = 50

Bypass permissions with configuration

Permissions are usually retrieved from the permission backend. However, it is also possible to configure them from settings, and it will bypass the permission backend.

For example, for a resource named “bucket”, the following setting will enable authenticated people to create bucket records:

kinto.bucket_create_principals = system.Authenticated

The format of these permission settings is <resource_name>_<permission>_principals = comma,separated,principals.

Scheme, host, and port

By default, Kinto relies on WSGI for underlying details like host, port, or request scheme. Tuning these settings may be necessary when the application runs behind proxies or load balancers, but most implementations (such as uWSGI) provide adequate values automatically.

That said, if ever these items need to be controlled at the application layer, the following settings are available:

Check the behaviour of the server with the url value returned in the hello view.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.http_host None The HTTP Host used by Kinto to refer to itself. If set to None, the HTTP host is read from HTTP headers or WSGI environment.
kinto.http_scheme None The HTTP scheme used by Kinto to refer to itself. If set to None, the HTTP scheme is read from the HTTP headers or WSGI environment.
# kinto.http_scheme = https
# kinto.http_host = production.server.com:7777

Logging and Monitoring

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.logging_renderer kinto.core.logs.ClassicLogRenderer The Python dotted location of the renderer class that should be used to render the logs to the standard output.
kinto.statsd_prefix kinto The prefix to use when sending data to statsd.
kinto.statsd_url None The URL to use to connect to the statsd host. e.g. udp://localhost:8125

Logging with Heka

Heka is an open source stream processing software system developed by Mozilla. Heka is a “Swiss Army Knife” type tool for data processing, and is useful for a wide variety of different tasks.

For more information, see https://hekad.readthedocs.io/

Heka logging format can be enabled using:

kinto.logging_renderer = kinto.core.logs.MozillaHekaRenderer

With the following configuration, all logs are redirected to standard output (See 12factor app):

[loggers]
keys = root

[handlers]
keys = console

[formatters]
keys = heka

[logger_root]
level = INFO
handlers = console
formatter = heka

[handler_console]
class = StreamHandler
args = (sys.stdout,)
level = NOTSET

[formatter_heka]
format = %(message)s

Handling exceptions with Sentry

Requires the raven package.

Sentry logging can be enabled as explained in official documentation.

Note

The application sends an INFO message on startup (mainly for setup check).

Monitoring with StatsD

Requires the statsd package.

StatsD metrics can be enabled (disabled by default):

kinto.statsd_url = udp://localhost:8125
# kinto.statsd_prefix = kinto-prod

Monitoring with New Relic

Requires the newrelic package.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.newrelic_config None Location of the newrelic configuration file.
kinto.newrelic_env dev The environment the server runs into

New Relic can be enabled (disabled by default):

kinto.newrelic_config = /location/of/newrelic.ini
kinto.newrelic_env = prod

Authentication

By default, Kinto relies on Basic Auth to authenticate users.

User registration is not necessary. A unique user idenfier will be created for each username:password pair.

Kinto is compatible with any third-party authentication service.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.userid_hmac_secret '' The secret used to create the user ID from a username:password pair. This value should be unique to each instance and kept secret.
multiauth.policies basicauth The list of authentication policies aliases that are enabled. Each alias is configuration using dedicated settings as explained below.
multiauth.authorization_policy kinto.authorization.AuthorizationPolicy Python dotted path the authorisation policy to use for the permission mecanism.

Authentication setup

Kinto relies on pyramid multiauth to initialise authentication.

Therefore, any authentication policy can be specified through configuration.

In the following example, Basic Auth, Persona, and IP Auth are all enabled:

multiauth.policies = basicauth pyramid_persona ipauth

multiauth.policy.ipauth.use = pyramid_ipauth.IPAuthentictionPolicy
multiauth.policy.ipauth.ipaddrs = 192.168.0.*
multiauth.policy.ipauth.userid = LAN-user
multiauth.policy.ipauth.principals = trusted

Permission handling and authorisation mechanisms are specified directly via configuration. This allows for customised solutions ranging from very simple to highly complex.

Basic Auth

basicauth is enabled via multiauth.policies by default.

multiauth.policies = basicauth

By default an internal Basic Auth policy is used, where any login:password pair will be accepted, meaning that no account creation is required.

In order to replace it by another one:

multiauth.policies = basicauth
multiauth.policy.basicauth.use = myproject.authn.BasicAuthPolicy

Custom Authentication

Using the various Pyramid authentication packages, it is possible to plug in any kind of authentication.

Firefox Accounts

Enabling Firefox Accounts consists of including kinto_fxa in configuration, mentioning fxa among policies, and providing appropriate values for OAuth2 client settings.

See mozilla-services/kinto-fxa.

Plugins

It is possible to extend the default Kinto behaviors by using “plugins”.

The list of plugins to load at startup can be specified in the settings, as a list of Python modules:

kinto.includes = kinto.plugins.default_bucket
                 kinto-attachment
                 custom-myplugin

See also: How to write a Kinto plugin? for more in-depth informations on how to create your own plugin.

Notifications

Kinto has a notification system, and the event listeners are configured using the event_handlers setting, which takes a list of aliases.

In the example below, the Redis listener is activated and will send events data in the queue Redis list.

kinto.event_listeners = redis

kinto.event_listeners.redis.use = kinto.core.listeners.redis
kinto.event_listeners.redis.url = redis://localhost:6379/0
kinto.event_listeners.redis.pool_size = 5
kinto.event_listeners.redis.listname = queue

Filtering

It is possible to filter events by action and/or types of object. By default actions create, update and delete are notified for every kinds of objects.

kinto.event_listeners.redis.actions = create
kinto.event_listeners.redis.resources = bucket collection

Third-party

Enabling push notifications to clients consists in enabling an event listener that will be in charge of forwarding events data to remote clients.

A Kinto plugin was made using the Pusher (commercial) service. See leplatrem/cliquet-pusher.

Cross Origin requests (CORS)

Kinto supports CORS out of the box. Use the cors_origins setting to change the list of accepted origins.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.cors_origins * This List of CORS origins to support on all endpoints. By default allow all cross origin requests.

Backoff indicators

In order to tell clients to back-off (on heavy load for instance), the following flags can be used. Read more about this at Backoff header on heavy load.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.backoff None The Backoff time to use. If set to None, no backoff flag is sent to the clients. If set, provides the client with a number of seconds during which it should avoid doing unnecessary requests.
kinto.retry_after_seconds 30 The number of seconds after which the client should issue requests.
# kinto.backoff = 10
kinto.retry_after_seconds = 30

Similarly, the end of service date can be specified by using these settings.

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.eos None The End of Service Deprecation date. If the date specified is in the future, an alert will be sent to clients. If it’s in the past, the service will be declared as decomissionned. If set to None, no End of Service information will be sent to the client.
kinto.eos_message None The End of Service message. If set to None, no End of Service message will be sent to the clients.
kinto.eos_url None The End of Service information URL.
kinto.eos = 2015-01-22
kinto.eos_message = "Client is too old"
kinto.eos_url = http://website/info-shutdown.html

Enabling or disabling endpoints

Specific resource operations can be disabled.

To do so, a setting key must be defined for the disabled resources endpoints:

'kinto.{endpoint_type}_{resource_name}_{method}_enabled'

Where: - endpoint_type is either collection or record; - resource_name is the name of the resource (by default, Kinto uses the name of the class); - method is the http method (in lower case): For instance put.

For example, to disable the PUT on records for the Mushrooms resource, the following setting should be declared in the .ini file:

# Disable article collection DELETE endpoint
kinto.collection_article_delete_enabled = false

# Disable mushroom record PATCH endpoint
kinto.record_mushroom_patch_enabled = false

Activating the flush endpoint

The Flush endpoint is used to flush (completely remove) all data from the database backend. While this can be useful during development, it’s too dangerous to leave on by default, and must therefore be enabled explicitly.

kinto.flush_endpoint_enabled = true

Then, issue a POST request to the /__flush__ endpoint to flush all the data.

Client caching

In addition to per-collection caching, it is possible to add cache control headers for every Kinto object. The client (or cache server or proxy) will use them to cache the collection records for a certain amount of time, in seconds.

The setting can be set for any kind of object (bucket, group, collection, record), and concerns GET requests (GET /buckets, GET /buckets/{}/groups, GET /buckets/{}/collections, GET /buckets/{}/collections/{}/records).

# kinto.bucket_cache_expires_seconds = 3600
# kinto.group_cache_expires_seconds = 3600
# kinto.collection_cache_expires_seconds = 3600
kinto.record_cache_expires_seconds = 3600

It can also be specified per bucket or collections for records:

kinto.blog_record_cache_expires_seconds = 30
kinto.blog_articles_record_cache_expires_seconds = 3600

If set to 0 then the resource becomes uncacheable (no-cache).

Note

In production, Nginx can act as a cache-server using those client cache control headers.

Project information

Setting name Default What does it do?
kinto.error_info_link https://github.com/kinto/kinto/issues/ The HTTP link returned when uncaught errors are triggered on the server.
kinto.project_docs http://kinto.readthedocs.io The URL where the documentation of the Kinto instance can be found. Will be returned in the hello view.
kinto.project_version '' The version of the project. Will be returned in the hello view. By default, this is the major version of Kinto.
kinto.version_prefix_redirect_enabled True By default, all endpoints exposed by Kinto are prefixed by a version number. If this flag is enabled, the server will redirect all requests not matching the supported version to the supported one.

Example:

kinto.project_docs = https://project.rtfd.org/
# kinto.project_version = 1.0