The language in this file is very technical, if you're struggling, put it into ChatGPT and see if it can help you (with the usual hallucination disclaimer).

The config format is generally usable and not specific to Stack Auth.

All the logic required for generic usage of the config format are in format/. The other files in this folder are specific to Stack Auth's usage of it.

Generic config format:

• Config: Any config, as described in stack-info
• Normalized config: A config without null fields and dot notation

Stack Auth: There are four levels, project, branch, environment, organization.

• Base config: The defaults that come with Stack Auth
• $Level config override: Overrides that are applied to the base config (in the following order: project -> branch -> environment -> organization)
• $Level incomplete config: The base config after some overrides have been applied
• $Level rendered config: An incomplete config with those fields removed that can be overridden by a future override, deeply merged into the defaults and sanitized (using apply{$Level}DefaultsAndSanitize), and then normalized
• Complete config: The organization rendered config.
• $Level config override override: An override that overrides the $Level config override. This is most often used eg. in the REST API to let users make changes to the branch-level config, without overwriting the entire branch-level config override. ^{Note that, since config overrides (unlike configs) distinguish between null and a property missing (undefined), it is currently not possible to say "this property in the config override should be unset" (setting a property to null in the override override will simply also set it to null in the override). In the future, we'll have to think about how we handle this, probably with a sentinel value.}
• $Level config: Could refer to any of the above, depending on the context; if it's not clear, specify it.

{
  organizations: {},
  createTeamOnSignUp: false,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: null
}

{
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

// note: `organizations` and `createTeamOnSignUp` may be overridden by branch, environment, or organization configs! They are not final
{
  organizations: {},
  createTeamOnSignUp: false,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

// since `organizations` and `createTeamOnSignUp` may change later, they are not included in the rendered config
{
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

{
  organizations: {
    'my-org': {
      name: 'My Org',
    }
  }
}

{
  organizations: {
    'my-org': {
      name: 'My Org',
    }
  },
  createTeamOnSignUp: true,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

// as above, `organizations` and `createTeamOnSignUp` are not included in the rendered config, as they may change later
{
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

// no change from branch config
{}

// no change from branch config
{
  organizations: {
    'my-org': {
      name: 'My Org',
    }
  },
  createTeamOnSignUp: true,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

// organizations can no longer change after this point, so they are included in the rendered config
{
  organizations: {
    'my-org': {
      name: 'My Org',
    }
  },
  createTeamOnSignUp: true,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}

{
  createTeamOnSignUp: true,
}

{
  createTeamOnSignUp: true,
  sourceOfTruthConnectionString: 'postgresql://...',
}