📖 Documentation / Getting Started / Introduction

Introduction

📅 Last updated: Mar 15, 2025 ⏱️ 8 min read 👁️ 12.4k views

Welcome to the official documentation for App Config.json. This platform provides a unified, version-controlled configuration management system designed for modern microservices and monolithic applications alike.

💡 Quick Tip

New here? Check out the Quickstart Guide to deploy your first configuration in under 5 minutes.

What is App Config.json?

App Config.json is a cloud-native configuration registry that allows you to manage, version, and distribute application settings across multiple environments with zero downtime. Unlike traditional configuration files, our system provides real-time synchronization, granular access control, and full audit trails.

Core Principles

  • Declarative: Define your configuration as JSON schema and let the platform handle distribution.
  • Immutable: Every change creates a new version. Rollback to any point in seconds.
  • Encrypted: AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit. Secrets are never exposed in logs.
  • Observable: Built-in metrics, audit logs, and webhook notifications for every change.

Installation & Setup

Install the core SDK using your preferred package manager. The SDK is available for Node.js, Python, Go, Java, and Rust.

bash
# npm npm install @appconfig/sdk # pip pip install appconfig-sdk # go go get github.com/appconfig/sdk-go

Basic Configuration

Create a config.json file in your project root. The platform automatically detects and validates your schema.

json
{ "app_name": "payment-service", "version": "2.4.1", "environment": "staging", "features": { "enable_logging": true, "retry_limit": 3, "timeout_ms": 5000 }, "endpoints": { "api_gateway": "https://api.appconfig.json/v3" } }
⚠️ Security Notice

Never commit secret keys, passwords, or API tokens to your config.json. Use our Environment Variables or Secret Manager integration instead.

Configuration Schema Reference

The following table outlines the top-level properties supported in your configuration file:

Property Type Required Description
app_name string Yes Unique identifier for your application instance
version string Yes Semantic version matching your deployment tag
environment string Yes Target environment: dev, staging, production
features object No Feature flags and runtime toggles
rate_limit number No Max requests per second (default: 100)

Next Steps

Now that you understand the core structure, explore these guides:

  1. Setting up Multi-Environment Sync - Learn how to push configs to different environments simultaneously.
  2. Implementing Rollback Strategies - Configure automatic fallbacks when updates fail.
  3. API Reference - Programmatically manage your configurations at scale.