Configuration Reference

Salata uses a single config.toml file for all configuration. This file is mandatory -- none of the four binaries (salata, salata-cgi, salata-fastcgi, salata-server) will start without a valid config.

Config Lookup Order

--config /path/to/config.toml flag (explicit path)
config.toml in the same directory as the binary
Error -- Salata refuses to run

# Explicit config path
salata --config /etc/salata/config.toml index.slt

# Looks for config.toml next to the salata binary
salata index.slt

Full Default config.toml

[salata]
display_errors = true
default_content_type = "text/html; charset=utf-8"
encoding = "utf-8"

[server]
hot_reload = true

[logging]
directory = "./logs"
rotation_max_size = "50MB"
rotation_max_files = 10

[logging.server]
access_log = "access.log"
error_log = "error.log"
format = "combined"

[logging.runtimes]
python = "python.log"
ruby = "ruby.log"
javascript = "javascript.log"
typescript = "typescript.log"
php = "php.log"
shell = "shell.log"

[runtimes.python]
enabled = true
path = "/usr/bin/python3"
shared_scope = true
display_errors = true

[runtimes.ruby]
enabled = true
path = "/usr/bin/ruby"
shared_scope = true

[runtimes.javascript]
enabled = true
path = "/usr/bin/node"
shared_scope = true

[runtimes.typescript]
enabled = true
path = "/usr/bin/ts-node"
shared_scope = true

[runtimes.php]
enabled = true
mode = "cgi"
cli_path = "/usr/bin/php"
cgi_path = "/usr/bin/php-cgi"
shared_scope = true

[runtimes.shell]
enabled = true
path = "/bin/bash"
shared_scope = true

[cgi]
header_timeout = "5s"
body_timeout = "30s"
min_data_rate = "100b/s"
max_url_length = 2048
max_header_size = "8KB"
max_header_count = 50
max_query_string_length = 2048
max_body_size = "10MB"
max_connections_per_ip = 20
max_total_connections = 200
max_execution_time = "30s"
max_memory_per_request = "128MB"
max_response_size = "50MB"
response_timeout = "60s"
block_dotfiles = true
block_path_traversal = true
blocked_extensions = [".toml", ".env", ".git", ".log"]
block_null_bytes = true
block_non_printable_headers = true
validate_content_length = true
max_child_processes = 10
allow_outbound_network = true

[errors]
page_404 = "./errors/404.slt"
page_500 = "./errors/500.slt"

Section Reference

[salata]

Global settings that apply across all binaries and runtimes.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`display_errors`	bool	`true`	Show runtime errors in the output. When `false`, errors are logged but not displayed. Individual runtimes can override this.
`default_content_type`	string	`"text/html; charset=utf-8"`	Default MIME type for responses when no `#content-type` directive is used.
`encoding`	string	`"utf-8"`	Enforced character encoding for all input and output.

[server]

Settings specific to salata-server.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`hot_reload`	bool	`true`	Watch for file changes and trigger reparse in dev mode.

See Server Configuration for details.

[logging]

Log file management.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`directory`	string	`"./logs"`	Log directory, relative to the binary location. Created on first run.
`rotation_max_size`	string	`"50MB"`	Maximum size of a log file before rotation.
`rotation_max_files`	int	`10`	Maximum number of rotated log files to keep.

See Logging Configuration for the full logging reference.

[runtimes.*]

Each runtime has its own configuration section. Common fields shared by all runtimes:

Field	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	bool	`true`	Enable or disable this runtime.
`path`	string	varies	Absolute path to the runtime binary.
`shared_scope`	bool	`true`	All blocks of this language share one process.
`display_errors`	bool	(inherited)	Override the global `display_errors` setting for this runtime.

PHP has additional fields for its context-aware binary selection:

Field	Type	Default	Description
`mode`	string	`"cgi"`	PHP execution mode: `"cgi"` or `"fastcgi"`.
`cli_path`	string	`"/usr/bin/php"`	Path to the PHP CLI binary (used in CLI context).
`cgi_path`	string	`"/usr/bin/php-cgi"`	Path to php-cgi (used in CGI context).
`fastcgi_socket`	string	(none)	Unix socket path for php-fpm (FastCGI/Server context).
`fastcgi_host`	string	(none)	TCP host:port for php-fpm (FastCGI/Server context).

See Runtime Configuration for detailed per-runtime settings.

[cgi]

Security and resource limits for salata-cgi. These settings protect against common CGI attack vectors.

See CGI Configuration for the full reference with descriptions of each field.

[errors]

Custom error page templates.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`page_404`	string	`"./errors/404.slt"`	Path to the 404 error page. Can be a `.slt` file.
`page_500`	string	`"./errors/500.slt"`	Path to the 500 error page. Can be a `.slt` file.

Error pages can be .slt files with runtime blocks, so you can generate dynamic error pages. Paths are relative to the binary location.

Salata Documentation