@copilot Does SQLX understand the database.url setting? I don't see how we tell SQLX about that URL at runtime.

Yes — settings.database.url is passed directly to SQLx at runtime in AppState::new() (src/server/state.rs:242):

let db_pool = PgPoolOptions::new()
    .max_connections(10)
    .connect(&settings.database.url)   // ← uses the resolved config value
    .await
    .context("Failed to connect to PostgreSQL")?;

DATABASE_URL is only needed at compile time for SQLx's query! macro verification. At runtime the connection URL comes entirely from settings.database.url, which is now resolved in this order:

1. database.url from the config file (including ${VAR} substitution)
2. DATABASE_URL env var as a fallback (if database.url is empty/absent)

@copilot Great. The we should find a real good place to document that DATABASE_URL is required at compile time / for sqlx prepare. Probably on the developer side, less so on the operator side.

@copilot Great. The we should find a real good place to document that DATABASE_URL is required at compile time / for sqlx prepare. Probably on the developer side, less so on the operator side.

Done in 0a9dd96. Added a "DATABASE_URL at Compile Time" subsection to the SQLX section in developer-guide.md explaining that DATABASE_URL must point to a live, migrated PostgreSQL instance when running cargo sqlx prepare, and that at runtime the URL comes from settings.database.url. The note in configuration.md now cross-references that section instead of repeating the detail.

Docs preview: /preview/pr-309/

• Rise User Docs
• Rise Operator Docs

Updated for commit e40e4ce.