This document is the canonical user-facing configuration reference. CLI syntax lives in [CLI](cli.md), operating procedures live in [Operations](operations.md), symptom-oriented recovery lives in [Troubleshooting](troubleshooting.md), and external contracts live under [Integrations](integrations/source-bundle.md).
HTTP upload sources are configured on pipelines and are served by `distributor serve`. Upload tokens are resolved from the process environment or `secrets.directory`; literal bearer tokens are not configured in YAML.
`upload_tokens` is required when any pipeline source uses `http_upload`. Each token record resolves its bearer token value from the process environment or `secrets.directory`. `allow_pipelines` lists configured upload pipeline ids that the token may submit to. One token may authorize multiple upload pipelines, and multiple tokens may authorize the same upload pipeline.
For `http_upload` sources, `staging_path` defaults to `<server.http.staging_root>/<pipeline id>`. `max_upload_size` defaults to `server.http.max_upload_size`.
`upload_tokens` configures bearer tokens for `distributor serve`. It is required when any pipeline source backend is `http_upload` and is invalid when no upload pipelines are configured.
Each token has:
-`id`: required unique slug-like identifier for the token record. It must start with a letter or number and may contain letters, numbers, `.`, `_`, and `-`.
-`token_env`: required environment variable or secret-file name containing the bearer token value.
-`allow_pipelines`: required non-empty list of configured pipeline ids whose source backend is `http_upload`.
Token values must resolve to non-empty strings and must be unique across token records. Every configured upload pipeline must be allowed by at least one token.
SSH backends use native SFTP and can be used as sources and destinations. Adapter protocol behavior is documented in [SSH/SFTP Integration](integrations/ssh-sftp.md).
Authentication uses SSH agent identities when `SSH_AUTH_SOCK` is available, then `ssh_key_file` when configured. Password authentication is not configured in YAML.
S3 backends can be used as sources and destinations. Adapter protocol behavior is documented in [S3-Compatible Storage Integration](integrations/s3.md).
The S3 credential variable names must either both be configured or both be omitted. When omitted, the AWS SDK default credential chain is used. When configured, both values must resolve to non-empty strings through the process environment or `secrets.directory`.
HTTP upload backends are valid only as pipeline sources and are served by `distributor serve`. The API contract is documented in [HTTP Upload API Contract](integrations/http-upload.md).
Source bundle digest mismatches fail validation before destination writes occur. The manifest file-format contract is documented in [Source Bundle Contract](integrations/source-bundle.md).
Each destination embeds a backend config at the destination level and may also configure publishing, transforms, path mapping, links, and transfer behavior.
`publish.html` controls whether generated HTML outputs are published. When `publish.html` is `true`, `transform.markdown_to_html.enabled` must also be `true`.
-`transform.markdown_to_html.enabled`: enables Markdown-to-HTML generation for this destination.
-`transform.markdown_to_html.mode`: optional. Accepted values are `sidecar` and `index`; default is `sidecar` when a Markdown transform block is present.
-`transform.markdown_to_html.input`: optional source manifest path for `index` mode only.
`sidecar` mode renders every manifest-listed `.md` file to a same-directory `.html` output. `index` mode renders one Markdown source to `index.html` at the destination bundle path. If `index` mode omits `input`, the selected source bundle must contain exactly one Markdown file.
At least one output type must be enabled. Enabled Markdown transforms are rejected when `publish.html` is `false`, and `input` is rejected unless `mode` is `index`.
`fixed` publishes one selected source bundle directly at the destination backend root. Fixed destinations select the newest discovered source bundle by manifest `created` timestamp. If multiple bundles have the same timestamp, the source-root-relative bundle path in ascending order wins.
`distributor` does not infer public URLs from backend config. Destination state URL fields are documented in [Destination State Contract](integrations/destination-state.md). Output URLs are built from `links.base_url`, the destination bundle path, and output paths using URL path semantics. `index.html` outputs produce directory-style URLs that omit the filename.
`replace` for `on_destination_newer` and `on_conflict` is honored only when `run --force` is supplied. There is no config field that enables forced replacement by default.
Upload size fields must be YAML strings with an integer and one of these suffixes:
-`B`
-`KB`
-`MB`
-`GB`
Suffix multipliers use powers of 1024. Values must be greater than zero after defaults are applied.
Duration fields must be YAML strings accepted by Go duration parsing, such as `24h`, `90m`, or `168h`. Values must be greater than zero after defaults are applied.
Each regular file in the directory becomes an internal credential environment value named by the filename. Valid filenames match `[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*`. Directories are ignored. Symlinks to regular files are followed. Exactly one trailing LF or CRLF is trimmed from each file; other whitespace is preserved.
Credential resolution checks the real process environment first, then `secrets.directory`. If both define the same name with different values, `run` emits a warning with the variable name and uses the real environment value. Secret values are not printed. The process environment is not modified, so SDK default credential chains see only real process environment variables.
-`local-to-local.yml`: minimal local-to-local config using absolute sample paths; load-tested, but paths should be adapted before running.
-`local-publish.yml`: runnable local source publication used by the README quickstart.
-`local-html.yml`: local sidecar HTML publication.
-`local-index.yml`: local `index.html` publication.
-`fan-out.yml`: local fan-out publication to source and HTML destinations.
-`archive-and-latest.yml`: local archive plus fixed latest publication.
-`http-upload-local.yml`: local HTTP upload server config; requires `DISTRIBUTOR_EXAMPLE_UPLOAD_TOKEN` in the process environment or as a secret-file name before running `serve`.
-`ssh-destination.yml`: local-to-SSH publication; replace host, user, path, key, and known-host values for an SSH/SFTP endpoint you control.
-`s3-destination.yml`: local-to-S3 publication; replace endpoint, bucket, prefix, region, and credential variable names for an S3-compatible service you control.
