[BUG] Creating an OIDC client with a hyphen in its name generates invalid systemd environment variables

Author: LukasSkywalkerCreated Sep 13, 2026Updated Sep 14, 2026

Labelsbug

Describe the Bug

Creating a new OIDC client via the command line tries to turn the client name into an environment variable. If the name contains a hyphen, this name is turned into a variable name with a hyphen similar to this: TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MY-APP_CLIENTID. When the variable is placed in a file and loaded via systemds EnvironmentFile=, lines with variable names containing hyphens are ignored: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/systemd.exec.5.html#ENVIRONMENT Disallowing hyphens would fix that issue.

How to Reproduce

Run ./tinyauth oidc create my-app
It displays the environment variable TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MY-APP_CLIENTID
When running tinyauth via systemd, this variable is ignored and OIDC does not work.

Expected Behavior

It should display an error, because an environment variable with a dash is invalid in systemd.

Additional Context

The variables are ignored when they contain a hyphen:

bash

root@tinyauth:~# cat /opt/tinyauth/.env
TINYAUTH_DATABASE_PATH=/opt/tinyauth/database.db
TINYAUTH_AUTH_USERS='[email protected]:$$2a$$10$$redacted123'
TINYAUTH_APPURL=https://auth.example.com
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MY-APP_CLIENTID=foo
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MY-APP_CLIENTSECRET=bar
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MY-APP_NAME=baz

root@tinyauth:~# systemd-run --wait --pipe -p EnvironmentFile=/opt/tinyauth/.env /usr/bin/env | grep -o '^TINYAUTH_[^=]*'
Running as unit: run-p847-i2375553.service; invocation ID: 8bb8043490f3415a8ba4744f5cad4918
TINYAUTH_DATABASE_PATH
TINYAUTH_AUTH_USERS
TINYAUTH_APPURL
Finished with result: success

But are kept when they don't:

bash

root@tinyauth:~# cat /opt/tinyauth/.env 
TINYAUTH_DATABASE_PATH=/opt/tinyauth/database.db
TINYAUTH_AUTH_USERS='[email protected]:$$2a$$10$$redacted123'
TINYAUTH_APPURL=https://auth.example.com
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_CLIENTID=foo
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_CLIENTSECRET=bar
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_NAME=baz

root@tinyauth:~# systemd-run --wait --pipe -p EnvironmentFile=/opt/tinyauth/.env /usr/bin/env | grep -o '^TINYAUTH_[^=]*'
Running as unit: run-p854-i2400855.service; invocation ID: de43d415f7234abcbb7c6cf87057f311
TINYAUTH_DATABASE_PATH
TINYAUTH_AUTH_USERS
TINYAUTH_APPURL
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_CLIENTID
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_CLIENTSECRET
TINYAUTH_OIDC_CLIENTS_MYAPP_NAME
Finished with result: success

Logs

No response

Operating System

Linux

Browser

No response

Tinyauth Version

v5.2.0

Docker Version (if applicable)

No response

Human Written Confirmation

I confirm this issue was written by me and not generated by an LLM or AI assistant.

Source: tinyauthapp/tinyauth

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