Settings
Configuration > System holds the settings that started life in .env at
install time but can be changed afterward without touching the
container - each is its own card with its own Save button, backed by the database, so a saved
value always wins over .env from then on.
Database
Athena runs against either MariaDB/MySQL (the bundled zero-config default) or your own PostgreSQL,
chosen with a Type field on the Database card, which also shows which engine is actually running.
A save is test-connected before it's accepted, and re-verified again at the next restart with a
fallback to the .env values on failure - a bad save can't lock you out of starting
Athena.
Migrate to a different database (the same card) copies every configuration table into a freshly-configured database of either type and switches to it on the next restart - tested before anything is copied, and the database Athena is currently running against is only ever read from, never modified.
This is a live-switch action for the whole install, distinct from Backup & Restore's downloadable file - use Backup & Restore to move configuration to a separate Athena install, and Migrate to change database engines on this one.
Ports and Email
Ports lives on its own card here too. Email holds your SMTP server (host, port, username, password, from address, and whether to use STARTTLS) - Athena sends its own mail through this directly, starting with the login page's "Forgot password" reset link. A "Send test email" button on the same card lets you confirm the settings actually work without going through the full reset flow. Leaving the host blank disables "Forgot password" entirely.
ESPHome builder's own Dashboard URL/credentials moved off this page - they're set from that integration's own "Settings" menu item on Devices & Services now instead, since it's an opt-in integration rather than an always-on setting - see ESPHome builder.
Region
Timezone, Unit system, Currency, and Country - one shared value for the whole install, not a per-account preference (Language stays personal, on your own Account & preferences page). Timezone is the one field that actually does something today: it's what the AI Assistant uses for its own sense of the current date/time, and what an automation's Time Trigger node evaluates "daily at" against. Unit system/Currency/Country are stored for future features to consult, not consumed by anything yet.
Server address (LAN) is the odd one out on this card - not a regional
preference, but a URL back to Athena itself (e.g. http://192.168.1.50:8000) that a
device elsewhere on your network can reach it at. The "Auto" button next to it fills in whatever
address your own browser used to load Athena just now, which works as long as whatever needs it
is on the same network. Nothing needs this today except
voice-satellite hardware, which fetches its spoken reply
from a link built out of this address.
History retention
How many days of entity state-change history to keep before it's pruned - the data behind Dashboard
Chart cards, the History page, and a
device's own Activity feed. Defaults to 730 days (about two years); 0 means never
delete. Applies immediately, no restart needed.
MQTT's own broker URL, credentials, and discovery prefix aren't here - they live on a "Settings" item in the MQTT page's own three-dot menu instead, since they belong to that one integration rather than the app as a whole. Changing them reconnects live, no restart needed. The Notify integration's own server URL similarly lives on its own Devices & Services page, not here.