# Instance Settings
URL: https://usememos.com/docs/admin/instance-settings

Instance settings control authentication, storage, and memo policies. Admins can update these settings in the app or via the Instance Settings API.

Common areas include:

* Instance access policy: public or private access, stored independently of the canonical instance URL.
* General access controls: user registration, password auth, username and nickname changes, week start day, and custom instance profile.
* Storage settings: named database, local filesystem, or S3-compatible configurations with stable IDs, a default for new uploads, file path templates, and upload limits.
* Memo-related settings: content length limits, double-click editing, and allowed reaction values.
* Notification settings: SMTP email delivery, sender details, reply-to address, and the email test endpoint.
* AI settings: instance-level OpenAI or Gemini providers and speech-to-text transcription defaults.

Tag colors and content-blur rules are user settings in Memos 0.30 and later, not instance settings. See [Tags](/docs/usage/tags).

## Access policy [#access-policy]

In 0.31, the `ACCESS` setting determines whether anonymous visitors may read public content. `MEMOS_INSTANCE_URL` supplies the canonical external address and no longer changes an existing access policy. Use [deployment-managed access configuration](/docs/configuration/deployment-configuration#access-policy) when infrastructure should own this setting.

Instance admins manage these policies but do not become members of every Space or gain editing authority over other authors' memos. See [Users & Roles](/docs/admin/users-roles).

## Sensitive settings [#sensitive-settings]

Storage, notification, and AI settings can contain credentials. API responses do not return stored S3 secrets, SMTP passwords, or AI provider API keys in plaintext. When updating those settings, submit a new secret only when you intend to replace it.

## Related API [#related-api]

* [Get Instance Setting](/docs/api/latest/instanceservice/GetInstanceSetting)
* [Batch Get Instance Settings](/docs/api/latest/instanceservice/BatchGetInstanceSettings)
* [Update Instance Setting](/docs/api/latest/instanceservice/UpdateInstanceSetting)
* [Test Instance Email Setting](/docs/api/latest/instanceservice/TestInstanceEmailSetting)