diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index a57f9a5..5bb33d6 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -83,3 +83,10 @@ DEMO_MODE=false
 # INSTACART_AFFILIATE_ID=circuitforge
 # Walmart Impact network affiliate ID (inline, path-based redirect)
 # WALMART_AFFILIATE_ID=
+
+
+# Community PostgreSQL — shared across CF products (cloud only; leave unset for local dev)
+# Points at cf-orch's cf-community-postgres container (port 5434 on the orch host).
+# When unset, community write paths fail soft with a plain-language message.
+# COMMUNITY_DB_URL=postgresql://cf_community:changeme@cf-orch-host:5434/cf_community
+# COMMUNITY_PSEUDONYM_SALT=change-this-to-a-random-32-char-string
diff --git a/compose.cloud.yml b/compose.cloud.yml
index 29ef534..ae903ab 100644
--- a/compose.cloud.yml
+++ b/compose.cloud.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ services:
       CLOUD_AUTH_BYPASS_IPS: ${CLOUD_AUTH_BYPASS_IPS:-}
       # cf-orch: route LLM calls through the coordinator for managed GPU inference
       CF_ORCH_URL: http://host.docker.internal:7700
+      # Community PostgreSQL — shared across CF products; unset = community features unavailable (fail soft)
+      COMMUNITY_DB_URL: ${COMMUNITY_DB_URL:-}
+      COMMUNITY_PSEUDONYM_SALT: ${COMMUNITY_PSEUDONYM_SALT:-}
     extra_hosts:
       - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
     volumes: