diff --git a/.changeset/shiny-ties-relate.md b/.changeset/shiny-ties-relate.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ed15098fec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/shiny-ties-relate.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@core/sync-service": patch
+---
+
+Simplify configuration by giving all options a default. Now the only required setting is the db connection parameters.
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs b/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
index 1e08d6a7a7..319c0f481d 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
+++ b/packages/sync-service/config/runtime.exs
@@ -81,28 +81,20 @@ otel_simple_processor =
 config :opentelemetry,
   processors: [otel_batch_processor, otel_simple_processor] |> Enum.reject(&is_nil/1)
 
-connection_opts =
-  if Config.config_env() == :test do
-    [
-      hostname: "localhost",
-      port: 54321,
-      username: "postgres",
-      password: "password",
-      database: "postgres",
-      sslmode: :disable
-    ]
-  else
-    {:ok, database_url_config} =
-      env!("DATABASE_URL", :string)
-      |> Electric.ConfigParser.parse_postgresql_uri()
-
-    database_ipv6_config =
-      env!("DATABASE_USE_IPV6", :boolean, false)
-
-    database_url_config ++ [ipv6: database_ipv6_config]
-  end
-
-config :electric, connection_opts: Electric.Utils.obfuscate_password(connection_opts)
+# only pre-configure the connection opts in test env
+# for others, rely on `DATABASE_URL`
+if Config.config_env() == :test do
+  config :electric,
+    connection_opts:
+      Electric.Utils.obfuscate_password(
+        hostname: "localhost",
+        port: 54321,
+        username: "postgres",
+        password: "password",
+        database: "postgres",
+        sslmode: :disable
+      )
+end
 
 enable_integration_testing = env!("ENABLE_INTEGRATION_TESTING", :boolean, false)
 cache_max_age = env!("CACHE_MAX_AGE", :integer, 60)
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric.ex b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric.ex
index 61c98f9fc1..9c1404f07d 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric.ex
+++ b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric.ex
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ defmodule Electric do
   """
   @spec instance_id() :: binary | no_return
   def instance_id do
-    Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :instance_id)
+    Application.get_env(:electric, :instance_id, :default)
   end
 
   @type relation :: {schema :: String.t(), table :: String.t()}
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application.ex b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application.ex
index efb2f7974f..91090ab849 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application.ex
+++ b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application.ex
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ defmodule Electric.Application do
   def start(_type, _args) do
     :erlang.system_flag(:backtrace_depth, 50)
 
-    config = configure()
+    config = Electric.Application.Configuration.load()
 
     shape_log_collector = Electric.Replication.ShapeLogCollector.name(config.electric_instance_id)
 
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ defmodule Electric.Application do
               get_service_status: &Electric.ServiceStatus.check/0,
               inspector: config.inspector,
               long_poll_timeout: 20_000,
-              max_age: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :cache_max_age),
-              stale_age: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :cache_stale_age),
+              max_age: Application.get_env(:electric, :cache_max_age, 60),
+              stale_age: Application.get_env(:electric, :cache_stale_age, 60 * 5),
               allow_shape_deletion: Application.get_env(:electric, :allow_shape_deletion, false)},
-           port: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :service_port),
+           port: Application.get_env(:electric, :service_port, 3000),
            thousand_island_options: http_listener_options()}
         ],
-        prometheus_endpoint(Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :prometheus_port)),
+        prometheus_endpoint(Application.get_env(:electric, :prometheus_port, nil)),
         [{Electric.Connection.Supervisor, connection_manager_opts}]
       ])
 
@@ -86,65 +86,6 @@ defmodule Electric.Application do
     )
   end
 
-  # This function is called once in the application's start() callback. It reads configuration
-  # from the OTP application env, runs some pre-processing functions and stores the processed
-  # configuration as a single map using `:persistent_term`.
-  defp configure do
-    electric_instance_id = Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :electric_instance_id)
-
-    {storage_module, storage_in_opts} = Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :storage)
-    storage_opts = storage_module.shared_opts(storage_in_opts)
-    storage = {storage_module, storage_opts}
-
-    {kv_module, kv_fun, kv_params} = Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :persistent_kv)
-    persistent_kv = apply(kv_module, kv_fun, [kv_params])
-
-    replication_stream_id = Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :replication_stream_id)
-    publication_name = "electric_publication_#{replication_stream_id}"
-    slot_name = "electric_slot_#{replication_stream_id}"
-
-    get_pg_version_fn = fn ->
-      Electric.Connection.Manager.get_pg_version(Electric.Connection.Manager)
-    end
-
-    prepare_tables_mfa =
-      {Electric.Postgres.Configuration, :configure_tables_for_replication!,
-       [get_pg_version_fn, publication_name]}
-
-    inspector =
-      {Electric.Postgres.Inspector.EtsInspector, server: Electric.Postgres.Inspector.EtsInspector}
-
-    shape_cache_opts = [
-      electric_instance_id: electric_instance_id,
-      storage: storage,
-      inspector: inspector,
-      prepare_tables_fn: prepare_tables_mfa,
-      chunk_bytes_threshold: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :chunk_bytes_threshold),
-      log_producer: Electric.Replication.ShapeLogCollector.name(electric_instance_id),
-      consumer_supervisor: Electric.Shapes.ConsumerSupervisor.name(electric_instance_id),
-      registry: Registry.ShapeChanges
-    ]
-
-    config = %Electric.Application.Configuration{
-      electric_instance_id: electric_instance_id,
-      storage: storage,
-      persistent_kv: persistent_kv,
-      connection_opts: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :connection_opts),
-      replication_opts: %{
-        stream_id: replication_stream_id,
-        publication_name: publication_name,
-        slot_name: slot_name
-      },
-      pool_opts: %{
-        size: Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :db_pool_size)
-      },
-      inspector: inspector,
-      shape_cache_opts: shape_cache_opts
-    }
-
-    Electric.Application.Configuration.save(config)
-  end
-
   defp prometheus_endpoint(nil), do: []
 
   defp prometheus_endpoint(port) do
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application/configuration.ex b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application/configuration.ex
index 36cbd45c64..17c92da17e 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application/configuration.ex
+++ b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/application/configuration.ex
@@ -19,19 +19,122 @@ defmodule Electric.Application.Configuration do
 
   @persistent_key __MODULE__
 
-  @spec save(t) :: t
-  def save(config) do
-    # Make sure the application configuration is only stored once.
+  # This function is called once in the application's start() callback. It reads configuration
+  # from the OTP application env, runs some pre-processing functions and stores the processed
+  # configuration as a single map using `:persistent_term`.
+  @spec load() :: t()
+  def load do
     try do
-      _ = :persistent_term.get(@persistent_key)
-      raise "Trying to overwrite previously stored application configuration"
+      # Make sure the application configuration is only stored once.
+      _config = :persistent_term.get(@persistent_key)
     rescue
       ArgumentError ->
-        :ok = :persistent_term.put(@persistent_key, config)
-        config
+        build() |> save()
     end
   end
 
-  @spec get :: t
+  defp build do
+    electric_instance_id = Application.get_env(:electric, :electric_instance_id, :default)
+
+    {storage_module, storage_in_opts} =
+      Application.get_env(:electric, :storage, default_storage(electric_instance_id))
+
+    storage_opts = storage_module.shared_opts(storage_in_opts)
+    storage = {storage_module, storage_opts}
+
+    {kv_module, kv_fun, kv_params} =
+      Application.get_env(:electric, :persistent_kv, default_persistent_kv())
+
+    persistent_kv = apply(kv_module, kv_fun, [kv_params])
+
+    replication_stream_id = Application.get_env(:electric, :replication_stream_id, "default")
+    publication_name = "electric_publication_#{replication_stream_id}"
+    slot_name = "electric_slot_#{replication_stream_id}"
+
+    get_pg_version_fn = fn ->
+      Electric.Connection.Manager.get_pg_version(Electric.Connection.Manager)
+    end
+
+    prepare_tables_mfa =
+      {Electric.Postgres.Configuration, :configure_tables_for_replication!,
+       [get_pg_version_fn, publication_name]}
+
+    inspector =
+      {Electric.Postgres.Inspector.EtsInspector, server: Electric.Postgres.Inspector.EtsInspector}
+
+    shape_cache_opts = [
+      electric_instance_id: electric_instance_id,
+      storage: storage,
+      inspector: inspector,
+      prepare_tables_fn: prepare_tables_mfa,
+      chunk_bytes_threshold:
+        Application.get_env(
+          :electric,
+          :chunk_bytes_threshold,
+          Electric.ShapeCache.LogChunker.default_chunk_size_threshold()
+        ),
+      log_producer: Electric.Replication.ShapeLogCollector.name(electric_instance_id),
+      consumer_supervisor: Electric.Shapes.ConsumerSupervisor.name(electric_instance_id),
+      registry: Registry.ShapeChanges
+    ]
+
+    %Electric.Application.Configuration{
+      electric_instance_id: electric_instance_id,
+      storage: storage,
+      persistent_kv: persistent_kv,
+      connection_opts: connection_opts(),
+      replication_opts: %{
+        stream_id: replication_stream_id,
+        publication_name: publication_name,
+        slot_name: slot_name
+      },
+      pool_opts: %{
+        size: Application.get_env(:electric, :db_pool_size, 20)
+      },
+      inspector: inspector,
+      shape_cache_opts: shape_cache_opts
+    }
+  end
+
+  defp connection_opts do
+    if connection_opts = Application.get_env(:electric, :connection_opts, nil) do
+      connection_opts
+    else
+      database_url = Dotenvy.env!("DATABASE_URL", :string)
+
+      case Electric.ConfigParser.parse_postgresql_uri(database_url) |> dbg do
+        {:ok, database_url_config} ->
+          database_ipv6_config =
+            Dotenvy.env!("DATABASE_USE_IPV6", :boolean, false)
+
+          database_url_config ++ [ipv6: database_ipv6_config]
+
+        {:error, reason} ->
+          raise RuntimeError, message: "Invalid DATABASE_URL: #{reason}"
+      end
+    end
+    |> Electric.Utils.obfuscate_password()
+  end
+
+  defp default_persistent_kv do
+    {Electric.PersistentKV.Filesystem, :new!, root: storage_dir("state")}
+  end
+
+  defp default_storage(instance_id) do
+    {Electric.ShapeCache.FileStorage,
+     storage_dir: storage_dir("shapes"), electric_instance_id: instance_id}
+  end
+
+  defp storage_dir(sub_dir) do
+    Path.join("./persistent", sub_dir)
+  end
+
+  @spec save(t()) :: t()
+  defp save(config) do
+    :ok = :persistent_term.put(@persistent_key, config)
+    config
+  end
+
+  @spec get() :: t()
   def get, do: :persistent_term.get(@persistent_key)
 end
diff --git a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/telemetry.ex b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/telemetry.ex
index 36068fbb62..543f430cf5 100644
--- a/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/telemetry.ex
+++ b/packages/sync-service/lib/electric/telemetry.ex
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 defmodule Electric.Telemetry do
   use Supervisor
+
   import Telemetry.Metrics
 
   def start_link(init_arg) do
@@ -12,8 +13,8 @@ defmodule Electric.Telemetry do
     ]
 
     children
-    |> add_statsd_reporter(Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :telemetry_statsd_host))
-    |> add_prometheus_reporter(Application.fetch_env!(:electric, :prometheus_port))
+    |> add_statsd_reporter(Application.get_env(:electric, :telemetry_statsd_host, nil))
+    |> add_prometheus_reporter(Application.get_env(:electric, :prometheus_port, nil))
     |> Supervisor.init(strategy: :one_for_one)
   end