templates/website: DATABASE_URI in .env doesn't match DATABASE_URL in payload.config.ts

Describe the Bug

Describe the Bug

When creating a new project using the website template, the generated .env contains DATABASE_URI,
but payload.config.ts references process.env.DATABASE_URL.
This mismatch causes a connection error on the first pnpm run dev.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run pnpx create-payload-app@latest and select the website template
2. Set up .env based on .env.example with a valid postgres connection string as DATABASE_URI
3. Start a local Postgres instance
4. Run pnpm run dev

Expected Behavior

The app connects to Postgres successfully.

Actual Behavior

Error: cannot connect to Postgres: SASL: SCRAM-SERVER-FIRST-MESSAGE: client password must be a string

Root cause: .env.example uses DATABASE_URI but payload.config.ts reads process.env.DATABASE_URL.

Fix

Either update templates/website/payload.config.ts to use process.env.DATABASE_URI,
or update templates/website/.env.example to use DATABASE_URL.

Related

PR #11740 fixed the same issue for templates/with-postgres and templates/with-vercel-postgres,
but templates/website was not included in that fix.

Environment

• payload: 3.84.1
• OS: macOS

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/templates/website

Reproduction Steps

1. Run pnpx create-payload-app@latest and select the website template
2. Set up .env based on .env.example with a valid postgres connection string as DATABASE_URI
3. Start a local Postgres instance
4. Run pnpm run dev

Which area(s) are affected?

area: templates

Environment Info

Binaries:
  Node: 25.8.1
  npm: 11.11.0
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: 10.32.1
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.84.1
  next: 16.2.3
  @payloadcms/db-postgres: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/drizzle: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/live-preview-react: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-form-builder: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-nested-docs: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-redirects: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-search: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/plugin-seo: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.84.1
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.84.1
  react: 19.2.4
  react-dom: 19.2.4
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 25.4.0: Thu Mar 19 19:33:43 PDT 2026; root:xnu-12377.101.15~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8142
  Available memory (MB): 16384
  Available CPU cores: 10