Automatic Config File Search#

By default, all file-based sources automatically search for config files in standard system locations. This feature is enabled by default and works across all platforms.

Search Order#

When you specify a config file, dature searches in the following order:

1. Specified path - The path you provide (relative to current working directory or absolute)
2. User config directories (platform-specific):
3. Linux: ~/.config/
4. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/, ~/.config/
5. Windows: %APPDATA%/
6. System config directories (Linux/macOS only):
7. /etc/
8. /etc/xdg/

Examples#

--8<-- examples/docs/advanced/config_search/default.py

--8<-- examples/docs/advanced/config_search/custom_dirs.py

--8<-- examples/docs/advanced/config_search/disable_global.py

--8<-- examples/docs/advanced/config_search/disable_local.py

Configuration#

For global and per-source configuration options, see Configure.

Environment Variables#

The following environment variables affect search paths:

• XDG_CONFIG_HOME - Overrides ~/.config/ on Linux/macOS
• XDG_CONFIG_DIRS - Overrides /etc/xdg/ on Linux
• APPDATA - Used for Windows user config directory