Configure the CLI

By default, glab follows the XDG Base Directory Spec, which means it searches for configuration files in multiple locations with proper precedence.

Configuration levels

Configure glab at different levels: system-wide, globally (per-user), locally (per-repository), or per host:

• System-wide (for all users): Place configuration at /etc/xdg/glab-cli/config.yml (or $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/glab-cli/config.yml).
  • Use this level for Linux distributions and system administrators to provide default configurations.
  • User configurations override system-wide settings.
• Globally (per-user): run glab config set --global editor vim.
  • The global configuration file is available at ~/.config/glab-cli/config.yml (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/glab-cli/config.yml).
  • To override this location, set the GLAB_CONFIG_DIR environment variable.
• The current repository: run glab config set editor vim in any folder in a Git repository.
  • The local configuration file is available at .git/glab-cli/config.yml in the current working Git directory.
• Per host: run glab config set editor vim --host gitlab.example.org, changing the --host parameter to meet your needs.
  • Per-host configuration information is always stored in the global configuration file, with or without the global flag.

Configuration search order

When glab looks for configuration files, it searches in this order (highest priority first):

1. $GLAB_CONFIG_DIR/config.yml (if GLAB_CONFIG_DIR is set)
2. ~/.config/glab-cli/config.yml (legacy location, for backward compatibility)
3. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/glab-cli/config.yml (platform-specific XDG_CONFIG_HOME location)
4. $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/glab-cli/config.yml (system-wide configuration files, default: /etc/xdg/glab-cli/config.yml)

The first configuration file found is used.

Configuration file locations

For backward compatibility, glab checks ~/.config/glab-cli/config.yml first on all platforms. If no legacy configuration file exists, glab uses these platform-specific XDG_CONFIG_HOME locations:

• Linux: ~/.config/glab-cli/config.yml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/glab-cli/config.yml
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\glab-cli\config.yml