CLI Config

Analyzer config file

The CLI reads an optional JSON config file named config.json to customize analysis. The format is documented in Configurations.

Location resolution

The config directory is resolved in this priority order:

1. If $SKILL_LAB_CONFIG_DIR is set, source from $SKILL_LAB_CONFIG_DIR/config.json

2. If $XDG_CONFIG_DIR is set, source from $XDG_CONFIG_DIR/skill-lab/config.json.

3. Otherwise, slab will try to fetch config.json from

   • Linux / macOS: ~/.config/skill-lab
   • Windows: %APPDATA%\skill-lab (or %LOCALAPPDATA%\skill-lab)

4. If no config files found, use default config.

For how to write configuration files, please refere to configuration guide

Grammar cache

Skill Lab downloads tree-sitter grammar .wasm files on first use and caches them locally. The cache location follows the XDG Base Directory Specification.

Cache directory resolution

The cache directory is resolved in this priority order:

1. $SKILL_LAB_CACHE_DIR — explicit override; use any path you like.

2. $XDG_CACHE_HOME/skill-lab — if $XDG_CACHE_HOME is set.

3. Platform default:

   • Linux / macOS: ~/.cache/skill-lab
   • Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\skill-lab\Cache

Grammar files are stored under <cache-dir>/treesitter/grammars/, for example:

~/.cache/skill-lab/treesitter/grammars/bash.wasm
~/.cache/skill-lab/treesitter/grammars/typescript.wasm

Environment variables

Variable	Description
SKILL_LAB_CACHE_DIR	Override the cache directory entirely. Takes precedence over XDG and platform defaults.
XDG_CACHE_HOME	Standard XDG cache base directory. If set, Skill Lab uses $XDG_CACHE_HOME/skill-lab.

Example: custom cache location

export SKILL_LAB_CACHE_DIR=/mnt/fast-disk/skill-lab-cache
slab analyze .

Clearing the cache

To force a re-download of all grammar files, delete the grammars/ subdirectory:

rm -rf ~/.cache/skill-lab/grammars

The next slab invocation will re-download all required grammars.