observal config

Manage local CLI configuration. Configuration lives in ~/.observal/config.json; aliases live in ~/.observal/aliases.json. Both files are written atomically with mode 0600.

Commands

Command	Description
observal config show	Show effective configuration without exposing credentials
observal config set	Set a validated user-managed value
observal config path	Print the configuration file path
observal config alias	Set or remove a local reference alias
observal config aliases	List local aliases

Every command supports explicit table and JSON output. Human-readable table output is the default. config path preserves a bare path in table mode for shell composition.

Show configuration

observal config show
observal config show --output json

Token values and fragments are never displayed. Output reports only whether access, refresh, or harness-hook credentials are configured. Environment overrides are included because the command shows effective configuration.

Set configuration

observal config set server_url https://observal.example.com
observal config set timeout 60 --output json
observal config set update_check false
observal config set update_check_interval 86400
observal config set update_check_repo Observal/Observal

Only these user-managed keys are accepted:

Key	Accepted value
server_url	HTTP or HTTPS URL without embedded credentials
timeout	Positive integer seconds
update_check	true, false, yes, no, on, off, 1, or 0
update_check_interval	Integer seconds, minimum 60
update_check_repo	owner/repository or an empty string

Authentication and identity fields are managed by observal auth and cannot be set here. The removed output and color settings had no runtime consumers. Select JSON explicitly for each command.

JSON output distinguishes the persisted value from the effective value, which may be overridden by an environment variable.

Configuration path

observal config path
observal config path --output json

Table mode prints only the absolute path. JSON includes the path and whether the file currently exists.

Set or remove an alias

observal config alias reviewer alice/reviewer
observal config alias reviewer alice/reviewer --output json
observal config alias reviewer

Alias names must start with a letter and may contain letters, numbers, dots, underscores, and hyphens, up to 64 characters. Targets may be UUIDs, canonical namespace/slug identities, names, or other references accepted by the destination command.

Omitting the target removes the alias. Removing an already absent alias is an idempotent success with changed set to false in JSON.

List aliases

observal config aliases
observal config aliases --output json

JSON returns an items array and total. Empty output preserves the same shape.

Environment overrides

Environment values take precedence over persisted values for the current invocation. config set changes the file but does not replace an active environment override.

See Environment variables for supported overrides.

Related

• Config files: local file schemas and permissions
• observal auth: authentication-managed values