environment-variables.md

Environment variables

Every variable da reads, and what it overrides.

Credentials and paths

These take precedence over config.json but are overridden by an explicit command-line flag. See configuration for the full precedence rules.

Variable	Overrides	Example
DA_CLIENT_ID	client_id	12345
DA_CLIENT_SECRET	client_secret	your app's secret
DA_DESTINATION	destination	~/Pictures/DA
DA_REDIRECT_URI	redirect_uri	https://localhost:8765/
DA_JITTER	jitter	0.4 (±40% on every sleep)

Setting credentials in the environment is the right choice for CI and for containers. On a personal machine prefer da config set, which stores the secret in the macOS Keychain rather than in a shell history or a process listing.

Output

Variable	Effect
NO_COLOR	Set to any value to disable coloured output, per no-color.org. Consulted only in the default --color auto mode; an explicit --color always wins, which is what makes it possible to force colour into a pipe.

Colour is also disabled automatically when output is not a terminal, so piping to a file or a log needs no configuration.

File locations

da follows the XDG Base Directory specification.

Variable	Default	What moves
XDG_CONFIG_HOME	~/.config	da-cli/config.json
XDG_STATE_HOME	~/.local/state	da-cli/state.json, index.db, the loopback TLS cert

Pointing both at a temporary directory is the supported way to run da without touching your real configuration:

tmp=$(mktemp -d)
XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$tmp/cfg" XDG_STATE_HOME="$tmp/state" da diagnose

Scheduling

Read by install_schedule.sh when it writes the launchd job, not by da itself. Change one and re-run the installer to apply it.

Variable	Default	Meaning
DA_HOUR	3	Hour of day to run (0–23).
DA_MINUTE	0	Minute of the hour (0–59).
DA_INTERVAL_SECONDS	(unset)	Run every N seconds instead of at a fixed time. Mutually exclusive with DA_HOUR/DA_MINUTE.
DA_TIME_BUDGET	1200	Seconds the scheduled sync may run before stopping cleanly.

DA_JITTER used to be listed here. It is not scheduling-only: the installer writes it into the launchd job, and da reads it directly as a config override like DA_CLIENT_ID and friends. It is listed under credentials and paths above for that reason.

Variable	Default	Meaning
DA_JITTER	0.0 off; the installer writes 0.4	Randomise each sleep by ±N, so the request pattern is not perfectly regular. Read by both install_schedule.sh and da.

Testing only

Variable	Effect
DA_REFRESH_TOKEN	Supplies a refresh token to the live test suite instead of reading state.json.
DA_SCOPE	OAuth scope the live tests expect (default browse).
VCR_RECORD	Set to 1 to re-record HTTP cassettes instead of replaying them.

See the testing guide.