Defines variables that conform to the XDG Base Directory Specification that can be used in emacs for configuration.
This makes it convenient to configure various settings to use the XDG standard directories to avoid polluting the user's home directory.
Examples:
;; specify where MELPA/ELPA package installations go in XDG style config dir
(setq package-user-dir (expand-file-name "elpa" xdg-cache-emacs))
;; Prevent undo tree files from polluting the filesystem (use XDG_STATE_HOME)
(setq undo-tree-history-directory-alist
'(("." . (expand-file-name "undo" xdg-state-emacs))))This should be included very early in init.el or early-init.el so that later
configuration can use this:
(use-package xdg :ensure t)The following XDG globals are defined:
| emacs var | ENV var | Default (per spec) | Default (MacOS) | Default (Windows) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xdg-cache-home | XDG_CACHE_HOME |
~/.cache/ | ||
| xdg-config-home | XDG_CONFIG_HOME |
~/.config/ | ||
| xdg-data-home | XDG_DATA_HOME |
~/.local/share/ | ||
| xdg-state-home | XDG_STATE_HOME |
~/.local/state/ | ||
| xdg-desktop-dir | XDG_DESKTOP_DIR |
~/Desktop | ||
| xdg-download-dir | XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR |
~/Downloads |
Plus additional emacs specific subdir:
| emacs var | Notes |
|---|---|
| xdg-cache-emacs | 'emacs' dir under xdg-cache-home |
| xdg-config-emacs | 'emacs' dir under xdg-config-home |
| xdg-data-emacs | 'emacs' dir under xdg-data-home |
| xdg-state-emacs | 'emacs' dir under xdg-state-home |
NOTE: This only works for Linux and MacOS currently. Windows is not supported.