Version: 0.1.0-alpha.2

Configuration Schema Reference

:::warning Alpha — Configuration Options May Change The configuration schema is still being refined. Options may be added, renamed, or removed between releases as we finalize the feature set. :::

Complete reference for the Invowk™ configuration file schema.

Overview

The configuration file uses CUE format and is located at:

Platform	Location
Linux	`~/.config/invowk/config.cue`
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/invowk/config.cue`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\invowk\config.cue`

Configuration files are validated as closed structs, so unknown fields cause a validation error.

Schema Definition

// Root configuration structure
#Config: {
    container_engine?: "podman" | "docker"
    includes?:         [...#IncludeEntry]
    default_runtime?:  "native" | "virtual" | "container"
    virtual_shell?:    #VirtualShellConfig
    ui?:               #UIConfig
    container?:        #ContainerConfig
}

// Include entry for invkfiles and modules
#IncludeEntry: {
    path:   string  // Must end with .invkmod, /invkfile.cue, or /invkfile
    alias?: string  // Optional, only valid for .invkmod paths
}

// Virtual shell configuration
#VirtualShellConfig: {
    enable_uroot_utils?: bool
}

// UI configuration
#UIConfig: {
    color_scheme?: "auto" | "dark" | "light"
    verbose?:      bool
    interactive?:  bool
}

// Container configuration
#ContainerConfig: {
    auto_provision?: #AutoProvisionConfig
}

// Auto-provisioning configuration
#AutoProvisionConfig: {
    enabled?:     bool
    binary_path?: string
    modules_paths?: [...string]
    cache_dir?:   string
}

Config

The root configuration object.

#Config: {
    container_engine?: "podman" | "docker"
    includes?:         [...#IncludeEntry]
    default_runtime?:  "native" | "virtual" | "container"
    virtual_shell?:    #VirtualShellConfig
    ui?:               #UIConfig
    container?:        #ContainerConfig
}

container_engine

Type: "podman" | "docker"
Required: No
Default: "podman"

Specifies which container runtime to use for container-based command execution.

container_engine: "podman"

If the preferred engine is not available, Invowk falls back to the other engine when container runtime is needed.

search_paths

Type: [...string]
Required: No
Default: []

Additional directories to search for invkfiles and modules.

search_paths: [
    "~/.invowk/cmds",
    "~/projects/shared-commands",
    "/opt/company/invowk-commands",
]

Path resolution:

Paths starting with ~ are expanded to the user's home directory
Relative paths are resolved from the current working directory
Non-existent paths are silently ignored

Search priority (highest to lowest):

Current directory
Paths in search_paths (in order)
~/.invowk/cmds

default_runtime

Type: "native" | "virtual" | "container"
Required: No
Default: "native"

Sets the global default runtime mode for commands that don't specify a preferred runtime.

default_runtime: "virtual"

Value	Description
`"native"`	Execute using the system's native shell
`"virtual"`	Execute using Invowk's built-in shell interpreter
`"container"`	Execute inside a container

virtual_shell

Type: #VirtualShellConfig
Required: No
Default: {}

Configuration for the virtual shell runtime.

virtual_shell: {
    enable_uroot_utils: true
}

ui

Type: #UIConfig
Required: No
Default: {}

User interface configuration.

ui: {
    color_scheme: "dark"
    verbose: false
    interactive: false
}

container

Type: #ContainerConfig
Required: No
Default: {}

Container runtime configuration.

container: {
    auto_provision: {
        enabled: true
    }
}

VirtualShellConfig

Configuration for the virtual shell runtime (mvdan/sh).

#VirtualShellConfig: {
    enable_uroot_utils?: bool
}

enable_uroot_utils

Type: bool
Required: No
Default: true

Enables u-root utilities in the virtual shell environment. When enabled, provides additional commands beyond basic shell builtins.

virtual_shell: {
    enable_uroot_utils: true
}

Available utilities when enabled:

File operations: ls, cat, cp, mv, rm, mkdir, chmod
Text processing: grep, sed, awk, sort, uniq
And many more core utilities

UIConfig

User interface configuration.

#UIConfig: {
    color_scheme?: "auto" | "dark" | "light"
    verbose?:      bool
    interactive?:  bool
}

color_scheme

Type: "auto" | "dark" | "light"
Required: No
Default: "auto"

Sets the color scheme for terminal output.

ui: {
    color_scheme: "auto"
}

Value	Description
`"auto"`	Detect from terminal (respects `COLORTERM`, `TERM`, etc.)
`"dark"`	Colors optimized for dark terminals
`"light"`	Colors optimized for light terminals

verbose

Type: bool
Required: No
Default: false

Enables verbose output by default for all commands.

ui: {
    verbose: true
}

Equivalent to always passing --verbose on the command line.

interactive

Type: bool
Required: No
Default: false

Enables interactive mode by default (alternate screen buffer with PTY).

ui: {
    interactive: true
}

ContainerConfig

Configuration for container runtime behavior.

#ContainerConfig: {
    auto_provision?: #AutoProvisionConfig
}

auto_provision

Type: #AutoProvisionConfig
Required: No
Default: {}

Controls automatic provisioning of invowk resources into containers.

container: {
    auto_provision: {
        enabled: true
        binary_path: "/usr/local/bin/invowk"
        modules_paths: ["/opt/company/invowk-modules"]
        cache_dir: "/tmp/invowk/provision"
    }
}

With auto-provisioning enabled, Invowk builds a cached, derived image by attaching a small provisioned layer on top of your base image. This runs for every container execution (interactive or not); if provisioning fails, Invowk warns and uses the base image.

AutoProvisionConfig

Auto-provisioning configuration for container images.

#AutoProvisionConfig: {
    enabled?:     bool
    binary_path?: string
    modules_paths?: [...string]
    cache_dir?:   string
}

enabled

Type: bool
Required: No
Default: true

Enables auto-provisioning of the invowk binary and modules into containers.

binary_path

Type: string
Required: No
Default: (empty; uses the running invowk binary)

Overrides the path to the invowk binary to provision.

modules_paths

Type: [...string] Required: No Default: []

Additional module directories to provision into containers.

cache_dir

Type: string
Required: No
Default: ~/.cache/invowk/provision

Overrides the cache directory for provisioned image metadata.

Complete Example

A fully documented configuration file:

// Invowk Configuration File
// =========================
// Location: ~/.config/invowk/config.cue

// Container Engine
// ----------------
// Which container runtime to use: "podman" or "docker"
container_engine: "podman"

// Includes
// --------
// Additional invkfiles and modules to include in discovery.
// Each entry specifies a path to an invkfile.cue, invkfile, or *.invkmod.
// Modules may have an optional alias for collision disambiguation.
includes: [
    // Personal commands
    {path: "~/.invowk/cmds/invkfile.cue"},

    // Team shared module (with alias)
    {path: "~/work/shared.invkmod", alias: "team"},

    // Organization-wide module
    {path: "/opt/company/tools.invkmod"},
]

// Default Runtime
// ---------------
// The runtime to use when a command doesn't specify one
// Options: "native", "virtual", "container"
default_runtime: "native"

// Virtual Shell Configuration
// ---------------------------
// Settings for the virtual shell runtime (mvdan/sh)
virtual_shell: {
    // Enable u-root utilities for more shell commands
    // Provides ls, cat, grep, etc. in the virtual environment
    enable_uroot_utils: true
}

// UI Configuration
// ----------------
// User interface settings
ui: {
    // Color scheme: "auto", "dark", or "light"
    // "auto" detects from terminal settings
    color_scheme: "auto"
    
    // Enable verbose output by default
    // Same as always passing --invk-verbose
    verbose: false

    // Enable interactive mode by default
    interactive: false
}

// Container provisioning
// ----------------------
container: {
    auto_provision: {
        enabled: true
    }
}

Minimal Configuration

If you're happy with defaults, a minimal config might be:

// Just override what you need
container_engine: "docker"

Or even an empty file (all defaults):

// Empty config - use all defaults

Validation

You can validate your configuration file using CUE:

cue vet ~/.config/invowk/config.cue

Or check it with Invowk:

invowk config show

If there are any errors, Invowk will report them when loading the configuration.

Overview​

Schema Definition​

Config​

container_engine​

search_paths​

default_runtime​

virtual_shell​

ui​

container​

VirtualShellConfig​

enable_uroot_utils​

UIConfig​

color_scheme​

verbose​

interactive​

ContainerConfig​

auto_provision​

AutoProvisionConfig​

enabled​

binary_path​

modules_paths​

cache_dir​

Complete Example​

Minimal Configuration​

Validation​