README.md

Go implementation of the XDG Base Directory Specification and XDG user directories.

Provides an implementation of the XDG Base Directory Specification. The specification defines a set of standard paths for storing application files, including data and configuration files. For portability and flexibility reasons, applications should use the XDG defined locations instead of hardcoding paths.

The package also includes the locations of well known user directories, support for the non-standard XDG_BIN_HOME directory, as well as other common directories such as fonts and applications.

The current implementation supports most flavors of Unix, Windows, macOS and Plan 9.
On Windows, where XDG environment variables are not usually set, the package uses Known Folders as defaults. Therefore, appropriate locations are used for common folders which may have been redirected.

See usage examples below. Full documentation can be found at https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/adrg/xdg.

Installation

go get github.com/adrg/xdg

Default locations

The package defines sensible defaults for XDG variables which are empty or not present in the environment.

• On Unix-like operating systems, XDG environment variables are typically defined. Appropriate default locations are used for the environment variables which are not set.
• On Windows, XDG environment variables are usually not set. If that is the case, the package relies on the appropriate Known Folders. Sensible fallback locations are used for the folders which are not set.

XDG Base Directory

Unix-like operating systems

	Unix	macOS	Plan 9
XDG_DATA_HOME	~/.local/share	~/Library/Application Support	$home/lib
XDG_DATA_DIRS	/usr/local/share /usr/share	/Library/Application Support~/.local/share	/lib
XDG_CONFIG_HOME	~/.config	~/Library/Application Support	$home/lib
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS	/etc/xdg	~/Library/Preferences /Library/Application Support /Library/Preferences ~/.config	/lib
XDG_STATE_HOME	~/.local/state	~/Library/Application Support	$home/lib/state
XDG_CACHE_HOME	~/.cache	~/Library/Caches	$home/lib/cache
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR	/run/user/$UID	~/Library/Application Support	/tmp
XDG_BIN_HOME	~/.local/bin	~/.local/bin	$home/bin

Microsoft Windows

	Known Folder(s)	Fallback(s)
XDG_DATA_HOME	LocalAppData	%LOCALAPPDATA%
XDG_DATA_DIRS	RoamingAppData ProgramData	%APPADATA% %ProgramData%
XDG_CONFIG_HOME	LocalAppData	%LOCALAPPDATA%
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS	ProgramData RoamingAppData	%ProgramData% %APPDATA%
XDG_STATE_HOME	LocalAppData	%LOCALAPPDATA%
XDG_CACHE_HOME	LocalAppData\cache	%LOCALAPPDATA%\cache
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR	LocalAppData	%LOCALAPPDATA%
XDG_BIN_HOME	UserProgramFiles	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs

XDG user directories

XDG user directories environment variables are usually not set on most operating systems. However, if they are present in the environment, they take precedence. Appropriate fallback locations are used for the environment variables which are not set.

• On Unix-like operating systems (except macOS and Plan 9), the package reads the user-dirs.dirs config file.
• On Windows, the package uses the appropriate Known Folders.

Lastly, default locations are used for any user directories which are not set, as shown in the following tables.

Unix-like operating systems

	Unix	macOS	Plan 9
XDG_DESKTOP_DIR	~/Desktop	~/Desktop	$home/desktop
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR	~/Downloads	~/Downloads	$home/downloads
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR	~/Documents	~/Documents	$home/documents
XDG_MUSIC_DIR	~/Music	~/Music	$home/music
XDG_PICTURES_DIR	~/Pictures	~/Pictures	$home/pictures
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR	~/Videos	~/Movies	$home/videos
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR	~/Templates	~/Templates	$home/templates
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR	~/Public	~/Public	$home/public

Microsoft Windows

	Known Folder(s)	Fallback(s)
XDG_DESKTOP_DIR	Desktop	%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR	Downloads	%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR	Documents	%USERPROFILE%\Documents
XDG_MUSIC_DIR	Music	%USERPROFILE%\Music
XDG_PICTURES_DIR	Pictures	%USERPROFILE%\Pictures
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR	Videos	%USERPROFILE%\Videos
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR	Templates	%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR	Public	%PUBLIC%

Other directories

Unix-like operating systems

	Unix	macOS	Plan 9
Home	$HOME	$HOME	$home
Applications	$XDG_DATA_HOME/applications ~/.local/share/applications /usr/local/share/applications /usr/share/applications $XDG_DATA_DIRS/applications	/Applications	$home/bin /bin
Fonts	$XDG_DATA_HOME/fonts ~/.fonts ~/.local/share/fonts /usr/local/share/fonts /usr/share/fonts $XDG_DATA_DIRS/fonts	~/Library/Fonts /Library/Fonts /System/Library/Fonts /Network/Library/Fonts	$home/lib/font /lib/font

Microsoft Windows

	Known Folder(s)	Fallback(s)
Home	Profile	%USERPROFILE%
Applications	Programs CommonPrograms ProgramFiles ProgramFilesCommon UserProgramFiles UserProgramFilesCommon	%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs %ProgramFiles% %ProgramFiles%\Common Files %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Common
Fonts	Fonts	%SystemRoot%\Fonts %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts

Usage

XDG Base Directory

package main

import (
	"log"

	"github.com/adrg/xdg"
)

func main() {
	// XDG Base Directory paths.
	log.Println("Home data directory:", xdg.DataHome)
	log.Println("Data directories:", xdg.DataDirs)
	log.Println("Home config directory:", xdg.ConfigHome)
	log.Println("Config directories:", xdg.ConfigDirs)
	log.Println("Home state directory:", xdg.StateHome)
	log.Println("Cache directory:", xdg.CacheHome)
	log.Println("Runtime directory:", xdg.RuntimeDir)
	log.Println("Home binaries directory:", xdg.BinHome)

	// Other common directories.
	log.Println("Home directory:", xdg.Home)
	log.Println("Application directories:", xdg.ApplicationDirs)
	log.Println("Font directories:", xdg.FontDirs)

	// Obtain a suitable location for application config files.
	// ConfigFile takes one parameter which must contain the name of the file,
	// but it can also contain a set of parent directories. If the directories
	// don't exist, they will be created relative to the base config directory.
	// It is recommended for files to be saved inside an application directory
	// relative to the base directory rather than directly inside the base
	// directory (e.g. `appname/config.yaml` instead of `appname-config.yaml`).
	configFilePath, err := xdg.ConfigFile("appname/config.yaml")
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	log.Println("Save the config file at:", configFilePath)

	// For other types of application files use:
	// xdg.DataFile()
	// xdg.StateFile()
	// xdg.CacheFile()
	// xdg.RuntimeFile()

	// Finding application config files.
	// SearchConfigFile takes one parameter which must contain the name of
	// the file, but it can also contain a set of parent directories relative
	// to the config search paths (xdg.ConfigHome and xdg.ConfigDirs).
	configFilePath, err = xdg.SearchConfigFile("appname/config.yaml")
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal(err)
	}
	log.Println("Config file was found at:", configFilePath)

	// For other types of application files use:
	// xdg.SearchDataFile()
	// xdg.SearchStateFile()
	// xdg.SearchCacheFile()
	// xdg.SearchRuntimeFile()
}

XDG user directories

package main

import (
	"log"

	"github.com/adrg/xdg"
)

func main() {
	// XDG user directories.
	log.Println("Desktop directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Desktop)
	log.Println("Download directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Download)
	log.Println("Documents directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Documents)
	log.Println("Music directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Music)
	log.Println("Pictures directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Pictures)
	log.Println("Videos directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Videos)
	log.Println("Templates directory:", xdg.UserDirs.Templates)
	log.Println("Public directory:", xdg.UserDirs.PublicShare)
}

Stargazers over time

Contributing

Contributions in the form of pull requests, issues or just general feedback, are always welcome.
See CONTRIBUTING.MD.

Contributors: adrg, wichert, bouncepaw, gabriel-vasile, KalleDK, nvkv, djdv, rrjjvv, GreyXor, Rican7, nothub.

References

For more information see:

• XDG Base Directory Specification
• XDG user directories
• Windows Known Folders

License

Copyright (c) 2014 Adrian-George Bostan.

This project is licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE for more details.