Environment variables

Cache and configuration locations

Since version 8.0.0, astropy follows the XDG specification by default, on every platform (including non-Linux ones). As a result, the default cache location is $XDG_CACHE_HOME/astropy, where XDG_CACHE_HOME itself defaults to $HOME/.cache. The same goes for configuration, replacing cache with config, and preserving case.

In addition to these, and since v8.0.0, astropy supports comparable, tool-specific environment variables for finer control:

ASTROPY_CACHE_DIR

takes precedence over XDG_CACHE_HOME and defines an entire path (as opposed to XDG_CACHE_HOME which only defines the parent directory of the one used by astropy). Its value must represent an absolute path, and must not point to file. Invalid values are ignored with a warning when the variable is evaluated. See Downloadable Data Management (astropy.utils.data) for how to programmatically set or get the location of the corresponding directory at runtime.

ASTROPY_CONFIG_DIR

takes precedence over XDG_CONFIG_HOME and defines an entire path (as opposed to XDG_CONFIG_HOME which only defines the parent directory of the one used by astropy). Its value must represent an absolute path, and must not point to file. Invalid values are ignored with a warning when the variable is evaluated. See Configuration System (astropy.config) for how to programmatically set or get the location of the corresponding directory at runtime.