content/code-security/codeql-cli/using-the-advanced-functionality-of-the-codeql-cli/specifying-command-options-in-a-codeql-configuration-file.md

metadata

title: Specifying command options in a CodeQL configuration file
intro: >-
  You can save default command options in a {% data
  variables.product.prodname_codeql %} configuration file.
product: '{% data reusables.gated-features.codeql %}'
versions:
  fpt: '*'
  ghes: '*'
  ghec: '*'
topics:
  - Code Security
  - Code scanning
  - CodeQL
redirect_from:
  - >-
    /code-security/codeql-cli/specifying-command-options-in-a-codeql-configuration-file
  - >-
    /code-security/codeql-cli/using-the-codeql-cli/specifying-command-options-in-a-codeql-configuration-file

About specifying command options in a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} configuration file

You can save default or frequently used options for your commands in a per-user configuration file.

You can specify {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql_cli %} command options in two ways:

• Directly in the command line, using the appropriate flag.
• In a configuration (or config) file that {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} scans for relevant options each time a command is executed.

For options that are likely to change each time you execute a command, specifying the value on the command line is the most convenient way of passing the information to {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %}. Saving options in a config file is a good way to specify options you use frequently. It’s also a good way to add custom {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs that you use regularly to your search path.

Using a {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} configuration file

You need to save the config file under your home (Linux and macOS) or user profile (Windows) directory in the .config/codeql/ subdirectory. For example, $HOME/.config/codeql/config.

The syntax for specifying options is as follows:

<command> <subcommand> <option> <value>

To apply the same options to more than one command you can:

• Omit the <subcommand>, which will specify the option for every <subcommand> to which it’s relevant.
• Omit both <command> and <subcommand>, which will globally specify the option for every <command> and <subcommand> to which it’s relevant.

• config files only accept spaces between option flags and values—{% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} will throw an error if you use = to specify an option value.
• If you specify an option in the command line, this overrides the config value defined for that option.
• If you want to specify more than one option for a <command>, <subcommand> or globally, use one line per option.

Examples

• To output all analysis results generated by codeql database analyze as CSV format, you would specify:

  database analyze --format csv
  

  Here, you have to specify the command and subcommand to prevent any of the low-level commands that are executed during database analyze being passed the same --format option.

• To define the RAM (4096 MB) and number of threads (4) to use when running {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} commands, specify the following, on separate lines:

  --ram 4096
  --threads 4
  

• To globally specify a directory for {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} to scan for {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} packs (which is not a sibling of the installation directory), use:

  --search-path <path-to-directory>