RFD 035: Multi-Root Config Load Path Resolution

• Status: Implemented
• Category: Design
• Authors: Jean Mertz git@jeanmertz.com
• Date: 2026-03-08

Summary

This RFD extends --cfg path resolution to search across all three config roots (user-global, workspace, user-workspace), merging matches in precedence order. Currently, --cfg paths are resolved exclusively against the workspace root, meaning user-global and user-workspace config files are unreachable.

Motivation

JP loads config.toml from three locations, in precedence order:

1. User-global: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/config.toml — private to the user, shared across all workspaces.
2. Workspace: <workspace_root>/.jp/config.toml — shared with the team via version control.
3. User-workspace: $XDG_DATA_HOME/jp/workspace/<id>/config.toml — private to the user, scoped to a single workspace.

This layering lets teams define shared defaults while individual users override them privately. The --cfg flag extends this by loading named config fragments (like skill/web or personas/dev) from directories listed in config_load_paths.

The problem: --cfg resolution only searches config_load_paths relative to the workspace root. A user who places skill/web.toml in their user-global config directory gets an error — the file is never found. There is no way to define personal --cfg-loadable config fragments that apply across all workspaces, or personal fragments scoped to a single workspace.

This breaks the layering model. A user who wants a personal skill/web override must either modify the workspace config (polluting the shared config), or pass the full path every time (--cfg $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/...).

Design

Current behavior

load_cli_cfg_args in crates/jp_cli/src/lib.rs handles --cfg path arguments. When the argument is not an existing file and not a key-value pair, it iterates config_load_paths, resolving each entry against workspace.root():

let config_load_paths = workspace.iter().flat_map(|w| {
    partial.config_load_paths.iter().flatten().filter_map(|p| {
        Utf8PathBuf::try_from(p.to_path(w.root()))
        // ...
    })
});

It then calls find_file_in_load_path for each resolved path and stops at the first match (break). Only the workspace root is ever searched.

Proposed behavior

Resolve config_load_paths against three roots instead of one, searching each in precedence order (lowest to highest). If a match is found in multiple roots, all matches are loaded and merged, with later roots taking precedence.

The three roots, and how config_load_paths entries are resolved against them:

Precedence	Source	Resolution root
1 (lowest)	User-global	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/config/
2	Workspace	<workspace_root>/
3 (highest)	User-workspace	$XDG_DATA_HOME/jp/workspace/<id>/config/

The user-global and user-workspace roots use a config/ subdirectory as the resolution base. This prevents config_load_paths entries from polluting the top-level directory structure of those locations, which contain non-config entries (workspace/, storage symlink, conversations/, etc.).

The workspace root does not need this sandboxing — config_load_paths entries like .jp/config are already scoped by convention.

Example

Given config_load_paths = [".jp/config"] and --cfg skill/web, the search order is:

1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/config/.jp/config/skill/web.toml
2. <workspace_root>/.jp/config/skill/web.toml
3. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/workspace/<id>/config/.jp/config/skill/web.toml

If files exist at positions 1 and 2, both are loaded. The workspace file (2) is merged on top of the user-global file (1). If only one exists, it is loaded as-is.

Merge behavior

Within a single root, the existing first-match-wins behavior is preserved — if config_load_paths contains multiple entries, only the first entry that produces a match is used. Across roots, all matches are merged in precedence order using the existing load_partial merge function.

Code changes

The change is localized to the KeyValueOrPath::Path branch in load_cli_cfg_args (crates/jp_cli/src/lib.rs). The function already receives workspace: Option<&Workspace>, which provides access to both root() and user_storage_path(). The user-global path is available via user_global_config_dir().

Sketch:

KeyValueOrPath::Path(path) => {
    let home = std::env::home_dir()
        .and_then(|p| Utf8PathBuf::from_path_buf(p).ok());

    // Build search roots in precedence order (lowest first).
    let mut roots: Vec<Utf8PathBuf> = Vec::new();

    if let Some(global_dir) = user_global_config_dir(home.as_deref()) {
        roots.push(global_dir.join("config"));
    }
    if let Some(w) = workspace {
        roots.push(w.root().to_owned());
    }
    if let Some(user_ws_dir) = workspace.and_then(Workspace::user_storage_path) {
        roots.push(user_ws_dir.join("config"));
    }

    let mut matches: Vec<PartialAppConfig> = Vec::new();

    for root in &roots {
        for load_rel in partial.config_load_paths.iter().flatten() {
            let Ok(load_path) = Utf8PathBuf::try_from(load_rel.to_path(root))
            else {
                continue;
            };
            if let Some(file) = find_file_in_load_path(path, &load_path) {
                if let Some(p) = load_partial_at_path(file)? {
                    matches.push(p);
                }
                break; // first match within this root
            }
        }
    }

    if matches.is_empty() {
        return Err(Error::MissingConfigFile(path.clone()));
    }

    for p in matches {
        partial = load_partial(partial, p)?;
    }
}

Drawbacks

• The resolved paths for user-global and user-workspace are deep (e.g. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/config/.jp/config/skill/web.toml). The .jp/config nesting inside config/ looks redundant, but it is a direct consequence of treating config_load_paths entries uniformly across all roots. Avoiding this would require per-root load path configuration, which adds complexity for marginal benefit.

• The config/ subdirectory convention for user-global and user-workspace roots is implicit — it is not configurable by the user. This is a deliberate trade-off to keep the design simple.

Alternatives

Resolve config_load_paths directly against all roots (no config/ subdir)

Resolve .jp/config against $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/ directly, producing $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/.jp/config/skill/web.toml.

Rejected because it allows config_load_paths entries to conflict with existing directory structure in those roots (e.g. a load path of workspace would clash with $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/jp/workspace/).

Hardcode config/ as the search subdir for non-workspace roots

Rather than resolving config_load_paths against the non-workspace roots, just search <root>/config/<cfg_path> directly (ignoring config_load_paths).

Rejected because it breaks the uniformity of the search — the same --cfg argument would use different resolution logic depending on the root. It also means config_load_paths has no effect on non-workspace roots, which is surprising.

Non-Goals

• Changes to config.toml loading order. The existing load_partial_configs_from_files function already loads config.toml from all three roots correctly. This RFD only extends --cfg path resolution to match that same multi-root behavior.

• Multi-root resolution for extends. The extends field is not affected by this change. Unlike config_load_paths, which is a runtime lookup mechanism where the merged list is searched at CLI invocation time, extends is resolved per-file during config loading. Each config.toml resolves its extends paths relative to its own parent directory, and the merge strategy (schematic::merge::preserve) ensures the first-loaded value wins rather than accumulating across sources. This means each config root already controls its own extensions independently — the user-global config.toml can extend files next to it, the workspace config.toml can extend files next to it, and so on. There is no cross-root resolution problem to solve.

• New CLI flags or config schema changes. The config_load_paths field and --cfg flag work as before. The only change is where the paths are searched.

Risks and Open Questions

• Directory creation. Should jp init (or first use) create the config/ subdirectory in user-global and user-workspace locations? Or rely on the user to create them manually?

• Error reporting. When --cfg skill/web fails to find a file, the error currently reports just the path. It should list all roots that were searched to help the user understand where to place the file.

• inherit = false interaction. If a workspace config.toml sets inherit = false, should that suppress loading --cfg files from the user-global root? Currently inherit only affects config.toml loading, not --cfg. This RFD preserves that behavior, but it may warrant a follow-up.

Implementation Plan

This is a single-phase change, localized to load_cli_cfg_args in crates/jp_cli/src/lib.rs:

1. Compute the three search roots (user-global + config/, workspace root, user-workspace + config/).
2. For each root, resolve config_load_paths and search for the --cfg path.
3. Collect and merge all matches in precedence order.
4. Improve the MissingConfigFile error to list searched paths.
5. Update docs/configuration.md to document the multi-root search behavior.

References

• Configuration documentation — current --cfg and config_load_paths behavior.
• crates/jp_cli/src/lib.rs — load_cli_cfg_args, load_partial_configs_from_files.
• crates/jp_config/src/fs.rs — user_global_config_file / user_global_config_dir.
• crates/jp_config/src/util.rs — find_file_in_load_path.