XDG Base Directory

This article summarizes the XDG Base Directory specification in #Specification and tracks software support in #Support.

Specification

Please read the full specification. This section will attempt to break down the essence of what it tries to achieve.

Only XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is set by default through pam_systemd. It is up to the user to explicitly define the other variables according to the specification.

See Environment variables#Globally for information on defining variables.

User directories

XDG_CONFIG_HOME
- Where user-specific configurations should be written (analogous to /etc).
- Should default to $HOME/.config.

XDG_CACHE_HOME
- Where user-specific non-essential (cached) data should be written (analogous to /var/cache).
- Should default to $HOME/.cache.

XDG_DATA_HOME
- Where user-specific data files should be written (analogous to /usr/share).
- Should default to $HOME/.local/share.

XDG_STATE_HOME
- Where user-specific state files should be written (analogous to /var/lib).
- Should default to $HOME/.local/state.

XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
- Used for non-essential, user-specific data files such as sockets, named pipes, etc.
- Not required to have a default value; warnings should be issued if not set or equivalents provided.
- Must be owned by the user with an access mode of 0700.
- Filesystem fully featured by standards of OS.
- Must be on the local filesystem.
- May be subject to periodic cleanup.
- Modified every 6 hours or set sticky bit if persistence is desired.
- Can only exist for the duration of the user's login.
- Should not store large files as it may be mounted as a tmpfs.
- pam_systemd sets this to /run/user/$UID.

System directories

XDG_DATA_DIRS
- List of directories separated by : (analogous to PATH).
- Should default to /usr/local/share:/usr/share.

XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
- List of directories separated by : (analogous to PATH).
- Should default to /etc/xdg.

Support

This article or section needs expansion.

Reason: The current supported/partial/hardcoded split is not detailed enough and can be misleading. The tables could be merged into one (with more fields added on how the programs work with the specification) or differently named categories could be used. (Discuss in Talk:XDG Base Directory#Add description of support categories)

This section exists to catalog the growing set of software using the XDG Base Directory Specification introduced in 2003. This is here to demonstrate the viability of this specification by listing commonly found dotfiles and their support status. For those not currently supporting the Base Directory Specification, workarounds will be demonstrated to emulate it instead.

The workarounds will be limited to anything not involving patching the source, executing code stored in environment variables or compile-time options. The rationale for this is that configurations should be portable across systems and having compile-time options prevent that.

Hopefully this will provide a source of information about exactly what certain kinds of dotfiles are and where they come from.

Contributing

When contributing make sure to use the correct section.

Nothing should require code evaluation (such as vim and VIMINIT), patches or compile-time options to gain support and anything which does must be deemed hardcoded. Additionally, if the process is error prone or difficult, it should also be classified as hardcoded.

The first column should be either a link to an internal article, a Template:Pkg or a Template:AUR.
The second column is for any legacy files and directories the project had (one per line), this is done so people can find them even if they are no longer read.
In the third, try to find the commit or version a project switched to XDG Base Directory or any open discussions and include them in the next two columns (two per line).
The last column should include any appropriate workarounds or solutions. Please verify that your solution is correct and functional.

Supported

Application	Legacy Path	Supported Since	Discussion	Notes
aerc-git^AUR
ALSA	`~/.asoundrc`	577df36 1.2.3	[1]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alsa/asoundrc`
Android Studio	`~/.AndroidStudioX.X`	Android Studio 4.1		XDG_CONFIG_HOME/Google/AndroidStudioX.X XDG_DATA_HOME/Google/AndroidStudioX.X XDG_CACHE_HOME/Google/AndroidStudioX.X Location overview by Google does not mention XDG - paths could be hardcoded instead of using the proper variable, though that is unlikely as Intellij IDEA, which Android Studio is based on, implements it properly as well
antimicrox^AUR	`~/.antimicro`, `~/.antimicrox`	edba864	[2]
apvlv^AUR	`~/.apvlvrc`	[3]	[4]	Uses `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/apvlv/apvlvrc` now if it exist.
aria2	`~/.aria2`	8bc1d37	[5]	XDG_CONFIG_HOME/aria2/ XDG_CACHE_HOME/aria2/
asunder	`~/.asunder` `~/.asunder_album_artist` `~/.asunder_album_genre` `~/.asunder_album_title`	2.9.0^{[dead link 2021-05-17 ⓘ]}	[6]^{[dead link 2021-05-17 ⓘ]}	Uses `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/asunder/asunder` for `~/.asunder` and `XDG_CACHE_HOME/asunder/asunder_album_...` for the other 3 files. Legacy paths are not removed after migration, they have to be deleted manually.
binwalk	`~/.binwalk`	2051757	[7]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/binwalk`
Blender	`~/.blender`	4293f47	[8]
byobu	`~/.byobu`	4.17	[9]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu` Legacy path takes precedence if present, or if `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set.
calcurse	`~/.calcurse`	04162d	[10] [11]	XDG_CONFIG_HOME/calcurse XDG_DATA_HOME/calcurse If the legacy path `~/.calcurse` is present, it will take precedence.
calibre
ccache	`~/.ccache`	4.0	[12]	XDG_CACHE_HOME/ccache XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ccache/ccache.conf
citra-git^AUR	`~/.citra-emu`	f7c3193	[13]
clangd	`~/.clangd`	fdf7dcc	[14]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clangd/config.yml` `XDG_CACHE_HOME/clangd` Project specific configuration can be specified in `proj/.clangd`. Configuration is combined when this is sensible. In case of conflicts, user config has the highest precedence, then inner project, then outer project.
Composer	`~/.composer`	1.0.0-beta1	[15]
cURL	`~/.curlrc`	7.73.0	[16]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.curlrc`
d-feet	`~/.d-feet`	7f6104b
dconf
Dolphin emulator	`~/.dolphin-emu`	a498c68	[17]
dr14_tmeter^AUR		7e777ca	[18]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dr14tmeter/`
dunst		78b6e2b	[19]
Emacs	`~/.emacs` `~/.emacs.d/init.el`	[20] 27.1		`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/init.el` Legacy paths have precedence over XDG paths. Emacs will never create `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/emacs/`. Workaround for 26.3 or older: It's possible to set `HOME`, but it has unexpected side effects.
fish
fontconfig	`~/.fontconfig` `~/.fonts`	8c255fb, [21]		Use `XDG_DATA_HOME/fonts` to store fonts instead.
fontforge	`~/.FontForge` `~/.PfaEdit`	e4c2cc7	[22] [23]
freerdp	`~/.freerdp`	edf6e72
Gajim	`~/.gajim`	3e777ea	[24]
gconf^AUR	`~/.gconf`	fc28caa	[25]
ghc	`~/.ghci`	[26]	[27]	Supported upstream from 9.4.1 [28], but as of 2022-04-18 Arch package is 9.0.2 and not yet up-to-date.
GDB	`~/.gdbinit`, `~/.gdb_history`	11.1		`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gdb/gdbinit`, `export GDBHISTFILE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gdb/history`
GIMP	`~/.gimp-x.y` `~/.thumbnails`	60e0cfe 483505f	[29] [30]
Git	`~/.gitconfig`	0d94427		`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config`
gops		71c4255
gnuplot	`~/.gnuplot_history`	a5562b1 [31]
goobook^AUR	`~/.goobookrc`	3.5	[32]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/goobookrc`
Godot Engine	`~/.godot`	73049d1 3.0-stable	[33]
GStreamer	`~/.gstreamer-0.10`	4e36f93	[34]
GTK 3
helm	`~/.helm`	3.0.0
htop	`~/.htoprc`	93233a6
httpie	`~/.httpie`	5af0874	[35]
i3	`~/.i3`	7c130fb
i3blocks, i3blocks-git^AUR		[36]
i3-gaps		[37]
i3status	`~/.i3status.conf`	c3f7fc4
i3status-rust
imagemagick
Inkscape	`~/.inkscape`	0.47	[38]
ipython	`~/.ipython`	8.0.0	[39]	The default dotfile path is still $HOME but xdg directories (or ~/.config/ipython if XDG_* vars are unset) are supported and work correctly.
iwd / iwctl	`~/.iwctl_history`	d3e00d7f
intellij-idea-community-edition / intellij-idea-ultimate-edition^AUR	`~/.IntelliJIdeaXXXX.X`	2020.1	[40]	XDG_CONFIG_HOME/JetBrains/IntelliJIdeaXXXX.X XDG_DATA_HOME/JetBrains/IntelliJIdeaXXXX.X XDG_CACHE_HOME/JetBrains/IntelliJIdeaXXXX.X
josm	`~/.josm`	11162	[41]
Kakoune
less	`~/.lesshst`, `~/.lesskey`	590 full support in 600	[42]	The environment variables `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` and `XDG_DATA_HOME` must be set in version 590. This is no longer necessary when version 600 lands.
latexmk (in texlive-core)	`~/.latexmkrc`			`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/latexmk/latexmkrc`
lftp	`~/.lftp`	21dc400	[43]
lgogdownloader^AUR	`~/.gogdownloader`	d430af6	[44]
LibreOffice		a6f56f7 25bd2ee	[45]
luarocks	`~/.luarocks`	cd16cdd	[46]	XDG_CONFIG_HOME/luarocks XDG_CACHE_HOME/luarocks If the legacy path `~/.luarocks` is present, it will take precedence.
NSS	`~/.pki`	3.42	[47]
Streamlink	`~/.livestreamerrc`	ea80591	[48]
mc	`~/.mc`	1b99570 0b71156 ce401d7	[49]
Mercurial	`~/.hgrc`	3540200 4.2		`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/hg/hgrc`.
msmtp	`~/.msmtprc`	af2f409 v1.6.7+		`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/msmtp/config`.
mesa		87ab26b		`XDG_CACHE_HOME/mesa`
milkytracker	`~/.milkytracker_config`	eb487c5	[50]
mozc	`~/.mozc`	91cc1e1	[51]
mpd	`~/.mpdconf`	87b7328
mpv	`~/.mpv`	cb250d4	[52]
mutt	`~/.mutt`	b17cd67	[53]
mypaint	`~/.mypaint`	cf723b7
nano	`~/.nano/` `~/.nanorc`	c16e79b	[54]
ncmpcpp	`~/.ncmpcpp`	38d9f81 27cd86e	[55] [56]	`ncmpcpp_directory` should be set to avoid an `error.log` file in `~/.ncmpcpp`.
Neovim	`~/.nvim` `~/.nvimlog` `~/.nviminfo`	1ca5646	[57] [58]
Nestopia UE	`~/.nestopia/`	610c008 1.51.0	[59]
newsbeuter	`~/.newsbeuter`	3c57824	[60]	It is required to create both directories [61]: `mkdir -p "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/newsbeuter "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/newsbeuter`
node-gyp	`~/.node-gyp`	2b5ce52a	[62]
np2kai-git^AUR	`~/.config/np2kai` `~/.config/xnp2kai`	56a1cc2	[63]
notmuch	`~/.notmuch-config`		[64]	`mkdir -p $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/notmuch/default; mv ~/.notmuch-config $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/notmuch/default/config`
nteract-bin^AUR		4593e72	[65] [66]	does not recognize workarounds for ipython/jupyter
OfflineIMAP	`~/.offlineimaprc`	5150de5	[67]
opentyrian^AUR	`~/.opentyrian`	39559c3	[68]
pandoc	`~/.pandoc/`	0bed0ab	[69]
PCManFM	`~/.thumbnails`	1.3.2
pcsx2	`~/.pcsx2`	87f1e8f a9020c6 3b22f0f 0a012ae	[70] [71]
Pry	`~/.pryrc` `~/.pry_history`	a0be0cc7 15e1fc92 e9d1be0e	[72]
python-pylint	`~/.pylint.d`	2.10	[73]	Formerly `export PYLINTHOME="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/pylint`
python-pip	`~/.pip`	6.0	[74]
python-poetry	`~/.poetry`	[75]	[76]	Still creates `~/.poetry` according to [77]
powershell^AUR		6.0
ppsspp	`~/.ppsspp`	132fe47	[78]
procps-ng	`~/.toprc`	af53e17	[79] [80]
pacman	`~/.makepkg.conf`	80eca94	[81]
panda3d^AUR	`~/.panda3d`	2b537d2
poezio^AUR
PulseAudio	`~/.pulse` `~/.pulse-cookie`	59a8618 87ae830 9ab510a 4c195bc	[82]
pyroom^AUR
quodlibet	`~/.quodlibet`	3.10.0	[83]
qutebrowser
qtile		fd8686e 66d704b 51cff01	[84]	Some optional bar widgets can create files and directories in non-compliant paths, but most often these are still configurable.
rclone	`~/.rclone.conf`	9d36258	[85]
retroarch
rr^AUR	`~/.rr`	02e7d41	[86]
RSpec	`~/.rspec`	5e395e2	[87]
rTorrent	`~/.rtorrent.rc`	6a8d332
RuboCop	`~/.rubocop.yml`	6fe5956	[88]
sandboxd	`~/.sandboxrc`	[89]	[90]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sandboxd/sandboxrc`
scribus	`~/.scribus`	1.5.3
scummvm	`~/.scummvmrc` `~/.scummvm/`	7d014be	[91]	It is required to migrate data by hand. `mkdir "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/scummvm/ "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/scummvm` `mv ~/.scummvmrc "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/scummvm/scummvm.ini` `mv ~/.scummvm "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/scummvm/saves`
sdcv	`~/.stardict/` `~/.sdcv_history`	958ec35	[92]
skypeforlinux-stable-bin^AUR	`~/.Skype`	8.0
snes9x	`~/.snes9x`	93b5f11	[93]	By default, the configuration file is left blank with intention that the user will fill it at their will (through the gui or manually).
spectrwm	`~/.spectrwm`	a30bbb	[94]
sublime-text-dev^AUR		build 4105		Prior to build 4105, the cache was placed in `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sublime-text-3/Cache`.
surfraw	`~/.surfraw.conf` `~/.surfraw.bookmarks`	3e4591d bd8c427 f57fc71
sway	`~/.sway/config`	614393c	[95]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sway/config`
sxhkd
systemd
teeworlds	`~/.teeworlds`	[96]
termite
tig	`~/.tigrc`, `~/.tig_history`	2.2	[97]	`~/.local/share/tig` directory must exist, writes to `~/.tig_history` otherwise.
tmux	`~/.tmux.conf`	3.1	[98]	3.1 introduced `~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf` and in 3.2 `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/tmux/tmux.conf` was added
tmuxp	`~/.tmuxp`	1.5.0	[99]	Fixed in 1.5.2
tmuxinator^AUR	`~/.tmuxinator`	2636923	[100]
Transmission	`~/.transmission`	b71a298
util-linux		570b321
Uzbl		c6fd63a	[101]
vimb
VirtualBox	`~/.VirtualBox`	4.3	[102]
vis	`~/.vis`	68a25c7 d138908	[103]
VLC	`~/.vlcrc`	16f32e1	[104]
warsow	`~/.warsow-2.x`	98ece3f	[105]
WeeChat	`~/.weechat`	[106] 3.2	[107] [108]	XDG_CONFIG_HOME/weechat XDG_CACHE_HOME/weechat XDG_DATA_HOME/weechat
Wireshark	`~/.wireshark`	b0b53fa
wxWidgets		[109]
Xsettingsd	`~/.xsettingsd`	b4999f5
xmobar	`~/.xmobarrc`	7b0d6bf 9fc6b37 eaccf70	[110] [111]	`XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xmobar/xmobarrc`
xmonad	`~/.xmonad/`	40fc10b	[112] [113]	All of these must exist, otherwise it gives up and falls back to `~/.xmonad/` for each: XDG_CACHE_HOME/xmonad XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xmonad XDG_DATA_HOME/xmonad Alternatively, it always respects `XMONAD_CACHE_DIR`, `XMONAD_CONFIG_DIR`, and `XMONAD_DATA_DIR`.
xournalpp	`~/.xournalpp`	20db937f 1.1.0	[114] [115]
xsel	`~/.xsel.log`	ee7b481	[116]
Zim		e42b8b0
zoxide	`~/.zo`	0.3.0	[117]

Partial

Application	Legacy Path	Supported Since	Discussion	Notes
abook^AUR	`~/.abook`			`abook --config "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/abook/abookrc --datafile "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/abook/addressbook`
anaconda^AUR	`~/.conda/.condarc`, `~/.conda/condarc`, `~/.conda/condarc.d/`, `~/.condarc`		[118]	`export CONDARC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/conda/condarc"`
ack	`~/.ackrc`		[119]	`export ACKRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ack/ackrc"`
Anki	`~/Anki`, `~/Documents/Anki`		[120] [121]	`anki -b "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/Anki`
asdf-vm^AUR	`~/.asdfrc`, `~/.asdf/`		[122]	`export ASDF_CONFIG_FILE="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/asdf/asdfrc"`, `export ASDF_DATA_DIR=${XDG_DATA_HOME}/asdf"`
aspell	`~/.aspell.conf`		[123]	`export ASPELL_CONF="per-conf $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/aspell/aspell.conf; personal $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/aspell/en.pws; repl $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/aspell/en.prepl"`
Atom	`~/.atom`		[124]	`export ATOM_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/atom`
aws-cli	`~/.aws`	1.7.45	[125]	`export AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/aws/credentials`, `export AWS_CONFIG_FILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/aws/config`
bash-completion	`~/.bash_completion`			`export BASH_COMPLETION_USER_FILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/bash-completion/bash_completion`
bashdb^AUR	`~/.bashdbinit, ~/.bashdb_hist`			Like documented at [126], you can specify a file to run commands from. Thus, move the init file to `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bashdb/bashdbinit` and create an alias `alias bashdb='bashdb -x ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/bashdb/bashdbinit'`. Unfortunately the history file is hardcoded [127].
bazaar	`~/.bazaar`, `~/.bzr.log`	2.3.0	[128]	Discussion in upstream bug states that bazaar will use `~/.config/bazaar` if it exists. The logfile `~/.bzr.log` might still be written.
btpd-git^AUR	`~/.btpd/`		[129]	`btpd -d "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/.btpd` `HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME" btcli`
Ruby#Bundler	`~/.bundle`	2.1.0	[130] [131] [132]	export BUNDLE_USER_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/bundle export BUNDLE_USER_CACHE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/bundle export BUNDLE_USER_PLUGIN="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/bundle Is considered as fixed by the environment variables.
cabal	`~/.cabal/`		[133]	export CABAL_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/cabal/config export CABAL_DIR="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/cabal See documentation on environment variables. CABAL_DIR may be put into DATA if you consider downloaded files as such.
calc	`~/.calc_history`			export CALCHISTFILE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/calc_history
Rust#Cargo	`~/.cargo`		[134] [135] [136] [137]	`export CARGO_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/cargo`
cd-bookmark	`~/.cdbookmark`		[138]	`export CD_BOOKMARK_FILE=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cd-bookmark/bookmarks` or use the fork that has native XDG support: [139]
cgdb	`~/.cgdb`	[On master branch, but no release yet]	[140] [141]	Set `export CGDB_DIR=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cgdb` and move the config file to `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cgdb/cgdbrc`
chez-scheme^AUR	`~/.chezscheme_history`			`petite --eehistory "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/chezscheme/history`
Chromium	`~/.chromium`, `~/.pki`	23057	[142] [143] [144]
cinelerra	`~/.bcast5`		[145]	`export CIN_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/bcast5`
conky	`~/.conkyrc`	00481ee	[146]	`conky --config="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/conky/conkyrc`
claws-mail	`~/.claws-mail`		[147]	`claws-mail --alternate-config-dir "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/claws-mail`
coreutils	`~/.dircolors`			`eval $(dircolors "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/dircolors)`
crawl	`~/.crawl`			The trailing slash is required: `export CRAWL_DIR="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/crawl/`
clusterssh	`~/.clusterssh/`			`alias cssh="cssh --config-file '$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clusterssh/config'"` $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clusterssh/config extra_cluster_file=$HOME/.config/clusterssh/clusters extra_tag_file=$HOME/.config/clusterssh/tags Despite this, clusterssh will still create `~/.clusterssh/`.
CUDA	`~/.nv`			`export CUDA_CACHE_PATH="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/nv`
dict	`~/.dictrc`			`dict -c "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/dict/dictrc`
Docker	`~/.docker`			`export DOCKER_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/docker`
docker-machine	`~/.docker/machine`			`export MACHINE_STORAGE_PATH="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/docker-machine`
DOSBox	`~/.dosbox/dosbox-0.74-2.conf`		[148]	`dosbox -conf "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/dosbox/dosbox.conf`
Electrum Bitcoin Wallet	`~/.electrum`	c121230		`export ELECTRUMDIR="$XDG_DATA_HOME/electrum"`
ELinks	`~/.elinks`			`export ELINKS_CONFDIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/elinks`
elixir	`~/.mix`	afaf889	[149] [150]	Elixir do not fully conform to XDG specs, it will use XDG only if the environment variables are present, otherwise it will by default use legacy path.
Elm	`~/.elm`			`export ELM_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/elm`
fceux	`~/.fceux/`		[151]	`export FCEUX_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/fceux`. Fceux will create `.fceux` directory inside `$FCEUX_HOME`.
FFmpeg	`~/.ffmpeg`			`export FFMPEG_DATADIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/ffmpeg`
flutter^AUR	`~/.flutter`, `~/.flutter_settings`, `~/.flutter_tool_state`		[152]
fzf-git^AUR	`~/.fzf.bash, ~/.fzf.zsh`		[153]	The shell init files will be installed to `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fzf` if the installation script is called with `--xdg` for example `/usr/local/opt/fzf/install --xdg`.
emscripten	`~/.emscripten`, `~/.emscripten_sanity`, `~/.emscripten_ports`, `~/.emscripten_cache__last_clear`		[154]	`export EM_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/emscripten/config`, `export EM_CACHE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/emscripten/cache`, `export EM_PORTS="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/emscripten/cache`, `emcc --em-config "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/emscripten/config --em-cache "$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/emscripten/cache`
freecad	`~/.FreeCAD`		[155]	`freecad -u "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/FreeCAD/user.cfg -s "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/FreeCAD/system.cfg` Despite these options, freecad will still create the file `.FreeCAD/cookie` as the web module has it hard coded
get_iplayer^AUR	`~/.get_iplayer`			`export GETIPLAYERUSERPREFS="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/get_iplayer`
getmail	`~/.getmail/getmailrc`			`getmail --rcfile="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/getmail/getmailrc" --getmaildir="$XDG_DATA_HOME/getmail"`
ghcup-hs-bin^AUR	`~/.ghcup`	[156]	[157]	`export GHCUP_USE_XDG_DIRS=true` The environment variable `GHCUP_USE_XDG_DIRS` can be set to any non-empty value. See [158].
gliv^AUR	`~/.glivrc`			`gliv --glivrc="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/gliv/glivrc`
gnuradio	`~/.gnuradio`		[159]
GnuPG	`~/.gnupg`		[160] [161]	`export GNUPGHOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gnupg`, `gpg2 --homedir "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gnupg` Note that this currently does not work out-of-the-box using systemd user units and socket-based activation, since the socket directory changes based on the hash of `$GNUPGHOME`. You can get the new socket directory using `gpgconf --dry-run --create-socketdir` and have to modify the systemd user units to listen on the correct sockets accordingly.
Go	`~/go`	[162]		`export GOPATH="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/go`
Google Earth	`~/.googleearth`			Some paths can be changed with the `KMLPath` and `CachePath` options in `~/.config/Google/GoogleEarthPlus.conf`
gopass	`~/.password-store`			Override settings in `~/.config/gopass/config.yml`: ~/.config/gopass/config.yml root: path: gpgcli-gitcli-fs+file:///home/<userid>/.config/password-store
gpodder	`~/gPodder`			`GPODDER_DOWNLOAD_DIR` sets the download folder. `GPODDER_HOME` - where config and database files are stored, downloads also if `GPODDER_DOWNLOAD_DIR` is not set.
GQ LDAP client	`~/.gq`, `~/.gq-state`	1.51		`export GQRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/gqrc`, `export GQSTATE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gq/gq-state`, `mkdir -p "$(dirname "$GQSTATE")"`
Gradle	`~/.gradle`		[163]	`export GRADLE_USER_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gradle`
GTK 1	`~/.gtkrc`			`export GTK_RC_FILES="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/gtk-1.0/gtkrc`
GTK 2	`~/.gtkrc-2.0`			`export GTK2_RC_FILES="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/gtk-2.0/gtkrc`
hledger	`~/.hledger.journal`		[164]	`export LEDGER_FILE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/hledger.journal`
Houdini	`~/houdiniMAJOR.MINOR)`		[165] [166]	`export HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/houdini__HVER__` The value of this variable must include the substring `__HVER__`, which will be replaced at run time with the current `MAJOR.MINOR` version string.
imapfilter^AUR	`~/.imapfilter`			`export IMAPFILTER_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/imapfilter"`
IPFS	`~/.ipfs`			`export IPFS_PATH="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/ipfs`
irb	`~/.irbrc`			~/.profile $ export IRBRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/irb/irbrc "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/irb/irbrc IRB.conf[:SAVE_HISTORY] \|\|= 1000 IRB.conf[:HISTORY_FILE] \|\|= File.join(ENV["XDG_DATA_HOME"], "irb", "history")
irssi	`~/.irssi`		[167]	`irssi --config="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/irssi/config --home="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/irssi`
isync	`~/.mbsyncrc`		[168]	`mbsync -c "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/isync/mbsyncrc`
Java#OpenJDK	`~/.java/.userPrefs`		[169]	`export _JAVA_OPTIONS=-Djava.util.prefs.userRoot="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/java`
jupyter	`~/.jupyter`		[170]	`export JUPYTER_CONFIG_DIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/jupyter`
k9s	`~/.k9s`	0.20.4	[171]	`export K9SCONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/k9s`
KDE	`~/.kde`, `~/.kde4`		[172]	`export KDEHOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/kde`
keychain	`~/.keychain`	[173]	[174]	`keychain --absolute --dir "$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"/keychain`
kodi	`~/.kodi`	[175]	[176]	`KODI_DATA=$XDG_DATA_HOME/kodi`
kscript^AUR	`~/.kscript`		[177]	`export KSCRIPT_CACHE_DIR="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/kscript`
ledger	`~/.ledgerrc`, `~/.pricedb`		[178]	`ledger --init-file "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/ledgerrc`
Leiningen	`~/.lein`, `~/.m2`			`export LEIN_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/lein` to change the m2 repo location used by leiningen look here: Leiningen#m2_repo_location
libdvdcss	`~/.dvdcss`		[179]	`export DVDCSS_CACHE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/dvdcss`
libice	`~/.ICEauthority`		[180]	`export ICEAUTHORITY="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/ICEauthority` Make sure `XDG_CACHE_HOME` is set beforehand to directory user running Xorg has write access to. Do not use `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` as it is available after login. Display managers that launch Xorg (like GDM) will repeatedly fail otherwise.
libx11	`~/.XCompose`, `~/.compose-cache`			`export XCOMPOSEFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/X11/xcompose`, `export XCOMPOSECACHE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/X11/xcompose`
ltrace	`~/.ltrace.conf`			`ltrace -F "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/ltrace/ltrace.conf`
lynx	`/etc/lynx.cfg`			`export LYNX_CFG_PATH="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/lynx.cfg`
maptool-bin^AUR	`~/.maptool-rptools`		[181]	/opt/maptool/lib/app/MapTool.cfg [JavaOptions] -DMAPTOOL_DATADIR=.local/share/maptool-rptools However, no way to change the location of this configuration file.
maven	`~/.m2`		[182]	`mvn -gs "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/maven/settings.xml` and set `<localRepository>` as appropriate in settings.xml
Mathematica	`~/.Mathematica`			`export MATHEMATICA_USERBASE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/mathematica`
maxima	`~/.maxima`			`export MAXIMA_USERDIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/maxima`
mednafen	`~/.mednafen`			`export MEDNAFEN_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/mednafen`
minikube	`~/.minikube`		[183]	`export MINIKUBE_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/minikube` Creates a further `.minikube` directory in `MINIKUBE_HOME` for whatever reason.
mitmproxy	`~/.mitmproxy`			`alias mitmproxy="mitmproxy --set confdir=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mitmproxy"`, `alias mitmweb="mitmweb --set confdir=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mitmproxy"`
MOC	`~/.moc`			`mocp -M "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/moc`, `mocp -O MOCDir="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/moc`
monero	`~/.bitmonero`			`monerod --data-dir "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/bitmonero`
most	`~/.mostrc`			`export MOST_INITFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/mostrc`
MPlayer	`~/.mplayer`			`export MPLAYER_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/mplayer`
mypy	`~/.mypy_cache`			`export MYPY_CACHE_DIR="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/mypy`
MySQL	`~/.mysql_history`, `~/.my.cnf` , `~/.mylogin.cnf`			`export MYSQL_HISTFILE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/mysql_history` `~/.my.cnf` only supported for mysql-server, not mysql-client [184] `~/.mylogin.cnf` unsupported
mysql-workbench	`~/.mysql/workbench`			You can run MySQL Workbench with the `---configdir` flag, such as `mysql-workbench --configdir="$XDG_DATA_HOME/mysql/workbench"`. The directory needs to be created manually, since MySQL Workbench default location is `$HOME/.mysql/workbench` .
ncurses	`~/.terminfo`			Precludes system path searching: `export TERMINFO="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/terminfo`, `export TERMINFO_DIRS="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/terminfo:/usr/share/terminfo`
n	`/usr/local/n`			`export N_PREFIX=$XDG_DATA_HOME/n`
ncmpc	`~/.ncmpc`			`ncmpc -f "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/ncmpc/config`
Netbeans	`~/.netbeans`		[185]	`netbeans --userdir "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}"/netbeans`
Node.js	`~/.node_repl_history`		[186]	`export NODE_REPL_HISTORY="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/node_repl_history`
npm	`~/.npm`, `~/.npmrc`		[187]	`export NPM_CONFIG_USERCONFIG=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/npm/npmrc` npmrc prefix=${XDG_DATA_HOME}/npm cache=${XDG_CACHE_HOME}/npm tmp=${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR}/npm init-module=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/npm/config/npm-init.js `prefix` is unnecessary (and unsupported) if Node.js is installed by nvm^AUR. If you want to configure this system-wide, the file to edit is `/usr/etc/npmrc`, not `/etc/npmrc`. You can confirm that the config is loaded by running `npm config list`
opam	`~/.opam`		[188]	`export OPAMROOT="$XDG_DATA_HOME/opam"` Both configuration and state data are stored in `OPAMROOT`, so this solution is not fully compliant.
pnpm^AUR	`~/.pnpm-store`			Add the line `store-dir=${XDG_DATA_HOME}/pnpm-store` to your `npmrc`.
PuTTY	`~/.putty/`	9952b2d		Will use `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/putty` if it already exists. Creates `~/.putty` if not. Prioritises `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/putty` if both exist. Tested in 0.74
nuget	`~/.nuget/packages`		[189]	`export NUGET_PACKAGES="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/NuGetPackages`
NVIDIA	`~/.nv`			Uses `XDG_CACHE_HOME` if set, otherwise improperly falls back to `~/.nv` instead of `~/.cache`.
nvidia-settings	`~/.nvidia-settings-rc`			`nvidia-settings --config="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/nvidia/settings`
nvm^AUR	`~/.nvm`			`export NVM_DIR="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/nvm`
Octave	`~/octave`, `~/.octave_packages`, `~/.octave_hist`			`export OCTAVE_HISTFILE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/octave-hsts"`, `export OCTAVE_SITE_INITFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/octave/octaverc"` $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/octave/octaverc source /usr/share/octave/site/m/startup/octaverc; pkg prefix ~/.local/share/octave/packages ~/.local/share/octave/packages; pkg local_list /home/<your username>/.local/share/octave/octave_packages; The `local_list` option must be given an absolute path.
openscad	`~/.OpenSCAD`	7c3077b0f	[190]	Does not fully honour XDG Base Directory Specification, see [191] Currently it hard-codes `~/.local/share`.
OpenSSL	`~/.rnd`			Seeding file `.rnd`'s location can be set with `RANDFILE` environment variable per FAQ.
parallel	`~/.parallel`	20170422		`export PARALLEL_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/parallel`
pass	`~/.password-store`			`export PASSWORD_STORE_DIR="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/pass`
Pidgin	`~/.purple`		[192]	`pidgin --config="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/purple`
PostgreSQL	`~/.psqlrc`, `~/.psql_history`, `~/.pgpass`, `~/.pg_service.conf`	9.2	[193] [194]	`export PSQLRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pg/psqlrc"`, `export PSQL_HISTORY="$XDG_STATE_HOME/psql_history"`, `export PGPASSFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pg/pgpass"`, `export PGSERVICEFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pg/pg_service.conf"` It is required to create both directories: `mkdir "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pg" && mkdir "$XDG_STATE_HOME"`
PulseAudio	`~/.esd_auth`			Very likely generated by the `module-esound-protocol-unix.so` module. It can be configured to use a different location but it makes much more sense to just comment out this module in `/etc/pulse/default.pa` or `"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/pulse/default.pa`.
pyenv	`~/.pyenv`		[195] [196]	`export PYENV_ROOT=$XDG_DATA_HOME/pyenv`
python-azure-cli^AUR	`~/.azure`			`export AZURE_CONFIG_DIR=$XDG_DATA_HOME/azure`
python-grip^AUR	`~/.grip`			`export GRIPHOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/grip"`
python-setuptools	`~/.python-eggs`			`export PYTHON_EGG_CACHE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/python-eggs`
racket	`~/.racketrc`, `~/.racket`		[197]	`export PLTUSERHOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/racket`
rbenv^AUR	`~/.rbenv`		[198] [199]	`export RBENV_ROOT=XDG_DATA_HOME/rbenv`
readline	`~/.inputrc`			`export INPUTRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/readline/inputrc`
recoll	`~/.recoll`			`export RECOLL_CONFDIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/recoll"`
redis	`~/.rediscli_history`, `~/.redisclirc`			`export REDISCLI_HISTFILE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/redis/rediscli_history`, `export REDISCLI_RCFILE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/redis/redisclirc`
ripgrep			[200]	`export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ripgrep/config`
rlwrap	`~/.*_history`		[201]	`export RLWRAP_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/rlwrap`
Ruby#RubyGems	`~/.gem`			`export GEM_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/gem`, `export GEM_SPEC_CACHE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/gem` Make sure to remove `gem: --user-install` from `/etc/gemrc`
ruby-solargraph^AUR	`~/.solargraph/cache/`		[202]	`export SOLARGRAPH_CACHE=$XDG_CACHE_HOME/solargraph`
Rust#Rustup	`~/.rustup`		[203]	`export RUSTUP_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/rustup`
sbt	`~/.sbt` `~/.ivy2`		[204]	`sbt -ivy "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/ivy2 -sbt-dir "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/sbt` (beware [205])
SageMath	`~/.sage`			`export DOT_SAGE="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/sage`
GNU Screen	`~/.screenrc`			`export SCREENRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/screen/screenrc`
simplescreenrecorder	`~/.ssr/`	0.4.3	[206] [207]	Will use `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/simplescreenrecorder/` ONLY if it already was created otherwise defaults to `~/.ssr` `mv ~/.ssr "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/simplescreenrecorder`
spacemacs	`~/.spacemacs`, `~/.spacemacs.d`	[208]	[209]	Move the `~/.spacemacs` file. `export SPACEMACSDIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/spacemacs`, `mv ~/.spacemacs "$SPACEMACSDIR"/init.el` Other files need to be configured like Emacs.
Haskell#Stack	`~/.stack`		[210]	`export STACK_ROOT="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/stack`
subversion	`~/.subversion`		[211] [212][213]	`alias svn="svn --config-dir \"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME\"/subversion"`
sudo	`~/.sudo_as_admin_successful`	1.9.6	[214] [215]	Only present when activated at compile-time (default none). An admin_flag parameter can be used in /etc/sudoers since 1.9.6.
task	`~/.task`, `~/.taskrc`			Fully supported in version 2.6 (note $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/task/taskrc must exist, otherwise taskwarrior will offer to create sample config in legacy $HOME/.taskrc location, even if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set [216][217])
Local TeX Live TeXmf tree, TeXmf caches and config	`~/texmf`, `~/.texlive/texmf-var`, `~/.texlive/texmf-config`			`export TEXMFHOME=$XDG_DATA_HOME/texmf`, `export TEXMFVAR=$XDG_CACHE_HOME/texlive/texmf-var`, `export TEXMFCONFIG=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/texlive/texmf-config`
TeXmacs	`~/.TeXmacs`			`export TEXMACS_HOME_PATH=$XDG_STATE_HOME/texmacs`
tiptop^AUR	`~/.tiptoprc`			This will still expect the `.tiptoprc` file. `tiptop -W "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/tiptop`
ruby-travis^AUR	`~/.travis/`		[218]	`export TRAVIS_CONFIG_PATH=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/travis`
uncrustify	`~/.uncrustify.cfg`			`export UNCRUSTIFY_CONFIG="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/uncrustify/uncrustify.cfg`
Unison	`~/.unison`			`export UNISON="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/unison`
units	`~/.units_history`			`units --history "$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/units_history`
urxvtd	`~/.urxvt/urxvtd-hostname`			`export RXVT_SOCKET="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"/urxvtd`
Vagrant	`~/.vagrant.d`, `~/.vagrant.d/aliases`		[219]	`export VAGRANT_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/vagrant`, `export VAGRANT_ALIAS_FILE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/vagrant/aliases`
virtualenv	`~/.virtualenvs`			`export WORKON_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME/virtualenvs"`
Visual Studio Code	`~/.vscode-oss/`		[220]	You can use `export VSCODE_PORTABLE="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/vscode`, which is not documented and might break unexpectedly. Setting this makes the editor look for the contents of `.config/Code - OSS` in `$VSCODE_PORTABLE/user-data`. You can also run Visual Studio with the `--extensions-dir` flag, such as `code --extensions-dir "$XDG_DATA_HOME/vscode"`. This is documented and probably will not break as unexpectedly, as it is `has other use cases`.
VSCodium^AUR	`~/.vscode-oss/`		[221] [222]	You can run VSCodium with the `--extensions-dir` flag, such as `vscodium --extensions-dir "$XDG_DATA_HOME/vscode"`. This however won't prevent the creation of `~/.vscode-oss/` directory.
wakatime	`~/.wakatime.cfg`, `~/.wakatime.data`, `~/.wakatime.db`, `~/.wakatime.log`			`export WAKATIME_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wakatime"` The directory needs to be created manually `mkdir "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wakatime"`
wget	`~/.wgetrc`, `~/.wget-hsts`			`export WGETRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wgetrc"` and add the following as an alias for wget: `wget --hsts-file="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/wget-hsts"`, or set the `hsts-file` variable with an absolute path as wgetrc does not support environment variables: `echo hsts-file \= "$XDG_CACHE_HOME"/wget-hsts >> "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/wgetrc"`
wine	`~/.wine`		[223]	Winetricks uses XDG-alike location below for WINEPREFIX management: `mkdir -p "$XDG_DATA_HOME"/wineprefixes`, `export WINEPREFIX="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/wineprefixes/default`
xbindkeys	`~/.xbindkeysrc`			`xbindkeys -f "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/xbindkeys/config`
xorg-xauth	`~/.Xauthority`			`export XAUTHORITY="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR"/Xauthority` Note that LightDM does not allow you to change this variable. If you change it nonetheless, you will not be able to login. Use startx instead or configure LightDM. According to [224] SLiM has `~/.Xauthority` hardcoded. The SDDM Xauthority path can be changed in its own configuration files as shown below. Unfortunately, it is relative to the home directory. /etc/sddm.conf.d/xauth-path.conf [X11] UserAuthFile=.Xauthority
xinit	`~/.xinitrc`, `~/.xserverrc`		[225]	`export XINITRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/X11/xinitrc`, `export XSERVERRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/X11/xserverrc` Note that these variables are respected by xinit, but not by startx. Instead, specify the filename as an argument: `startx "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/X11/xinitrc" -- "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/X11/xserverrc" vt1`
xorg-xrdb	`~/.Xresources`, `~/.Xdefaults`			Ultimately you should be using `Xresources` and since these resources are loaded via `xrdb` you can specify a path such as `xrdb -load ~/.config/X11/xresources`.
Xorg	`~/.xsession`, `~/.xsessionrc`, `~/.Xsession`, `~/.xsession-errors`			These can be added as part of your Xorg init script (`~/.xinitrc`) or Xsession start script (which will often be based on `/etc/X11/Xsession`). Depending on where you have configured your `$XDG_CACHE_HOME`, you made need to expand the paths yourself. # xsession start script USERXSESSION="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/X11/xsession" USERXSESSIONRC="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/X11/xsessionrc" ALTUSERXSESSION="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/X11/Xsession" ERRFILE="$XDG_CACHE_HOME/X11/xsession-errors" Unlike most other examples in this table, actual X11 init scripts will vary a lot between installations.
z	`~/.z`		[226]	`export _Z_DATA="$XDG_DATA_HOME/z"`
yarn	`~/.yarnrc`, `~/.yarn/`, `~/.yarncache/`, `~/.yarn-config/`	2d454b5	[227] [228]	`alias yarn='yarn --use-yarnrc "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/yarn/config"'`

Hardcoded

Application	Legacy Path	Discussion	Notes
adb & Android Studio	`~/.android/`		Despite appearances otherwise, adb will always generate `~/.android/adbkeys`, though it will try keys in `ADB_VENDOR_KEYS` as well.
aegisub	`~/.aegisub/`	[229]
alpine	`~/.pinerc`, `~/.addressbook`, `~/.pine-debug[1-4]`, `~/.newsrc`, `~/.mailcap`, `~/.mime.types`, `~/.pine-interrupted-mail`		`alias alpine="alpine -p $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alpine/pinerc"` In the above config file, some locations can be customized using options like `newsrc-path=` and `address-book=`.
Ansible	`~/.ansible`	[230] [231] [232]
aMule	`~/.aMule`	[233] [234] [235]
anthy	`~/.anthy`	[236]
Apache Directory Studio	`~/.ApacheDirectoryStudio`
ARandR	`~/.screenlayout`	[237]
Arduino	`~/.arduino15`, `~/.jssc`	won't fix
arduino-cli	`~.arduino15/`	[238]	`mv ~/.arduino15 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/arduino15` Specify the new directories used by Arduino CLI in arduino-cli.yaml as mentioned in the documentation here. `alias arduino-cli='arduino-cli --config-file $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/arduino15/arduino-cli.yaml'`
Audacity	`~/.audacity-data/`	[239]
Avidemux	`~/.avidemux6`	[240]
Bash	`~/.bashrc`, `~/.bash_history`, `~/.bash_profile`, `~/.bash_login`, `~/.bash_logout`	won't fix	`mkdir -p "$XDG_STATE_HOME"/bash` `export HISTFILE="$XDG_STATE_HOME"/bash/history` `bashrc` can be sourced from a different location in `/etc/bash.bashrc`. Specify `--init-file <file>` as an alternative to `~/.bashrc` for interactive shells.
Berkshelf	`~/.berkshelf/`
chatty^AUR	`~/.chatty/`	[241]
cmake	`~/.cmake/`	[242]	Used for the user package registry `~/.cmake/packages/<package>`, detailed in cmake-packages(7) § User Package Registry and the Package registry wiki page. Looks like it's hardcoded, for example in cmFindPackageCommand.cxx.
Cinnamon	`~/.cinnamon/`	[243]
conan^AUR	`~/.conan/`	[244]	`export CONAN_USER_HOME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"` will set the directory in which `.conan/` is created. It was designed to simplify CI, but can be used here too.
cryptomator^AUR	`~/.Cryptomator`	[245]
ctags (universial-ctags)	`~/.ctagsrc, .ctags.d`	[246]
CUPS	`~/.cups/`	[247]
cVim	`~/.cvimrc`	[248]
darcs	`~/.darcs/`	[249]
dart	`~/.dart`, `~/.dartServer`	[250]
dbus	`~/.dbus/`	[251]	Consider using dbus-broker, as it does not create or use this directory.
devede	`~/.devedeng`		Hardcoded here
Dia	`~/.dia/`
dotnet-sdk	`~/.dotnet/`	[252]
dropbox	`~/.dropbox/`
Eclipse	`~/.eclipse/`	[253]	Option `[email protected]/.config/..` overrides but must be added to `"$ECLIPSE_HOME"/eclipse.ini"` rather than command line which means you must have write access to `$ECLIPSE_HOME`. (Arch Linux hard-codes `$ECLIPSE_HOME` in `/usr/bin/eclipse`)
Fetchmail	`~/.fetchmailrc`
Firefox	`~/.mozilla/`	[254] [255]
Flatpak	`~/.var/`	[256] [257] won't fix
fltk	`~/.fltk/`	[258]
freesweep	`~/.sweeprc`	[259]
gftp	`~/.gftp/`	[260]	Following the XDG spec is planned for gftp.
ghidra		[261]
GoldenDict	`~/.goldendict/`	[262]
gramps	`~/.gramps/`	[263]	2022 Support XDG base directory specification (for next release Gramps 5.2 ) - Patch https://github.com/gramps-project/gramps/pull/1368
groovy	`~/.groovy/`
grsync	`~/.grsync/`	[264]
google-cloud-sdk^AUR	`~/.gsutil/`	[265]
gtk-recordMyDesktop	`~/.gtk-recordmydesktop`
hplip	`~/.hplip/`	[266]
idris	`~/.idris`	[267]
itch-setup-bin^AUR	`~/.itch`	won't fix	You can move the Game install location in the app settings.
lbdb^AUR	`~/.lbdbrc, ~/.lbdb/`	[268]
llpp	`~/.config/llpp.conf`	[269]	Added in 3ab86f0 but subsequently reverted in e253c9f1
Java OpenJDK	`~/.java/fonts`	[270]	`export _JAVA_OPTIONS=-Djava.util.prefs.userRoot="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/java`
Java OpenJFX	`~/.java/webview`
jgmenu	`~/.jgmenu-lockfile`	[271] [272]
julia	`~/.juliarc.jl`, `~/.julia_history`, `~/.julia`	[273] [274]	The trailing `:$JULIA_DEPOT_PATH` is necessary. See [275] `export JULIA_DEPOT_PATH="$XDG_DATA_HOME/julia:$JULIA_DEPOT_PATH"`
kite^AUR	`~/.kite/`	[276]
kotlin	`~/.kotlinc_history`		Related Konan issue: [277]
Kubernetes	`~/.kube/`	[278][279]
librewolf^AUR	`~/.mozilla` `~/.librewolf`	[280]
Linux PAM	`~/.pam_environment`	[281]	Hardcoded in modules/pam_env/pam_env.c
lldb	`~/.lldb`, `~/.lldbinit`
LMMS	`~/.lmmsrc.xml`	[282]
mathomatic	`~/.mathomaticrc`, `~/.matho_history`		History can be moved by using `rlwrap mathomatic -r` with the `RLWRAP_HOME` environment set appropriately.
Minecraft	`~/.minecraft/`	won't fix
Minetest	`~/.minetest/`	won't fix [283]
minicom	`~/.minirc.dfl`		Upstream has a TODO entry for supporting configuration files under `~/.config/minicom`. [284]
Mono	`~/.mono/`	[285]
mongodb	`~/.mongorc.js`, `~/.dbshell`	[286]	This Stack Overflow thread suggests a partial workaround using command-line switch `--norc`.
	`~/.netrc`		Like `~/.ssh`, many programs expect this file to be here. These include projects like curl (`CURLOPT_NETRC_FILE`), ftp (`NETRC`), s-nail (`NETRC`), etc. While some of them offer alternative configurable locations, many do not such as w3m, wget and lftp.
nmcli	`~/.nmcli-history`	[287]	Hardcoded to `g_get_home_dir()`[288] [289]
Networkmanager-openvpn	`~/.cert/nm-openvpn`	[290]
ocaml-utop^AUR	`~/.utop-history`	[291]	There's an open PR to move `~/.utop-hostory` to `$XDG_CACHE_HOME` [292]
OpenSSH	`~/.ssh`	won't fix	Assumed to be present by many ssh daemons and clients such as DropBear and OpenSSH.
palemoon	`~/.moonchild productions`	[293]
parsec-bin^AUR	`~/.parsec`
pcsxr^AUR	`~/.pcsxr`		A `-cfg` flag exists, but can only be set relative to `~/.pcsxr`.
perf	`~/.debug`		Hardcoded in tools/perf/util/config.c. Commit: [294]
perl	`~/.cpan`, `~/perl5`	[295]	Perl5's CPAN expects `~/.cpan`
portfolio-performance-bin^AUR	`~/.PortfolioPerformance/`	[296]
various shells and display managers	`~/.profile`
psensor	`~/.psensor`	[297]
python	`~/.python_history`	[298] [299] [300]	All history from interactive sessions is saved to `~/.python_history` by default since version 3.4. This can still be customized the same way as in older versions (see this example), including to use a custom path or disable history saving.
python-tensorflow	`~/.keras`	[301]	The issues is for `tf.keras` module
qmmp	`~/.qmmp`	[302]
Qt Designer	`~/.designer`	[303]
RedNotebook	`~/.rednotebook`	[304]
Remarkable	`~/.remarkable`
renderdoc^AUR	`~/.renderdoc`	won't fix
Ren'Py	`~/.renpy`	won't fix
repo	`~/.repoconfig`	[305]
SANE	`~/.sane/`		`scanimage` creates a `.cal` file there
sbcl	`~/.sbclrc`		/etc/sbclrc (require :asdf) (setf sb-ext:userinit-pathname-function (lambda () (uiop:xdg-config-home #P"sbcl/sbclrc"))) Note that this requires root privileges and will change the location of `~/.sbclrc` for all users. This can be mitigated by checking for an existing `~/.sbclrc` inside the `lambda` form.
SeaMonkey	`~/.mozilla/seamonkey`	[306]
Signal Desktop		[307]	Currently keeps messages in `~/.config/Signal`
Snap	`~/snap/`	[308]
Solfege	`~/.solfege`, `~/.solfegerc`, `~/lessonfiles`	[309]
SpamAssassin	`~/.spamassassin`
SQLite	`~/.sqlite_history`, `~/.sqliterc`	[310]	`export SQLITE_HISTORY=$XDG_DATA_HOME/sqlite_history`, `sqlite3 -init "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/sqlite3/sqliterc`
Steam	`~/.steam`, `~/.steampath`, `~/.steampid`	[311]	Many game engines (Unity 3D, Unreal) follow the specification, but then individual game publishers hardcode the paths in Steam Auto-Cloud causing game-saves to sync to the wrong directory.
TeamSpeak	`~/.ts3client`		`export TS3_CONFIG_DIR="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ts3client"`
terraform	`~/.terraform.d/`	[312]
texinfo	`~/.infokey`		`info --init-file "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/infokey"`
Thunderbird	`~/.thunderbird/`	[313]
TigerVNC	`~/.vnc`	[314]
tllocalmgr	`~/.texlive`
urlview^AUR	`~/.urlview`		Use fork urlview-xdg-git^AUR instead. The fork will use `XDG_CONFIG_HOME/urlview/config`
vale^AUR	`~/.vale.ini`	won't fix	`vale --config "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vale/config.ini"`
vim	`~/.vim`, `~/.vimrc`, `~/.viminfo`	[315]	Since 7.3.1178 vim will search for `~/.vim/vimrc` if `~/.vimrc` is not found. "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/vim/vimrc set runtimepath^=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim set runtimepath+=$XDG_DATA_HOME/vim set runtimepath+=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/after set packpath^=$XDG_DATA_HOME/vim,$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim set packpath+=$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/after,$XDG_DATA_HOME/vim/after let g:netrw_home = $XDG_DATA_HOME."/vim" call mkdir($XDG_DATA_HOME."/vim/spell", 'p') set backupdir=$XDG_STATE_HOME/vim/backup \| call mkdir(&backupdir, 'p') set directory=$XDG_STATE_HOME/vim/swap \| call mkdir(&directory, 'p') set undodir=$XDG_STATE_HOME/vim/undo \| call mkdir(&undodir, 'p') set viewdir=$XDG_STATE_HOME/vim/view \| call mkdir(&viewdir, 'p') if !has('nvim') \| set viminfofile=$XDG_STATE_HOME/vim/viminfo \| endif ~/.profile export GVIMINIT='let $MYGVIMRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/gvimrc" \| source $MYGVIMRC' export VIMINIT='let $MYVIMRC="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/vimrc" \| source $MYVIMRC' `[G]VIMINIT` environment variable will also affect Neovim. If separate configs for Vim and Neovim are desired then the following will be a better choice: export GVIMINIT='let $MYGVIMRC = !has("nvim") ? "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/gvimrc" : "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim/init.gvim" \| so $MYGVIMRC' export VIMINIT='let $MYVIMRC = !has("nvim") ? "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/vimrc" : "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nvim/init.vim" \| so $MYVIMRC' https://blog.joren.ga/vim-xdg https://tlvince.com/vim-respect-xdg
vimperator	`~/.vimperatorrc`	[316]	`export VIMPERATOR_INIT=":source $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vimperator/vimperatorrc"` `export VIMPERATOR_RUNTIME="$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"/vimperator`
visidata	`~/.visidata`	[317]
w3m	`~/.w3m`	[318] [319]
wpa_cli	`~/.wpa_cli_history`
wego^AUR	`~/.wegorc`	[320]
x2goclient^AUR	`~/.x2goclient`		`alias x2goclient="x2goclient --home=$HOME/.config"`
xdg-utils	`~/.gnome`	[321] [322] [323]	For some reason the script `xdg-desktop-menu` hard-codes `gnome_user_dir="$HOME/.gnome/apps"`. This is used by chromium among others. Bug discussion has moved to gitlab and PR with fix exists, however it is not merged yet.
xpdf	`~/.xpdfrc`
xrdp^AUR	`~/thinclient_drives`, `~/.pcsc*`		For the directory `~/thinclient_drives`, you may consider editing `/etc/xrdp/sesman.ini` and modifying the section `[Chansrv]` following the example config.
XVim2	`~/.xvimrc`	[324]
YARD	`~/.yard`	[325]	Would accept Pull Request if anyone want to implement it.
zenmap nmap	`~/.zenmap`	[326] [327]
zoom^AUR	`~/.zoom`		Unrecommended: setting the following variable moves the contents of .zoom but the directory itself always gets created. Moreover, it breaks some functionalities eg. being able to start a meeting. `export SSB_HOME="$XDG_DATA_HOME"/zoom`
zotero-bin^AUR	`~/.zotero` `~/Zotero`	[328]
zsh	`~/.zshrc`, `~/.zprofile`, `~/.zshenv`, `~/.zlogin`, `~/.zlogout`, `~/.histfile`, `~/.zcompdump`, `~/.zcompcache`	[329]	Consider exporting `ZDOTDIR=$HOME/.config/zsh` in `~/.zshenv` (this is hardcoded due to the bootstrap problem). You could also add this to `/etc/zsh/zshenv` and avoid the need for any dotfiles in your `HOME`. Doing this however requires root privilege which may not be viable and is system-wide. `export HISTFILE="$XDG_STATE_HOME"/zsh/history` `compinit -d $XDG_CACHE_HOME/zsh/zcompdump-$ZSH_VERSION` [330] /!\ The folder needs to exist `zstyle ':completion:*' cache-path $XDG_CACHE_HOME/zsh/zcompcache`

Libraries

C: libXDGdirs; C99: Cloudef's simple implementation.

C++: xdg-utils-cxx; xdgpp

Go: adrg/xdg; go-appdir (deprecated, archived); configdir (deprecated, abandoned); kyoh86/xdg (deprecated, archived)

Haskell: Officially in directory since 1.2.3.0 ab9d0810ce.; xdg-basedir

JVM: Java, Kotlin, Clojure, Scala, ...; directories-jvm

Perl: File-BaseDir

Python: pyxdg

Ruby: bkuhlmann/xdg; rubyworks/xdg (deprecated, abandoned)

Rust: directories-rs; rust-xdg

Vala: Builtin support via GLib.Environment.; See get_user_cache_dir, get_user_data_dir, get_user_config_dir, etc.