Configuration Overview

work-summary builds its runtime config by merging four layers, from lowest to highest priority:

Built-in defaults
    ↓
~/.work-summary/config.json  (global JSON)
    ↓
.work-summary.json           (repo-local JSON)
    ↓
Environment variables         (shell + .env files)

A value set at a higher layer always wins. Shell-exported variables take precedence over anything in .env files; .env files only fill keys that aren't already set.

Built-in Defaults

Field	Default	Description
repoPath	.	Repository to scan (current directory)
branch	main	Branch passed to git log
timeWindow	24h	Commit window
llm.summaryLength	medium	Gemini summary verbosity
output.dir	~/.work-summary/reports	Report output directory

Per-Layer Details

Built-in defaults

Hard-coded in src/config/loader.ts. Always present — you never need to specify these unless you want something different.

Global JSON — ~/.work-summary/config.json

Written by work-summary config set --global. Good for non-secret preferences shared across all repos on your machine (e.g., output.dir, llm.summaryLength).

work-summary config set output.dir "~/Reports" --global
work-summary config set llm.summaryLength long --global

Repo-local JSON — .work-summary.json

Written by work-summary config set (without --global). Commit this file to share defaults with your team or to pin settings per project.

work-summary config set branch main
work-summary config set timeWindow 48h
work-summary config set integrations.linear.teamId team-abc123

Environment variables

The highest-priority layer. Loaded from:

1. ~/.work-summary/.env (global, written by config init)
2. .env in the current working directory (repo-local, for source checkouts)
3. Your shell environment (export VAR=value)

Each source only sets keys that aren't already present. Shell-exported variables always win.

See Environment Variables for the full list.

All Config Keys

Key	Type	Description
repoPath	string	Default repo path when --repo is omitted.
branch	string	Default branch to scan.
timeWindow	string	Default commit window (30m, 24h, 2d, 1w).
excludePaths	string[]	Patterns or substrings excluded from normalized diffs.
focusAreas	string[]	Only include commits that touch at least one of these patterns.
llm.provider	string	LLM provider. "gemini" (default), an npm package (e.g. "@work-summary/openai"), or a relative path.
llm.model	string	Model name passed to the active provider.
llm.baseUrl	string	Custom API base URL for OpenAI-compatible providers (Ollama, Groq, etc.).
llm.summaryLength	short|medium|long	Summary verbosity.
llm.promptTemplate	string	Path to a .mustache template file that overrides the built-in summarization prompt.
output.dir	string	Report output directory (~ is expanded).
output.format	markdown|html|both	Default export format.
integrations.linear.teamId	string	Linear team ID for docs --create-issues.
integrations.docsRepo.path	string	Local docs repository path for docs push.
integrations.docsRepo.outputDir	string	Subdirectory inside docs repo. Defaults to doc-tasks.
integrations.docsRepo.autoCommit	boolean	Auto git-commit in the docs repo after docs push.
integrations.mintlify.projectId	string	Mintlify project ID.

Secrets in config files

Never put API keys in committed JSON config files. Use ~/.work-summary/.env, your shell's export, or config init. The config show command always masks key values.