Settings and Configuration¶

Sayer provides a built-in way to configure your CLI application using centralized settings, powered by the SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE environment variable.

This mechanism lets you:

Keep config logic out of command code
Load settings dynamically
Easily override settings in dev, test, and prod environments

⚙️ Default Settings Class¶

Sayer includes a built-in Settings dataclass that defines the default configuration used when no SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE is set, or when internal tools need immediate settings access.

This class covers:

Debug mode and logging
Output color systems
Version tagging
Serialization utilities

📦 Location¶

from sayer.conf.settings import Settings

This is not to be confused with your application-level settings — it is used internally and as a base for custom configurations.

🧾 Default Fields¶

Field	Type	Description
`debug`	`bool`	Enables debug mode (more logging, errors)
`logging_level`	`str`	Logging threshold (`DEBUG`, `INFO`, etc.)
`version`	`str`	Version of the Sayer library (auto-filled)
`is_logging_setup`	`bool`	Tracks if logging has already been configured
`force_terminal`	`bool \| None`	Force terminal output regardless of environment
`color_system`	`"auto" \| "standard" \| "256" \| ...`	Controls terminal color profile
`display_full_help`	`bool`	Flag indicating the the display of each command must be diplayed in full
`display_help_length`	`int`	The length of the help if `display_full_help` is set to False. Defaults to 99
`formatter_class`	`RichHelpFormatter`	The formatter used to render the Sayer Rich UI. This can be overridden by any custom renderer.

🎛️ Field Examples¶

settings.debug = True
settings.logging_level = "DEBUG"
settings.force_terminal = True
settings.color_system = "256"

🧠 `logging_config` Property¶

This is a dynamic property that returns a LoggingConfig object based on the current logging level.

config = settings.logging_config

Sayer uses this internally to configure rich/standard logging output. You can override it:

from sayer.logging import CustomLoggingConfig

settings.logging_config = CustomLoggingConfig(level="DEBUG")

🔄 Converting to Dict or Tuples¶

The Settings class provides two helpers to introspect or export the config:

`dict(...)`¶

settings.dict(exclude_none=True, upper=True)

Args:

exclude_none: Omit fields with None values
upper: Transform keys to uppercase (useful for env-like exports)

Returns:

{
  "DEBUG": True,
  "LOGGING_LEVEL": "INFO",
  ...
}

`tuple(...)`¶

settings.tuple(exclude_none=True, upper=False)

Returns:

[("debug", True), ("logging_level", "INFO"), ...]

Useful for exporting to .env files or logging config introspection.

🧰 Internal Use¶

The Settings class is primarily used:

As the fallback configuration if SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE is not defined
By components like sayer.logging and rich terminal integration
To bootstrap internal state when settings aren't user-defined

🧪 Customizing in Tests¶

You can use it in test environments or override fields dynamically:

from sayer.conf.global_settings import Settings

s = Settings(debug=True, logging_level="DEBUG")
print(s.dict())

🧬 Summary¶

Feature	Supported
Built-in debug mode	✅
Color and terminal control	✅
Logging abstraction	✅
Dict export	✅
Tuple export	✅
Used in fallback mode	✅

This class is the core config contract Sayer uses internally — you can use it as a reference to build more advanced or environment-specific config systems.

📦 How It Works¶

At runtime, Sayer looks for the environment variable:

SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE=your_project.settings.Dev

It will:

Import the specified module
Access the specified class (e.g., Dev)
Instantiate and expose it as settings anywhere you need

🧠 Anatomy of a Settings Module¶

# your_project/settings.py
from sayer.conf.global_settings import BaseSettings

class Base(BaseSettings):
    debug = False
    retries = 3

class Dev(Base):
    debug = True
    retries = 10

🚀 Setting the Module¶

You must set the environment variable before launching the CLI:

export SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE=your_project.settings.Dev
python app.py my-command

You can also set it inline:

SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE=your_project.settings.Dev python app.py my-command

🧪 Accessing Settings in Commands¶

from sayer.conf import settings

@command()
def show():
    print("Debug mode:", settings.debug)

No need to pass it explicitly — it's global, and lazily loaded on first access.

🧰 Settings Best Practices¶

1. Split environments:¶

# settings.py
from dataclasses import dataclass
from sayer.conf.global_settings import BaseSettings

class Base(BaseSettings):
    retries = 3

class Dev(Base):
    debug = True

class Prod(Base):
    debug = False
    retries = 1

Use different envs like:

SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE=myapp.settings.Dev

2. Type Your Settings¶

Sayer doesn't enforce typing but it's recommended:

class Dev:
    debug: bool = True
    retries: int = 3

You can combine this with Pydantic, attrs, or msgspec for stricter validation if desired.

🧪 Overriding Settings in Tests¶

Tests that rely on settings should override the environment variable or monkey-patch sayer.conf.settings.

Example:

import os
from sayer.conf import settings

def test_behavior(monkeypatch):
    monkeypatch.setenv("SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE", "tests.fake_settings.Mocked")
    assert settings.debug is True

Or if settings is already imported:

settings.debug = True  # override directly for testing

🧠 Under the Hood¶

If SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE is unset, it will use the internal by default or if invalid, Sayer will raise a helpful exception.

🧰 Recap¶

Feature	Description
`SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE`	Points to your settings class
`settings`	Auto-loaded global settings object
Lazy loading	Only instantiated when accessed
Nested inheritance	Use `Base`, `Dev`, `Prod` hierarchies
Test override	Patch env var or mutate `settings` in test

✅ Example Project Structure¶

myapp/
├── settings.py
│   ├── class Base
│   ├── class Dev(Base)
│   └── class Prod(Base)
├── commands.py
└── main.py

Set it:

export SAYER_SETTINGS_MODULE=myapp.settings.Dev

Access it:

from sayer.conf import settings
print(settings.retries)

👉 Next: Commands