Configuration

sley can be configured through multiple methods, with the following precedence order:

1. Command-line flags (highest priority)
2. Environment variables
3. .sley.yaml configuration file
4. Default values (lowest priority)

Quick Start

Most users don't need a configuration file to get started. sley works out-of-the-box with sensible defaults.

# Initialize with defaults (creates .sley.yaml)
sley init --yes

# Or just start using sley - it auto-initializes
sley bump patch

Auto-initialization

If the .version file does not exist when running the CLI:

1. It tries to read the latest Git tag via git describe --tags
2. If the tag is a valid semantic version, it is used
3. Otherwise, the file is initialized to 0.1.0

This ensures your project always has a starting point.

To disable auto-initialization, use the --strict flag:

sley bump patch --strict
# => Error: .version file not found

Configuration Methods

Method	Use Case	Documentation
.sley.yaml	Project-level configuration, plugin settings, monorepo setup	Reference
Environment variables	CI/CD pipelines, session-level overrides	Reference
Command-line flags	One-off overrides, scripting	CLI Reference

See Also

• .sley.yaml Reference - Complete configuration file reference
• Environment Variables - Available environment variables and CI detection
• CLI Reference - Command-line flags and options
• Plugin System - Plugin configuration and execution order
• Usage Guide - Initialize and configure your project
• Troubleshooting - Common configuration issues