xdg-base-dirs is a Python module that provides functions to return paths to the directories defined by the XDG Base Directory Specification, to save you from duplicating the same snippet of logic in every Python utility you write that deals with user cache, configuration, or data files. It has no external dependencies.
xdg-base-dirs currently implements version 0.8 of the specification, released on 8th May 2021.
Note
xdg-base-dirs was previously named xdg, and was renamed due to an import
collision with PyXDG. If you used xdg prior
to the rename, update by changing the dependency name from xdg to
xdg-base-dirs, and the import from xdg to xdg_base_dirs.
xdg-base-dirs requires Python 3.10 or later. To add xdg-base-dirs as a dependency to a project managed with uv, use:
uv add xdg-base-dirsAlternatively, since xdg-base-dirs is only a single file you may prefer to just
copy src/xdg_base_dirs/__init__.py from the source distribution into your
project.
from xdg_base_dirs import (
xdg_cache_home,
xdg_config_dirs,
xdg_config_home,
xdg_data_dirs,
xdg_data_home,
xdg_runtime_dir,
xdg_state_home,
)xdg_cache_home(), xdg_config_home(), xdg_data_home(), and
xdg_state_home() return pathlib.Path objects containing the value
of the environment variable named XDG_CACHE_HOME, XDG_CONFIG_HOME,
XDG_DATA_HOME, and XDG_STATE_HOME respectively, or the default defined in
the specification if the environment variable is unset, empty, or contains a
relative path rather than absolute path.
xdg_config_dirs() and xdg_data_dirs() return a list of pathlib.Path
objects containing the value, split on colons, of the environment variable named
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS and XDG_DATA_DIRS respectively, or the default defined in
the specification if the environment variable is unset or empty. Relative paths
are ignored, as per the specification.
xdg_runtime_dir() returns a pathlib.Path object containing the value of the
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environment variable, or None if the environment variable is
not set, or contains a relative path rather than an absolute path.
Copyright © Scott Stevenson.
xdg-base-dirs is distributed under the terms of the ISC license.