Configuration layers

clily resolves command input by merging four layers:

1. CLI arguments
2. Environment variables
3. Config files
4. Schema defaults

That precedence is encoded directly in the framework.

defu(cliArgs, envVars, fileConfig, schemaDefaults)

Why this matters

Your handler should not need to care whether a value came from --profile=prod, an environment variable, or a local config file.

By the time the handler runs, clily has already:

• loaded matching config through c12
• resolved environment variables
• applied schema defaults
• validated the merged result

Config loading

clily searches for config based on the command name, including local and global rc files plus dotenv and package.json support through c12.

For a command named release, clily looks for sources such as:

• release.config.ts
• release.config.js
• .releaserc
• global rc variants

Design consequence

Model defaults in your schema when they are part of the command contract.

Use config files and environment variables when the values are deployment- or machine-specific.