Configuration in Host the Docs

With Host the Docs, I chose to eschew configuration files and use a sphinx-style “conf.py” approach (I have previously written about how I like this approach). If a conf.py file is found, it is used for configuration, allowing it to override default configuration options. I also allow configuration through environment variables, where the environment variable name is the same as the conf.py variable but with HTD_ prepended.

So for example, in hostthedocs/getconfig.py, I have code like the following:

try:
    import conf
except ImportError:
    conf = None

def get(attr, default):
    result = os.getenv('HTD_' + attr.upper())
    if result is None:
        result = getattr(conf, attr, None)
    if result is None:
        result = default
    return result

welcome = get('welcome', 'Welcome to Host the Docs!')
# Other configuration values

I was initially going to use a json or yaml file, but always find their contracts a bit unclear, especially when paths are involved in the configuration (if the config uses relative paths, what are the paths relative to?). It also involves more code.

I was really happy with how using Python for configuration worked out in Host the Docs.