Environment Variables
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Configure paths, terminal colors, diagnostics, and display settings through environment variables.
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Use environment variables for config discovery, terminal output, and diagnostics. For persistent download options, use the configuration file.
Config file path
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
COMIC_DL_CONFIG |
Override the config file path |
Color control
These are checked in precedence order. Explicit --color flags always win.
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
NO_COLOR |
Set (even to 0) to disable colors |
CLICOLOR_FORCE |
Set to force colors |
CLICOLOR |
0 = never, 1 = always |
FORCE_COLOR |
0 = never, 1 = 16-color, 2 = 256-color, 3 = truecolor |
TERM |
dumb or unknown disables colors |
COLORFGBG |
fg;bg index pair — background index ≥ 8 means light background |
Diagnostics
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
COMIC_DL_TRACE_HTTP |
Any non-empty/non-false value enables header-level HTTP traces |
COMIC_DL_ASCII |
1 forces ASCII glyphs (no Unicode) |
Display and editor
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
DISPLAY |
X11 display for webview solver (Linux) |
WAYLAND_DISPLAY |
Wayland display for webview solver (Linux) |
VISUAL / EDITOR |
Editor for config edit |
Color mode
--color controls when ANSI colors appear:
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
auto (default) |
Colors on interactive terminal, plain when piped. Consults env vars first. |
always |
Force ANSI output (e.g. for comic-dl ... | less -R) |
never |
Force plain output (alias for --no-color) |
--json output is always plain, regardless of color mode.