Configuration

cca works with no configuration at all. A config file only exists to change a default you keep overriding by hand.

Where the file goes

Platform	Path
Linux, macOS	~/.config/cca/config.json
Linux, macOS (XDG set)	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cca/config.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\cca\config.json

cca config prints the exact path it is looking at, whether or not the file exists.

Every setting

{
  "water_ml_per_1k_tokens": 0.30,
  "claude_dir": "",
  "pricing": "",
  "no_sidechains": false,
  "ascii": false,
  "no_color": false
}

Every key is optional. Omit what you do not want to change.

Key	Type	Default	Effect
water_ml_per_1k_tokens	number	0.30	The water constant. A placeholder, not a measurement
claude_dir	string	~/.claude	Where transcripts live
pricing	string	embedded table	Path to a replacement rate table
no_sidechains	bool	false	Exclude sub-agent usage
ascii	bool	false	Plain ASCII instead of ·, ≈, ─
no_color	bool	false	Never style output

JSON has no comments

The file supports a _comment key, which cca ignores, so you can document your own choices in place — particularly useful for explaining why you changed the water constant.

Precedence

Flag beats config file beats default. Always.

A boolean set to false in the file is a real setting, not an absent one, and a flag passed explicitly beats it either way.

Seeing what won

cca config

  Claude Code analyzer · resolved configuration

  Setting                 value                from
  claude_dir              /home/fahed/.claude  default
  water_ml_per_1k_tokens  0.30 mL / 1k tokens  default
  no_sidechains           false                default
  ascii                   false                default
  no_color                false                default

  Files
  File     path                                                                                                                       status
  config   /tmp/claude-1001/-home-fahed-Fahed-Personal-cca/51f4fc3e-1393-4a0a-8076-b8ada1d8bc9e/scratchpad/emptycfg/cca/config.json   not present
  pricing  /tmp/claude-1001/-home-fahed-Fahed-Personal-cca/51f4fc3e-1393-4a0a-8076-b8ada1d8bc9e/scratchpad/emptycfg/cca/pricing.json  embedded default

  ─ The water rate is a rough placeholder, not a measured value.
    Set water_ml_per_1k_tokens in the config file to substitute your own; see README.
  ─ No config file yet. Create one at the path above to change these defaults;
    every key is optional and any flag overrides it.

The from column is the point of this view. When output surprises you, this tells you which layer is responsible.

Overriding rates

Drop a pricing.json next to config.json, or pass --pricing PATH. It replaces the embedded table entirely rather than merging into it, so a price change is a whole-file edit and never a partial one.

See Rate table.

Changing the water constant

cca --water-ml-per-1k 0.12

or, permanently:

{ "water_ml_per_1k_tokens": 0.12 }

The printed assumption updates to match, so the output never claims a figure it did not use. See The water estimate.