vibe keeps its own files in one folder in your home directory and reads a few environment variables. This page lists the folder's contents, every variable, and which wins when they disagree.
| Path | What it holds |
| `~/.vibe/cache/` | the machine store of fetched packages, keyed by identity |
| `~/.vibe/registries/` | git clones of registries, used to fetch packages |
| `~/.vibe/opt/` | installed versions of vibe, their launchers in `opt/bin/`, and the downloaded reader shell |
| `~/.vibe/registry.toml` | machine-wide registries, mirrors and overrides, merged after each project's |
| `~/.vibe/config.toml` | user configuration: `[env]`, `[install]`, `[net]` |
| `~/.vibe/settings.toml` | your application preferences, the first of three layers |
| `~/.vibe/<host>.publish.token`, `~/.vibe/git.publish.token` | publish tokens, readable by you alone; never printed, never copied |
| `~/.vibe/search-cache/` | cached search results with a time to live |
On Windows the folder is `%USERPROFILE%\.vibe\`. The older location under `~/.vibevm/` is never read; move anything you kept there.
| Path | What it holds |
| `.vibe/settings.toml` | the team's shared preferences, committed; the second layer |
| `.vibe/settings.local.toml` | your per-project fine-tuning, ignored by git; the third layer |
| `.vibe/lifecycle.toml`, `.vibe/trace/`, `.vibe/agentic/` | lifecycle fingerprints, compile traces and the agent relay mailbox; machine state, not committed |
Preferences merge layer by layer: a scalar from a higher layer replaces, tables merge deeply, arrays replace as a whole. `vibe prefs list` shows every resolved value with its origin, `vibe prefs show-origins` the [contribution](../glossary/index.xml#contribution) of each layer, and `vibe prefs set` writes one key into one layer.
The three layers are the machine, `~/.vibe/settings.toml`, the repository, `.vibe/settings.toml`, and your own copy for one project, `.vibe/settings.local.toml`, which `vibe init` adds to `.gitignore` so it is never committed by accident. The precedence between them is one fixed law, written in the binary. A missing or broken file counts as absent with a warning, never as an error. Every key is declared with a type and a default, and an unknown key is a loud warning at boot and in `vibe prefs check`. These files hold how vibe looks and behaves for you; project properties live in the manifest, and a committed settings file may carry no secrets. The commands are `vibe prefs get`, `set` with `--layer`, `list`, `check`, `migrate` and `show-origins`.
`vibe prefs` without arguments opens a settings screen in the terminal: a tree of pages on the left, drawn by the same widget as `vibe tree`, and a form on the right. Editing a field writes to a layer you choose, your own project layer by default inside a project and the machine layer outside one. A field shows its provenance on demand, the winning layer and the shadowed ones, and lets you set or clear one layer without touching the others. A search finds settings by key, name, description and synonyms.
| Variable | Effect |
| `VIBE_SETTINGS` | moves the whole `~/.vibe/` folder to the given path, used verbatim |
| `VIBE_REGISTRY_CACHE` | moves the registry clone cache |
| `VIBE_OFFLINE` | forbids network access, like `--offline`; truthy values `1`, `true`, `yes`, `on` |
| `VIBE_INVOKED_BY` | names the calling agent, like `--invoked-by`; stamped into every JSON report |
| `VIBE_UNATTENDED` | answers every confirmation and refuses wizards, like `--unattended` |
| `VIBE_NO_DEFAULT_REGISTRY` | ignores the embedded registry of a source-built vibe |
| `VIBEVM_INDEX_URL_<REGISTRY>` | the index location of one registry; `none` switches its index off |
| `VIBEVM_REGISTRY_TOKEN_<HOST>` | the token a registry with `auth = "token-env"` reads |
| `VIBEVM_PUBLISH_TOKEN` | the publish token; wins over the token files |
| `VIBEVM_HOME`, `VIBEVM_INSTALL_ROOT` | advisory: where the installed versions live; the running binary's own location is the truth, and `vibe vars diff` shows where they disagree |
| `VIBE_LOG` | the log filter of the process |
For the same setting, a flag on the command line wins over an environment variable, which wins over the project's configuration, which wins over the user's, which wins over the built-in default. The same order holds for [registries](../glossary/index.xml#registry): a project's list wins over the machine's.
Token files are surface secrets: restrict them to your user, never commit them, never paste their contents anywhere. vibe redacts a token in every output and error, and the discipline on your side is the same.
`vibe show config` is the project-configuration view with the origin of each value; `vibe prefs` is the application-preference file. They are different files and different commands.