---
id: ovos-config
version: "2.1.1"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# ovos-config — ovos-core configuration module

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 79.6K/mo

## What it is and what it does

ovos-config is a configuration management helper for Mycroft and OVOS voice assistant systems. It abstracts away the complexity of reading and writing configuration files stored in YAML format, offering both a Python API and a command-line interface. The package supports loose key searches (e.g., searching for 'phal' to find all PHAL-related settings) and strict path-based lookups (e.g., '/PHAL/ovos-PHAL-plugin-system/enabled'). It automatically derives and preserves data types when setting values, so integers stay integers and booleans stay booleans when written back to the config.

The CLI includes commands to get, set, and show configuration values, list available sections, and perform autoconfiguration. It merges system, user, and remote configurations into a unified view, making it easy to inspect the effective configuration without manually parsing YAML files. The package is lightweight, with low install friction and no security vulnerabilities, making it a straightforward choice for any project that needs to manage Mycroft or OVOS settings programmatically.

Use it for:

- Retrieve specific Mycroft config values in a Python script without manually parsing YAML files
- Modify voice assistant plugin settings from the command line without editing config files directly
- Search for all configuration entries matching a partial key name to discover available options
- Build an admin tool or web UI that reads and updates OVOS system settings safely
- Inspect the merged configuration (system + user + remote) to debug configuration conflicts

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides Python and command-line access to read, write, and manage Mycroft/OVOS configuration files with loose and strict key searching, type-safe casting, and a CLI tool for quick config inspection and modification.

Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and solves a real problem for Mycroft/OVOS users and developers. Low install friction and permissive licensing make it a safe dependency. Install it if you are building on top of Mycroft or OVOS and need programmatic config access.

## Install

pip install ovos-config
uv add ovos-config
poetry add ovos-config

## Installing ovos-config

Before you install: Low install friction; depends on five stable packages (PyYAML, python-dateutil, ovos-utils, combo-lock, rich-click). Actively maintained with recent commits and no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions; you must include a copy of the license and note material changes.

Quickstart:

pip install ovos-config

from ovos_config import Configuration

config = Configuration()
value = config.get('PHAL')
print(value)

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports Python 2 or only Python 3 (requires_python is unspecified)
- Whether ovos-utils and combo-lock are stable or frequently breaking

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 79.6K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

mycroft config management, ovos configuration helper, config file reader writer, yaml config cli tool, configuration key search, config-management, mycroft, voice-assistant

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/ovos-config) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/ovos-config/)