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description: Configuration management patterns
---

# Configuration Management Patterns

## YAML Configuration
- Use YAML format for human-readable configuration
- Provide sensible defaults for all configuration options
- Validate configuration on startup
- Generate default configuration file on first run

## Configuration Structure
- Group related settings in nested structures
- Use descriptive field names with YAML tags
- Provide default values in struct tags where possible
- Use appropriate data types (strings for sizes, ints for limits)

## Size Configuration
- Use human-readable size strings (e.g., "1GB", "512MB")
- Parse sizes using `github.com/docker/go-units`
- Support "0" to disable cache layers
- Validate size limits are reasonable

## Garbage Collection Configuration
- Support multiple GC algorithms per cache layer
- Provide algorithm-specific configuration options
- Allow different algorithms for memory vs disk caches
- Document algorithm characteristics and use cases

## Server Configuration
- Configure listen address and port
- Set concurrency limits (global and per-client)
- Configure upstream server URL
- Support both absolute and relative upstream URLs

## Runtime Configuration
- Allow command-line overrides for critical settings
- Support configuration file path specification
- Provide help and version information
- Validate configuration before starting services

## Default Configuration
- Generate appropriate defaults for different use cases
- Consider system resources when setting defaults
- Provide conservative defaults for home users
- Document configuration options in comments

## Configuration Validation
- Validate required fields are present
- Check that size limits are reasonable
- Verify file paths are accessible
- Test upstream server connectivity

## Configuration Updates
- Support configuration reloading (if needed)
- Handle configuration changes gracefully
- Log configuration changes
- Maintain backward compatibility

## Environment-Specific Configuration
- Support different configurations for development/production
- Allow environment variable overrides
- Provide configuration templates for common scenarios
- Document configuration best practices