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config_paths is where Otter Shell XDG locations live. Don’t hardcode ~/.config/otter-shell/ in app code.

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Config and data

const paths = @import("otter_utils").config_paths;

var buf: [std.fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;

// ~/.config/otter-shell/myapp.conf
const conf = paths.otterConfigPath(&buf, "myapp.conf") orelse return error.NoHome;

// ~/.config/otter-shell/ (trailing slash)
const dir = paths.otterConfigDir(&buf) orelse return error.NoHome;

// ~/.local/share/otter-shell/...
const data = paths.otterDataPath(&buf, "clip-history.json") orelse return error.NoHome;
Helpers exist for cache dirs, paths from an explicit home directory (tests), and ensuring cache directories exist.

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Runtime directory

State under $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/otter-shell/: 
const runtime = paths.otterRuntimePath(&buf, "wallpaper-state") orelse return error.NoRuntime;
try paths.ensureOtterRuntimeDir(allocator);
runtime_state reads and writes small JSON-ish state files here (for example lock screen wallpaper sync). runtime_socket builds bounded socket paths and can restrict socket FD permissions.

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Legacy migration

legacy_paths migrates old /tmp/otter-* clip and weather cache files into XDG data dirs on first access. Call the resolve* helpers rather than opening legacy paths directly.

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Assist helpers

assist parses JSON chat requests and formats ChatML prompts. Workspace-only; used by otter-assist, not packaged in otter-shell metapackages.