Feature Request: Option to change location of profiles.json

[logonoff]

Summary of the new feature/enhancement

Going though local appdata is hard and it'd be nice if you could change where it fetches the config file. a usecase could be people who have dotfiles repos to place their config in the user dir or config folder instead of making a symlink

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

Maybe put the path of it in a json file and have it configurable via a gui?

[fredrikaverpil]

I would like to symlink ~\dotfiles\profiles.json to ~\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\RoamingState\profiles.json but I am curious about that 8wekyb3d8bbwe identifier in the path.

What is it for and will it change?

[kumarharsh]

I think 8wekyb3d8bbwe identifier is a fixed string (perhaps related to it's Store ID or something similar), and won't change.

[Cologler]

I guess 8wekyb3d8bbwe is the store publisher id of Microsoft.

[DHowett-MSFT]

We're probably not going to do this. A symbolic link will work. The identity, 8wek..., is based on the name used to sign the app bundle. This one means "Microsoft." It won't change.

[franjozen]

The problem with a symbolic link is that the terminal doesn't react to the settings changing.

[fredrikaverpil]

@franjozen are you sure?
I am 90% sure my terminal reacts to changes immediately when editing the profile and I have a symlink set up to my dotfiles. I can check once I am at my computer.

[franjozen]

@fredrikaverpil Yes, I've created the symlink like this:
new-item -itemtype symboliclink -path .\ -name profiles.json -value ..\..\..\..\..\dotfiles\WindowsTerminal\profiles.json
Nothing happens when I save, I have to restart Terminal to see the changes.

[fredrikaverpil]

@franjozen oh, it seems I have the very same behavior here as on your end.

[Antorell]

Sorry for bumping this closed post. Posting if somebody hasn't figured yet.
You need to create a junction/SymbolicLink to the LocalState folder that link to a folder that contains the WT settings.json instead of linking the settings.json directly, if you want the settings to update right away when you edit the settings.json.

Something like this:
New-Item -Force -Type Junction -Path "$ENV:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\Microsoft.WindowsTerminal_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState" -Value "Path\to\myfolder\withtheWTsettings.json\insideit"