feat(config): add local config override and env var support for recording fields (#231)

Co-authored-by: Devin AI <158243242+devin-ai-integration[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Sohil Kshirsagar <sohil@usetusk.ai>

Author: devin-ai-integration[bot]

cmd/drift.go

@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-const configFlagUsage = "config file (default is .tusk/config.yaml)"
+const (
+	configFlagUsage         = "config file (default is .tusk/config.yaml)"
+	configOverrideFlagUsage = "config override file (merges on top of the base config)"
+)
 
 //go:embed short_docs/drift/drift_overview.md
 var driftOverviewContent string
@@ -21,6 +24,7 @@ var driftCmd = &cobra.Command{
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(driftCmd)
 	driftCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&cfgFile, "config", "", configFlagUsage)
+	driftCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&cfgOverrideFile, "config-override", "", configOverrideFlagUsage)
 }
 
 func bindLegacyDriftAliasConfigFlag(cmd *cobra.Command) {

cmd/drift_query.go

@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ func init() {
 
 // setupDriftQueryCloud sets up the API client and resolves the service ID.
 func setupDriftQueryCloud(serviceIDFlag string) (*api.TuskClient, api.AuthOptions, string, error) {
+	// Ensure config is loaded with override support before Get() is called by SetupCloud
+	if err := config.Load(cfgFile, cfgOverrideFile); err != nil {
+		if cfgOverrideFile != "" || os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE") != "" {
+			return nil, api.AuthOptions{}, "", fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	client, authOptions, cfg, err := api.SetupCloud(context.Background(), false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, api.AuthOptions{}, "", err

cmd/drift_query_services.go

@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@ package cmd
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/Use-Tusk/tusk-cli/internal/api"
+	"github.com/Use-Tusk/tusk-cli/internal/config"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
@@ -12,6 +15,13 @@ var driftQueryServicesCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short:        "List available Tusk Drift Cloud services",
 	SilenceUsage: true,
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		// Ensure config is loaded with override support before Get() is called by SetupCloud
+		if err := config.Load(cfgFile, cfgOverrideFile); err != nil {
+			if cfgOverrideFile != "" || os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE") != "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+
 		client, authOptions, _, err := api.SetupCloud(context.Background(), false)
 		if err != nil {
 			return formatApiError(err)

cmd/list.go

@@ -69,7 +69,11 @@ func bindListFlags(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 func listTests(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	setupSignalHandling()
 
-	_ = config.Load(cfgFile)
+	if err := config.Load(cfgFile, cfgOverrideFile); err != nil {
+		if cfgOverrideFile != "" || os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE") != "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
 	cfg, getConfigErr := config.Get()
 
 	executor := runner.NewExecutor()
@@ -124,7 +128,11 @@ func listTests(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		}
 		tests = runner.ConvertTraceTestsToRunnerTests(all)
 	} else {
-		_ = config.Load("")
+		if err := config.Load("", cfgOverrideFile); err != nil {
+			if cfgOverrideFile != "" || os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE") != "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
 		cfg, getConfigErr := config.Get()
 
 		selected := traceDir

cmd/root.go

@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	cfgFile     string
-	debug       bool
-	showVersion bool
+	cfgFile         string
+	cfgOverrideFile string
+	debug           bool
+	showVersion     bool
 
 	// Cleanup infrastructure
 	cleanupFuncs []func()

cmd/run.go

@@ -157,7 +157,11 @@ func runTests(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	executor := runner.NewExecutor()
 	executor.SetDebug(debug)
 
-	_ = config.Load(cfgFile)
+	if err := config.Load(cfgFile, cfgOverrideFile); err != nil {
+		if cfgOverrideFile != "" || os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE") != "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to load config: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
 	cfg, getConfigErr := config.Get()
 	if getConfigErr == nil && cfg.TestExecution.Concurrency > 0 {
 		executor.SetConcurrency(cfg.TestExecution.Concurrency)

docs/drift/configuration.md

@@ -2,14 +2,57 @@
 
 This document lists all configuration options, defaults, environment overrides, and guidance. See [`docs/architecture.md`](architecture.md) for the end‑to‑end flow.
 
-Where the CLI reads config from:
+Where the CLI reads config from (highest precedence first):
 
 1. CLI flags (e.g., `--concurrency`, `--results-dir`, `--enable-service-logs`). See `--help` for each command for more details.
 2. Environment variables (prefix `TUSK_`)
-3. Config file (auto-discovered): `.tusk/config.yaml`, `.tusk/config.yml`, `tusk.yaml`, `tusk.yml`, or `~/.tusk/config.yaml`
+3. Config override file via `--config-override` flag or `TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE` env var (flag takes precedence)
+4. Base config file (auto-discovered): `.tusk/config.yaml`, `.tusk/config.yml`, `tusk.yaml`, `tusk.yml`, or `~/.tusk/config.yaml`
 
 **✨ Run `tusk drift setup` in your service root directory to start an agent automatically create a config file based on your service.**
 
+## Config Overrides
+
+You can provide a config override file that is merged on top of the base config. Only the fields you specify in the override file are changed; everything else is preserved from the base config.
+
+This is useful for local-only settings like disabling span export or changing the sampling mode without modifying the shared config file.
+
+**Using the `--config-override` flag:**
+```bash
+tusk drift run --config-override .tusk/local-config.yaml
+tusk drift list --config-override .tusk/local-config.yaml
+```
+
+**Using the `TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE` env var:**
+```bash
+TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE=.tusk/local-config.yaml tusk drift run
+```
+
+The `--config-override` flag takes precedence over the `TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE` env var. Both are overridden by individual env vars (e.g., `TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_MODE`).
+
+Example override file:
+
+```yaml
+recording:
+  sampling:
+    mode: fixed
+    base_rate: 1.0
+  export_spans: false
+  enable_env_var_recording: false
+```
+
+### Recording Environment Variable Overrides
+
+These env vars override the corresponding config keys regardless of what's in the config files:
+
+| Env var | Config key |
+|---------|-----------|
+| `TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_MODE` | `recording.sampling.mode` |
+| `TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_RATE` | `recording.sampling.base_rate` (+ legacy `recording.sampling_rate`) |
+| `TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_LOG_TRANSITIONS` | `recording.sampling.log_transitions` |
+| `TUSK_RECORDING_EXPORT_SPANS` | `recording.export_spans` |
+| `TUSK_ENABLE_ENV_VAR_RECORDING` | `recording.enable_env_var_recording` |
+
 ## Service
 
 <table>

internal/config/config.go

@@ -131,9 +131,14 @@ type CoverageConfig struct {
 	StripPathPrefix string   `koanf:"strip_path_prefix"`
 }
 
-// Load loads the config file and applies environment overrides.
+// Load loads the config file, applies overrides, and applies environment overrides.
 // This function is idempotent - calling it multiple times will only load once.
-func Load(configFile string) error {
+//
+// Config precedence (highest wins):
+//  1. Environment variables (TUSK_*)
+//  2. Override file (from --config-override flag or TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE env var)
+//  3. Base config file (.tusk/config.yaml)
+func Load(configFile string, overrideFiles ...string) error {
 	loadMutex.Lock()
 	defer loadMutex.Unlock()
 
@@ -158,6 +163,30 @@ func Load(configFile string) error {
 		log.Debug("No config file found, using defaults and environment variables")
 	}
 
+	// Determine override file: --config-override flag takes precedence over TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE env var.
+	// The env var fallback is only checked when the caller explicitly passes the overrideFiles arg
+	// (even if empty). Callers like ValidateConfigFile that pass no variadic arg won't trigger env
+	// var lookup, preventing TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE from interfering with validation.
+	var overridePath string
+	if len(overrideFiles) > 0 {
+		overridePath = overrideFiles[0]
+		if overridePath == "" {
+			overridePath = os.Getenv("TUSK_CONFIG_OVERRIDE")
+		}
+	}
+
+	if overridePath != "" {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(overridePath); err == nil { // #nosec G703 -- path from trusted flag/env var
+			if err := k.Load(file.Provider(overridePath), yaml.Parser()); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("error loading config override file %s: %w", overridePath, err)
+			}
+			log.Debug("Config override file loaded", "file", overridePath)
+			configFileFound = true
+		} else {
+			return fmt.Errorf("config override file not found: %s", overridePath)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Support environment variable overrides for specific config keys
 	envOverrides := map[string]string{
 		"TUSK_TRACES_DIR":                         "traces.dir",
@@ -167,6 +196,9 @@ func Load(configFile string) error {
 		"TUSK_RESULTS_DIR":                        "results.dir",
 		"TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_RATE":            "recording.sampling_rate",
 		"TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_LOG_TRANSITIONS": "recording.sampling.log_transitions",
+		"TUSK_RECORDING_SAMPLING_MODE":            "recording.sampling.mode",
+		"TUSK_RECORDING_EXPORT_SPANS":             "recording.export_spans",
+		"TUSK_ENABLE_ENV_VAR_RECORDING":           "recording.enable_env_var_recording",
 	}
 
 	for envKey, configKey := range envOverrides {