emqx/MQTTX

[Feature/Bug] On Linux follow XDG Base Directory Specification

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#2,013 opened on Dec 18, 2025

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Linuxdesktopdiscussionhelp wanted

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Description

Motivation

On linux MQTTX stores cache inside ~/.config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME). This is bad because users can't rely on configs being "light", they are polluted with caches and can't be just copied around. There is an existing solution that has been around for many years, XDG Base Directory Specification.

The specification: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir/latest/

Detailed design

Convention is to store cache in $XDG_CACHE_HOME or at least ~/.cache. The same goes for data - XDG_DATA_HOME or at least ~.local/share.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate current file storage paths in the source code, then modify them to use $XDG CACHE HOME and $XDG DATA HOME with fallback to ~/.cache and ~/.local/share respectively.
Tech stack
typescript
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
Git
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60