# Overview

###### LocalCan keeps everything it persists in `~/.localcan/`. The desktop UI and the CLI both read and write the same files.

#### Layout

```plaintext
~/.localcan/
  config.yml         # daemon-wide settings (license, proxy ports, inspector limits)
  projects/          # one file per project — see Projects
    my-app.yml
    api.yml
    _quick_http_3000_8a3f.yml   # transient, written by `localcan http`
  certs/             # generated TLS certificates for local domains
  daemon.sock        # macOS/Linux RPC socket (Windows uses a named pipe)
```

Run `localcan config path` to print the directory.

#### One file per project

Each YAML file under `projects/` is a single project. The **project ID** is the filename without `.yml`:

```plaintext
projects/my-app.yml      → project "my-app"
projects/team-api.yml    → project "team-api"
```

Project IDs must be alphanumeric (plus `-`, `_`, `.`). The `_ext_` prefix is reserved, and `_quick_*.yml` files are managed by the [quick tunnel](/docs/cli/quick-tunnels) commands. Don't edit them by hand.

#### Hot-reload

The daemon does not watch the filesystem. After you add, edit, or delete a file under `projects/`, run:

```sh
localcan reload
```

The reload is non-disruptive: only projects that actually changed get rebuilt. Tunnels you didn't touch keep their connections.

#### Version control

Every file under `projects/` is plain YAML and safe to commit: checking `~/.localcan/projects/<id>.yml` into a dotfiles repo or copying it from a private one is the pragmatic path today. A dedicated "external project" mechanism that lets you keep project files inside your app's own repo and point LocalCan at them is in development for a future release.

> [!WARNING]
> Don't commit `config.yml`. It contains your license key. Don't commit `certs/` either. Certs are regenerated when missing.

#### Reference

- [Daemon config](/docs/configuration/daemon-config): every key in `config.yml`.
- [Projects](/docs/configuration/projects): every key in `projects/<id>.yml`.
- [Headers](/docs/configuration/headers): header rewriting in detail.
- [Basic auth](/docs/configuration/basic-auth): protecting endpoints with a password.