Allow overriding the location of the build cache

[pablochacin]

Enhancement Description

Add a flag such as --cache to allow overriding the location of the build cache.

Suggested Solution (optional)

No response

Already existing or connected issues / PRs (optional)

No response

[szkiba]

Hi @pablochacin , I would like to ask you for clarification. What do you mean by build cache? What is the use case that this flag solves?

The binary location of k6 can be specified using the --bin-dir flag. In general, the location of the cache (used by k6x and e.g. go builder) can be specified in the XDG_CACHE_HOME environment variable. The go build cache can be specified in the GOCACHE environment variable. The go module cache can be specified in the GOMODCACHE environment variable.

Since k6x is primarily a k6 launcher, I try to minimize the number of flags to avoid potential conflicts with k6 flags.

It is conceivable that the k6x cache directory (which is currently k6x under XDG_CACHE_HOME) could be specified in a K6X_CACHE_DIR environment variable (and with a --cache-dir flag). Is this what you mean by build cache? This directory contains the k6x bin directory and the http cache used for build preparation. The http cache contains GitHub API responses to avoid restrictions caused by the rate limit. This is a small cache.

[pablochacin]

It is conceivable that the k6x cache directory (which is currently k6x under XDG_CACHE_HOME) could be specified in a K6X_CACHE_DIR environment variable (and with a --cache-dir flag). Is this what you mean by build cache?

Yes. This is precisely what this issue is about.

Since k6x is primarily a k6 launcher, I try to minimize the number of flags to avoid potential conflicts with k6 flags.

This is a valid point. A simple way to overcome this is to use k6x as a prefix for options. For example k6x-build-cache

[szkiba]

The next release will include --cache-dir and K6X_CACHE_DIR support.

I also thought about prefixing the flag, but it doesn't seem like an aesthetic solution. I have put the topic on hold for now until it causes a problem.

[pablochacin]

Awesome, thanks.

[szkiba]

Hi @pablochacin , The v0.4.0 release includes this feature.