Configuration

GPC loads configuration from three sources, merged in precedence order. Every setting can be specified as a CLI flag, environment variable, or config file value.

Precedence Order

Configuration is resolved in this order (highest priority first):

Priority	Source	Example
1 (highest)	CLI flags	--app com.example.myapp
2	Environment variables	GPC_APP=com.example.myapp
3	Project config file	.gpcrc.json in current or parent directory
4 (lowest)	User config file	~/.config/gpc/config.json

A CLI flag always overrides an environment variable, which always overrides a config file value.

Config File

GPC looks for a config file in two locations:

1. Project config: .gpcrc.json in the current directory or any parent directory (walks up the tree)
2. User config: ~/.config/gpc/config.json (XDG-compliant)

If both exist, the project config values override the user config values. Within each file, all fields are optional.

Create a config file interactively

gpc config init

This prompts for common settings and writes a .gpcrc.json file in the current directory.

Show resolved configuration

gpc config show

Expected output:

Source              Key             Value
.gpcrc.json         app             com.example.myapp
.gpcrc.json         profile         default
default             output          table
GPC_MAX_RETRIES     maxRetries      5
default             timeout         30000

Show config file path

gpc config path

Expected output:

/Users/developer/projects/my-app/.gpcrc.json

Set a config value

gpc config set app com.example.myapp

gpc config set profile production

Full config file example

.gpcrc.json with all supported fields:

{
  "app": "com.example.myapp",
  "profile": "default",
  "output": "table",
  "developerId": "1234567890",
  "maxRetries": 3,
  "timeout": 30000,
  "baseDelay": 1000,
  "maxDelay": 60000,
  "rateLimit": 50,
  "caCert": "/path/to/custom-ca.pem",
  "proxy": "http://proxy.example.com:8080",
  "noColor": false,
  "noInteractive": false,
  "plugins": ["@gpc-cli/plugin-ci", "gpc-plugin-slack"]
}

Config file field reference

Field	Type	Default	Description
app	string	undefined	Default package name (e.g., com.example.myapp)
profile	string	"default"	Active auth profile name
output	"table" | "json" | "yaml" | "markdown"	"table" (TTY) / "json" (pipe)	Default output format
developerId	string	undefined	Developer account ID for user management commands
maxRetries	number	3	Maximum retry attempts on transient errors (429, 5xx)
timeout	number	30000	Request timeout in milliseconds
baseDelay	number	1000	Base retry delay in milliseconds (used with exponential backoff)
maxDelay	number	60000	Maximum retry delay in milliseconds (backoff cap)
rateLimit	number	50	Maximum requests per second to the Google Play API
caCert	string	undefined	Path to a custom CA certificate file (PEM format)
proxy	string	undefined	HTTP/HTTPS proxy URL
noColor	boolean	false	Disable colored output
noInteractive	boolean	false (auto-set in CI)	Disable interactive prompts
plugins	string[]	[]	List of plugin package names to load

Environment Variables

Every config file field has a corresponding environment variable. Environment variables override config file values but are overridden by CLI flags.

Variable	Type	Default	Description
GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT	string	undefined	Service account JSON key file path or JSON string. When set, overrides profile-based auth.
GPC_APP	string	undefined	Default package name. Equivalent to --app flag.
GPC_PROFILE	string	"default"	Auth profile name. Equivalent to --profile flag.
GPC_OUTPUT	string	"table" (TTY) / "json" (pipe)	Default output format. Equivalent to --output flag.
GPC_NO_COLOR	string	undefined	Set to any value to disable colored output. Equivalent to --no-color flag.
GPC_NO_INTERACTIVE	string	undefined	Set to any value to disable interactive prompts. Automatically set in CI environments. Equivalent to --no-interactive flag.
GPC_MAX_RETRIES	string (parsed as number)	"3"	Maximum retry attempts on transient errors (429, 5xx).
GPC_TIMEOUT	string (parsed as number)	"30000"	Request timeout in milliseconds.
GPC_BASE_DELAY	string (parsed as number)	"1000"	Base retry delay in milliseconds. Used with exponential backoff and jitter.
GPC_MAX_DELAY	string (parsed as number)	"60000"	Maximum retry delay in milliseconds. Caps the exponential backoff.
GPC_RATE_LIMIT	string (parsed as number)	"50"	Maximum requests per second to the Google Play API.
GPC_DEVELOPER_ID	string	undefined	Developer account ID. Required for gpc users commands.
GPC_CA_CERT	string	undefined	Path to a custom CA certificate file (PEM format). Used for corporate proxies with TLS interception.
HTTPS_PROXY	string	undefined	HTTP/HTTPS proxy URL. Standard environment variable, not GPC-specific.
GPC_SKIP_KEYCHAIN	string	undefined	Set to any value to skip OS keychain and use file-based credential storage instead.

Setting environment variables

# Single command
GPC_APP=com.example.myapp gpc releases status

# Shell session
export GPC_APP=com.example.myapp
export GPC_MAX_RETRIES=5
gpc releases status

CI/CD environment variables

# GitHub Actions
env:
  GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT: ${{ secrets.GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON }}
  GPC_APP: com.example.myapp
  GPC_NO_COLOR: "1"
  GPC_NO_INTERACTIVE: "1"

# GitLab CI
variables:
  GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT: $GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON
  GPC_APP: com.example.myapp
  GPC_NO_COLOR: "1"
  GPC_NO_INTERACTIVE: "1"

Profiles

Profiles let you store multiple authentication configurations and switch between them. Each profile has its own credentials and can optionally override any config value.

Create profiles

gpc auth login --service-account /path/to/dev-key.json --profile development
gpc auth login --service-account /path/to/prod-key.json --profile production

List profiles

gpc auth profiles

Expected output:

Profiles:

  * default        play-deploy@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com  (active)
    development    dev-deploy@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com
    production     prod-deploy@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Switch profiles

gpc auth switch production

Use a profile for a single command

gpc apps list --profile development

Profile storage

Profiles are stored in the user config directory:

~/.config/gpc/
  config.json         User-level configuration
  profiles/
    default.json      Default profile credentials
    development.json  Development profile credentials
    production.json   Production profile credentials

Proxy and Custom CA

For corporate networks with HTTP proxies or TLS-intercepting firewalls.

HTTP/HTTPS proxy

export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
gpc apps list

Or in the config file:

{
  "proxy": "http://proxy.example.com:8080"
}

Custom CA certificate

For corporate proxies that perform TLS interception:

export GPC_CA_CERT=/path/to/corporate-ca.pem
gpc apps list

Or in the config file:

{
  "caCert": "/path/to/corporate-ca.pem"
}

The CA certificate must be in PEM format. GPC appends this certificate to the default Node.js CA bundle, so standard Google API certificates continue to work.

Retry and Rate Limiting

GPC automatically retries transient errors (HTTP 429, 5xx) with exponential backoff and jitter.

Default retry behavior

Parameter	Default	Description
Max retries	3	Maximum number of retry attempts
Base delay	1000 ms	Initial delay before first retry
Max delay	60000 ms	Maximum delay between retries (backoff cap)
Jitter	Full	Random jitter applied to each delay
Rate limit	50 req/s	Maximum requests per second

Customize retry behavior

# Environment variables
export GPC_MAX_RETRIES=5
export GPC_BASE_DELAY=2000
export GPC_MAX_DELAY=120000
export GPC_RATE_LIMIT=25

{
  "maxRetries": 5,
  "baseDelay": 2000,
  "maxDelay": 120000,
  "rateLimit": 25
}

Rate limit buckets

The Google Play Developer API has separate rate limit buckets. GPC respects these automatically:

API	Rate Limit
Publisher API (general)	Default GPC_RATE_LIMIT value
Reviews API (GET)	200 requests per hour
Reviews API (POST)	2,000 requests per day
Voided purchases API	6,000 requests per day, 30 per 30 seconds

Global CLI Flags

These flags are available on every command and override all other configuration sources.

Flag	Short	Type	Description
--app <package>	-a	string	App package name
--profile <name>	-p	string	Auth profile name
--output <format>	-o	"table" | "json" | "yaml" | "markdown"	Output format
--quiet	-q	boolean	Suppress non-essential output
--verbose	-v	boolean	Enable debug logging
--no-color		boolean	Disable colored output
--no-interactive		boolean	Disable interactive prompts
--dry-run		boolean	Preview changes without executing
--limit <n>		number	Maximum results per page
--next-page <token>		string	Pagination token for next page
--retry-log <path>		string	Log retry attempts to file
--config <path>		string	Path to config file
--version	-V	boolean	Show version
--help	-h	boolean	Show help

Example: Complete Project Setup

A typical project setup with config file, environment-specific profiles, and CI/CD variables.

Project config file (.gpcrc.json)

{
  "app": "com.example.myapp",
  "output": "table",
  "maxRetries": 3,
  "timeout": 30000,
  "plugins": ["@gpc-cli/plugin-ci"]
}

Development machine setup

# Create development profile
gpc auth login --service-account dev-service-account.json --profile development

# Create production profile
gpc auth login --service-account prod-service-account.json --profile production

# Set development as active profile
gpc auth switch development

CI/CD setup (GitHub Actions)

name: Deploy to Play Store
on:
  push:
    tags: ["v*"]

env:
  GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT: ${{ secrets.GPC_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_JSON }}
  GPC_APP: com.example.myapp
  GPC_NO_INTERACTIVE: "1"

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install GPC
        run: npm install -g @gpc-cli/cli

      - name: Upload to internal
        run: gpc publish app-release.aab --track internal --notes "Build ${{ github.run_number }}"

      - name: Check vitals
        run: |
          gpc vitals crashes --threshold 2.0
          gpc vitals anr --threshold 0.47

      - name: Promote to production
        run: gpc releases promote --from internal --to production --rollout 10

Next Steps

• Authentication -- Full guide to all 4 auth methods
• Commands -- Complete command reference
• CI/CD Integration -- Platform-specific CI/CD guides