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Changes to @hydra.main() and hydra.initialize()

Prior to Hydra 1.1, @hydra.main() and hydra.initialize() default config path was the directory containing the Python app (calling @hydra.main() or hydra.initialize()).

This can cause unexpected behavior:

  • Sibling directories are interpreted as config groups, which can lead to surprising results (See #1533).
  • The subtree added automatically can have many files/directories - which will cause --help to be very slow as it's scanning for all config groups/config files (See #759).

To address these issues, Hydra 1.1 issues a warning if the config_path is not specified.
Your options are as follows:

Dedicated config directory​

For applications with config files, specify a directory like "conf" to use a dedicated config directory relative to the application.

@hydra.main(config_path="conf")
# or:
hydra.initialize(config_path="conf")

No config directory​

For applications that do not define config files next to the Python script (typically applications using only Structured Configs), it is recommended that you pass None as the config_path, indicating that no directory should be added to the config search path. This will become the default with version_base >= "1.2"

@hydra.main(config_path=None)
# or:
hydra.initialize(config_path=None)

Using the application directory​

Use the directory/module of the Python script. This was the default behavior up to Hydra 1.0.
This is not recommended as it can cause the surprising behavior outlined above.

@hydra.main(config_path=".")
# or:
hydra.initialize(config_path=".")