---
slug: /reference/environment
sidebar_position: 4
---

# Environment Reference

Task allows you to configure some behavior using environment variables. This
page lists all the environment variables that Task supports.

| ENV             | Default | Description                                                                                                       |
| --------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `TASK_TEMP_DIR` | `.task` | Location of the temp dir. Can relative to the project like `tmp/task` or absolute like `/tmp/.task` or `~/.task`. |
| `FORCE_COLOR`   |         | Force color output usage.                                                                                         |

## Custom Colors

| ENV                  | Default | Description             |
| -------------------- | ------- | ----------------------- |
| `TASK_COLOR_RESET`   | `0`     | Color used for white.   |
| `TASK_COLOR_RED`     | `31`    | Color used for red.     |
| `TASK_COLOR_GREEN`   | `32`    | Color used for green.   |
| `TASK_COLOR_YELLOW`  | `33`    | Color used for yellow.  |
| `TASK_COLOR_BLUE`    | `34`    | Color used for blue.    |
| `TASK_COLOR_MAGENTA` | `35`    | Color used for magenta. |
| `TASK_COLOR_CYAN`    | `36`    | Color used for cyan.    |

All color variables are [ANSI color codes][ansi]. You can specify multiple codes
separated by a semicolon. For example: `31;1` will make the text bold and red.
Task also supports 8-bit color (256 colors). You can specify these colors by
using the sequence `38;2;R:G:B` for foreground colors and `48;2;R:G:B` for
background colors where `R`, `G` and `B` should be replaced with values between
0 and 255.

For convenience, we allow foreground colors to be specified using shorthand,
comma-separated syntax: `R,G,B`. For example, `255,0,0` is equivalent to
`38;2;255:0:0`.

{/* prettier-ignore-start */}
[ansi]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code
{/* prettier-ignore-end */}