Essentials

All Qase reporters read settings from the same layered system. If the same option is set in more than one place, the higher layer wins.

• Config file — your base. Lives in the repo, visible to your team, holds your defaults.
• Environment variables — override the file. This is how you inject secrets in CI or flip reporting on without editing anything.
• Runtime overrides — the top layer. CLI flags in Python, system properties in Java, framework config in JavaScript. Use these for one-off overrides. C#, Go, and PHP stop at env vars — no third layer.

As an example:

Here's the same option — setting the mode to testops — expressed at each layer:

// qase.config.json
{
  "mode": "testops"
}

# Environment variable
export QASE_MODE=testops

# CLI flag (Python/pytest)
pytest --qase-mode=testops

If all three are set, the CLI flag wins. If only the file and env var are set, the env var wins.

When you'd use each layer

• Locally, set "mode": "off" in the config file. You're iterating on tests — no need to push results to Qase on every run.
• In CI, set QASE_MODE=testops as an environment variable. It overrides the file, reporting turns on, and you never touch the config.
• Debugging a flaky test, pass --qase-debug=true on the command line. It overrides everything for that single run, and you don't have to remember to undo it.

The practical pattern: keep qase.config.json as your source of truth, use env vars for anything that changes between environments, and forget the top (cli options) layer exists until you need a one-off.

Note: Not all reporters offer CLI options for configuration. Eg: Javascript reporters.