Configuration

linkedin needs almost no configuration. There is no config file; every option is a flag or an environment variable, and the defaults are chosen so the common case needs neither. See everything linkedin resolved with:

linkedin info

It prints the resolved configuration and the paths.

The data directory

linkedin keeps its state under one tree: the on-disk page cache and the SQLite store. It defaults to the XDG data directory (for example ~/.local/share/linkedin on Linux). Point it elsewhere with --data-dir or the LINKEDIN_DATA_DIR environment variable.

The store

Records you save with --save land in a SQLite file fixed at <data-dir>/linkedin.db. To keep one corpus per project, point the whole data dir at a per-project directory with --data-dir; the store follows it:

linkedin company microsoft --save --data-dir ~/projects/hiring

db path, db count, and db query all read this file.

Cookies

The --cookies flag takes a Netscape cookies.txt jar exported from a signed-in browser session. linkedin sends those cookies with each request, which lends it a real session and often gets past the sign-in wall on a walled post or when an anonymous request is rate-limited. linkedin never logs in for you and never stores credentials; it only replays the jar you hand it.

linkedin profile williamhgates --cookies ~/cookies.txt

See troubleshooting for the cookie file format.

Caching

Every fetch goes through a content-addressed gzip cache on disk so a repeat run does not re-fetch unchanged pages. --cache-ttl sets how long an entry stays fresh (default 24h). --no-cache bypasses it for one run, and --refresh forces a re-fetch and rewrites the entry. Manage the cache with cache info, cache path, and cache clear.

Politeness

linkedin is gentle by default so a busy session stays a good citizen against a public site:

Flag	Default	Meaning
--rate	2s	Minimum spacing between requests
--timeout	30s	Per-request timeout
--retries	3	Retry attempts on 429/5xx

Lower --rate only when you have a reason to, and keep it modest.

Environment variables

Variable	Used for
LINKEDIN_DATA_DIR	Root data directory (overrides the XDG default)

Global flags

Flag	Default	Meaning
-o, --output	auto	auto, list, table, markdown, json, jsonl, csv, tsv, url, raw (auto: list on a TTY, jsonl piped)
--fields	all	Comma-separated columns to include
--no-header	off	Omit the header row in table/csv/tsv output
--template	none	Go text/template applied per record
--color	auto	auto, always, or never
-n, --limit	0	Limit number of results; 0 is no limit
-q, --quiet	off	Suppress progress on stderr
-v, --verbose	off	Increase verbosity (repeatable)
--rate	2s	Minimum spacing between requests
--timeout	30s	Per-request timeout
--retries	3	Retry attempts on 429/5xx
--cache-ttl	24h	On-disk cache freshness window
--no-cache	off	Bypass the on-disk page cache
--refresh	off	Force a re-fetch and overwrite the cache
--data-dir	XDG	Root dir for cache and store (env LINKEDIN_DATA_DIR)
--cookies	none	Netscape cookie jar
--dry-run	off	Print actions, do not perform them
--profile	none	Named profile to load

Output auto-detection

The default output format adapts to where it is going: the readable list view when the output is a terminal, JSONL when it is piped. That keeps interactive use readable and scripted use parseable without you setting --output either time. Reach for -o table for the bordered grid or -o markdown for a paste-ready table. See output formats for the full set.

Exit codes

linkedin returns a stable exit code so scripts can branch on the outcome:

Code	Meaning
0	OK
1	Error (generic failure)
2	Usage error (bad flags or arguments)
3	No results (nothing matched)
4	Auth required (behind the sign-in wall; pass --cookies)
5	Rate limited (HTTP 429 after retries)
6	Not found (a 404 or an unknown id)