turns out passing in the -u flag didn't actually work before...

Additionally, in the case that the directory doesn't exist mezzaluna
will default back to the config at ~/.config/mez/

runtime/share/mezzaluna/init.lua

@@ -1,13 +1,3 @@
-local env_conf = os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")
-
-if not env_conf then
-  env_conf = os.getenv("HOME")
-  if not env_conf then
-    error("Couldn't determine potential config directory is $HOME set?")
-  end
-  env_conf = mez.fs.joinpath(env_conf, ".config")
-end
-
 -- allow loading files in the runtime directory
 package.path = package.path..";"..mez.fs.joinpath(mez.path.runtime, "?.lua")
 mez.inspect = require("inspect").inspect
@@ -15,6 +5,18 @@ mez.inspect = require("inspect").inspect
 mez.path.base_config = mez.fs.joinpath(mez.path.runtime, "master.lua")
 
 if not mez.path.config then
-  mez.path.config = mez.fs.joinpath(env_conf, "mez", "init.lua")
+  local env_conf = os.getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")
-  package.path = package.path..";"..mez.fs.joinpath(env_conf, "mez", "lua", "?.lua")
+
+  if not env_conf then
+    env_conf = os.getenv("HOME")
+    if not env_conf then
+      error("Couldn't determine potential config directory is $HOME set?")
+    end
+    env_conf = mez.fs.joinpath(env_conf, ".config")
+  end
+
+  mez.path.config = mez.fs.joinpath(env_conf, "mez")
 end
+
+package.path = package.path..";"..mez.fs.joinpath(mez.path.config, "lua", "?.lua")
+mez.path.config = mez.fs.joinpath(mez.path.config, "init.lua")

src/lua/Lua.zig

@@ -48,33 +48,12 @@ pub fn loadRuntimeDir(self: *zlua.Lua) !void {
 }
 
 pub fn setBaseConfig(self: *zlua.Lua, path: []const u8) !void {
-    {
+    _ = try self.getGlobal("mez");
-        _ = try self.getGlobal("mez");
+    defer self.pop(1);
-        defer self.pop(1);
+    _ = self.getField(-1, "path");
-        _ = self.getField(-1, "path");
+    defer self.pop(1);
-        defer self.pop(1);
+    _ = self.pushString(path);
-        const new_path = try std.fs.path.join(gpa, &[_][]const u8{ path, "init.lua" });
+    self.setField(-2, "config");
-        defer gpa.free(new_path);
-        _ = self.pushString(new_path);
-        self.setField(-2, "config");
-    }
-    {
-        _ = try self.getGlobal("mez");
-        defer self.pop(1);
-        _ = self.getField(-1, "path");
-        defer self.pop(1);
-        const cur_path = self.toString(-1) catch "";
-
-        const unsentinel: []const u8 = std.mem.span(cur_path.ptr);
-        const new_path = try std.mem.concat(gpa, u8, &[_][]const u8{
-            unsentinel,
-            ";",
-            path,
-        });
-        defer gpa.free(new_path);
-        _ = self.pushString(new_path);
-        _ = self.setField(-2, "path");
-    }
 }
 
 fn loadBaseConfig(self: *zlua.Lua) !void {
@@ -160,7 +139,12 @@ pub fn init(self: *Lua, cfg: Config) !void {
 
     openMezLibs(self.state);
 
-    if (!cfg.enabled) try setBaseConfig(self.state, "");
+    if (!cfg.enabled) {
+        try setBaseConfig(self.state, "");
+    } else if (cfg.path) |path| {
+        defer gpa.free(path);
+        try setBaseConfig(self.state, path);
+    }
     loadRuntimeDir(self.state) catch |err| if (err == error.LuaRuntime) {
         std.log.warn("{s}", .{try self.state.toString(-1)});
     };
@@ -169,10 +153,6 @@ pub fn init(self: *Lua, cfg: Config) !void {
         std.log.warn("{s}", .{try self.state.toString(-1)});
     };
 
-    if (cfg.path) |path| {
-        defer gpa.free(path);
-        try setBaseConfig(self.state, path);
-    }
     if (cfg.enabled) {
         loadConfigDir(self.state) catch |err| if (err == error.LuaRuntime) {
             std.log.warn("{s}", .{try self.state.toString(-1)});

src/main.zig

@@ -54,9 +54,15 @@ pub fn main() !void {
     var lua_config: Lua.Config = .{ .enabled = true, .path = null };
     if (res.args.u != null and res.args.clean == 1) {
         std.debug.panic("You cannot set both -u and --clean", .{});
-    } else if (res.args.u != null) {
+    } else if (res.args.u != null) blk: {
         // this is freed in lua/lua.zig
-        const path = try std.fs.cwd().realpathAlloc(gpa, res.args.u.?);
+        const path = std.fs.cwd().realpathAlloc(gpa, res.args.u.?) catch |err| switch (err) {
+            error.FileNotFound => {
+                std.log.err("Path {s} does not exist, and therefore won't be used for the configuration.", .{ res.args.u.? });
+                break :blk;
+            },
+            else => return err,
+        };
         lua_config.path = path;
     } else if (res.args.clean == 1) {
         lua_config.enabled = false;