libfec

The libfec Cache ​

By default, the libfec will cache FEC files as they are downloaded. Individual .fec files never change, and downloading filings on every export can take a long time.

The libfec export command will automatically save downloaded FEC filings into your cache directory. You can use the libfec cache --print command to see where this default libfec cache directory is located on your machine:

bash
$ libfec cache --print
/Users/alex/.cache/libfec/cache

Changing the cache directory ​

You can configure the cache directory in two ways — first with the LIBFEC_CACHE_DIRECTORY environment variable:

bash
LIBFEC_CACHE_DIRECTORY=$PWD/cache libfec export \
  --election 2024 CA40 \
  -o ca40.db

This will create a new cache/ directory and cache 30 matching filings into this folder.

Alternatively, you can use the --cache-directory flag:

bash
libfec export \
  --cache-directory=cache \
  --election 2024 CA40 \
  -o ca40.db