By default Clozure CL tries to load the file "home:ccl-init.lisp" or the compiled "home:ccl-init.fasl" upon starting up. Clozure CL does this by executing (load "home:ccl-init"). If it's unable to load the file (for example because the file doesn't exist), Clozure CL doesn't signal an error or warning, it just completes its startup normally.

On Unix systems, if "ccl-init.lisp" is not present, Clozure CL will look for ".ccl-init.lisp" (post 1.2 versions only).

The "home:" prefix to the filename is a Common Lisp logical host, which Clozure CL initializes to refer to your home directory. Clozure CL therefore looks for either of the files ~/ccl-init.lisp or ~/ccl-init.fasl.

Because the init file is loaded the same way as normal Lisp code is, you can put anything you want in it. For example, you can change the working directory, and load packages that you use frequently.

To suppress the loading of this init-file, invoke Clozure CL with the --no-init option.