---
type: docs
title: "Configuration overview"
linkTitle: "Overview"
weight: 1000
description: "Overview of the configuration API building block"
---

Consuming application configuration is a common task when writing applications. Frequently, configuration stores are used to manage this configuration data. A configuration item is often dynamic in nature and tightly coupled to the needs of the application that consumes it. 

For example, application configuration can include:
- Names of secrets
- Different identifiers
- Partition or consumer IDs
- Names of databases to connect to, etc 

Usually, configuration items are stored as key/value items in a state store or database. Developers or operators can change application configuration at runtime in the configuration store. Once changes are made, a service is notified to load the new configuration. 

Configuration data is read-only from the application API perspective, with updates to the configuration store made through operator tooling. With Dapr's configuration API, you can:
- Consume configuration items that are returned as read-only key/value pairs
- Subscribe to changes whenever a configuration item changes

<img src="/images/configuration-api-overview.png" width=900>

{{% alert title="Note" color="primary" %}}
 The Configuration API should not be confused with the [Dapr sidecar and control plane configuration]({{< ref "configuration-overview" >}}), which is used to set policies and settings on Dapr sidecar instances or the installed Dapr control plane.
{{% /alert %}}

## Try out configuration

### Quickstart

Want to put the Dapr configuration API to the test? Walk through the following quickstart to see the configuration API in action:

| Quickstart | Description |
| ---------- | ----------- |
| [Configuration quickstart]({{< ref configuration-quickstart.md >}}) | Get configuration items or subscribe to configuration changes using the configuration API. |

### Start using the configuration API directly in your app

Want to skip the quickstarts? Not a problem. You can try out the configuration building block directly in your application to read and manage configuration data. After [Dapr is installed]({{< ref "getting-started/_index.md" >}}), you can begin using the configuration API starting with [the configuration how-to guide]({{< ref howto-manage-configuration.md >}}).


## Next steps
Follow these guides on:
- [How-To: Read application configuration from a configuration store]({{< ref howto-manage-configuration.md >}})