labor-sieve 0.1.15

Linux-first command-line job search and reporting for operations-adjacent roles.

LaborSieve

LaborSieve is a Linux-first command-line job search and reporting tool for operations, infrastructure, data center, SRE, logistics/process, and support-adjacent roles.

It is intentionally small:

• One editable config.yaml
• One command to run after setup
• Terminal summary for P0/P1 matches
• Full reports written to disk
• Text report first, with optional CSV, JSON, and static HTML
• No dashboard, database, background service, Docker, reverse proxy, or resume parser

Install And First Run

LaborSieve requires Linux or another Unix-like shell, Python 3.10 or newer, and pipx.

Check Python:

python3 --version

If Python or pipx is missing, install them with your system package manager. Common Linux examples:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-venv pipx

# Fedora
sudo dnf install python3 pipx

# Arch
sudo pacman -S python python-pipx

pipx ensurepath

Open a new terminal if pipx ensurepath says the shell path changed.

References:

• Python on Unix platforms
• pipx installation guide
• LaborSieve on PyPI

Install LaborSieve:

pipx install labor-sieve

Create the default config, review the file locations, and run:

labor-sieve quickstart
# open ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml in your preferred text editor
labor-sieve validate-config
labor-sieve run

labor-sieve quickstart creates ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml when the file is missing. That file contains the default commented configuration; a separate example file is not needed for normal use.

Default reports are written under ~/labor-sieve/output/:

• latest.txt
• latest.csv
• latest.json
• latest.html

If labor-sieve is not found after install:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

What To Edit First

Open ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml and review:

• locations: remote support, Richmond-area defaults, accepted hybrid/on-site locations, and accepted remote regions.
• seniority: minimum and maximum seniority.
• compensation: fallback and seniority-specific compensation floors.
• keywords.boost and keywords.penalize: terms that raise or lower a posting's score.
• language_requirements: language requirements to accept, boost, or penalize.
• role_family_weights: how strongly each role family should rank.
• exclusions: companies, URLs, or source IDs to hide from future reports.
• sources: enabled job sources and configured ATS company lists.

The default config is centered on Richmond, VA with a 40-mile local-region note. LaborSieve does not geocode. Local matching is controlled by the strings in locations.accepted_locations, so update that list when using a different city or metro area.

Running

Run from any directory:

labor-sieve run

labor-sieve run uses ./config.yaml if one exists, otherwise ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml.

While sources are fetching, LaborSieve prints source progress and elapsed time. A live run can take several minutes, especially when Workday sites are enabled.

Read the primary text report:

less ~/labor-sieve/output/latest.txt

Open the static HTML report in a browser. On desktop Linux, if xdg-open is available:

xdg-open ~/labor-sieve/output/latest.html

The HTML report is local-only. It has collapsible priority buckets and job entries, plus browser-local tracking buttons for interested, applied, rejected, and hidden postings.

Commands

labor-sieve init
labor-sieve quickstart
labor-sieve doctor
labor-sieve validate-config
labor-sieve config-upgrade
labor-sieve list-options
labor-sieve list-presets
labor-sieve update-presets --index-url PRESET_INDEX_URL
labor-sieve use-preset linux-sre
labor-sieve run
labor-sieve uninstall-data

labor-sieve init creates the editable config file when it does not already exist. By default it uses ./config.yaml if that file is already present, otherwise ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml.

labor-sieve quickstart creates ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml when the file is missing, then prints setup instructions. Use labor-sieve quickstart -c /path/to/config.yaml for a specific config location.

labor-sieve quickstart --reset-config backs up the selected config and replaces it with the packaged default config.

labor-sieve validate-config adds missing default settings when needed, validates config.yaml, and prints human-readable errors.

labor-sieve config-upgrade backs up config.yaml and adds missing default settings from the installed package without changing existing values.

labor-sieve doctor checks the Python runtime, PyYAML, bundled config/presets, and selected config file.

labor-sieve list-options prints built-in seniority levels and role families.

labor-sieve list-presets prints bundled presets plus downloaded remote presets.

labor-sieve update-presets downloads preset updates from a JSON index. Remote preset entries require sha256 by default; pass --allow-unverified only for a trusted temporary source.

labor-sieve use-preset PRESET merges a preset into config.yaml, validates the result, and writes a .bak backup first.

labor-sieve run adds missing default settings when needed, then uses enabled sources from the selected config file.

labor-sieve uninstall-data prints user data paths. labor-sieve uninstall-data --yes removes the default config/report directory, downloaded presets, and run logs.

Configuration Notes

User configs are preserved across package upgrades. When a newer LaborSieve release adds config settings, quickstart, validate-config, and run add missing defaults automatically and write a .bak backup first. Existing values are left unchanged.

To upgrade config settings explicitly:

labor-sieve config-upgrade

To replace the current config with packaged defaults:

labor-sieve quickstart --reset-config

Location

Default location settings:

locations:
  remote: true
  local_region:
    center: Richmond, VA
    radius_miles: 40
  accepted_locations:
    - Richmond, VA
    - Henrico, VA
    - Glen Allen, VA
  accepted_remote_locations:
    - United States
    - USA
    - North America

Hybrid and on-site roles outside accepted_locations are capped below P1. Remote roles are accepted when their location is generic remote or matches accepted_remote_locations; remote roles restricted to other geographies are also capped below P1. If a posting is marked both remote and hybrid, LaborSieve treats it as hybrid so local-region rules apply.

Compensation

compensation.minimum_base is the fallback base-pay floor. compensation.minimum_base_by_seniority can set broader floors for each seniority level. Set a value to null to disable compensation scoring for that level.

compensation:
  minimum_base: 85000
  minimum_base_by_seniority:
    entry: 85000
    junior: 85000
    mid: 95000
    senior: 105000
    staff: 115000

Language Requirements

The default config accepts English and penalizes explicit bilingual or non-accepted language requirements. ASL and American Sign Language are treated neutrally by default. Add other languages or language phrases under accepted when those requirements should not lower a posting. Add terms under boost when those requirements should improve a posting.

language_requirements:
  accepted:
    - english
  boost: []
  penalty: 8
  boost_points: 6

Exclusions

Use exclusions to remove companies or specific postings from future reports:

exclusions:
  companies:
    - Example Company
  urls:
    - https://example.invalid/jobs/job-to-hide
  source_ids:
    - ashby:abc123

Company names are matched case-insensitively. URLs are normalized before matching. Source IDs can be copied from the text report; use either the raw source ID or source:source_id.

Sources

Available sources:

• remoteok: broad public RemoteOK API listings across many companies.
• arbeitnow: broad public Arbeitnow API listings. Disabled by default because it is noisier for a US-centered search.
• greenhouse: configured Greenhouse Job Board API boards.
• lever: configured Lever Postings API companies.
• ashby: configured Ashby job board organizations.
• workday: configured Workday candidate experience sites.
• local_file: local .csv, .json, .yaml, or .yml exports.
• sample: synthetic jobs for scoring/report smoke tests. Disabled by default.

The default config disables sample data, enables RemoteOK, disables Arbeitnow, and enables starter lists for Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, and Workday.

RemoteOK and Arbeitnow are broad sources. Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, and Workday only scan the boards, companies, organizations, or sites listed in config.yaml.

Example source entries:

sources:
  remoteok:
    enabled: true
    timeout_seconds: 20
    max_jobs: 250
    base_url: https://remoteok.com/api

  greenhouse:
    enabled: true
    board_tokens:
      - coreweave
      - nebius
    timeout_seconds: 20

  lever:
    enabled: true
    companies:
      - waabi
    timeout_seconds: 20
    base_url: https://api.lever.co/v0/postings

  ashby:
    enabled: true
    organizations:
      - Lambda
      - Crusoe
    timeout_seconds: 30
    base_url: https://api.ashbyhq.com/posting-api/job-board

  workday:
    enabled: true
    sites:
      - company: NVIDIA
        url: https://nvidia.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/NVIDIAExternalCareerSite
    timeout_seconds: 20
    page_size: 20
    max_jobs_per_site: 100

Local file records can include:

title, company, location, remote, hybrid, seniority, role_family,
compensation_base_min, url, description, tags

Presets

Bundled presets are included with the installed package and update when the package is upgraded from PyPI. Downloaded presets live in ~/.config/labor-sieve/presets/ by default and override bundled presets with the same name.

Apply a bundled preset:

labor-sieve list-presets
labor-sieve use-preset linux-sre
labor-sieve validate-config

Download remote presets from a hosted preset index:

labor-sieve update-presets --index-url https://example.com/labor-sieve/presets/index.json

Remote preset indexes use this shape:

{
  "presets": [
    {
      "name": "linux-sre",
      "version": "2026.06.11",
      "url": "https://example.com/labor-sieve/presets/linux-sre.yaml",
      "sha256": "hex-encoded-sha256"
    }
  ]
}

Scheduled Runs

LaborSieve can run on a schedule with cron or a systemd user timer. Use the same config path each time so reports stay beside that config.

Cron example, every morning at 8:17:

mkdir -p ~/.local/state/labor-sieve
labor-sieve quickstart
crontab -e

Add this crontab entry, changing paths as needed:

17 8 * * * "$HOME/.local/bin/labor-sieve" run -c "$HOME/labor-sieve/config.yaml" >> "$HOME/.local/state/labor-sieve/run.log" 2>&1

systemd user timer example:

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user ~/.local/state/labor-sieve
labor-sieve quickstart

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/labor-sieve.service:

[Unit]
Description=Run LaborSieve

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=%h/.local/bin/labor-sieve run -c %h/labor-sieve/config.yaml
StandardOutput=append:%h/.local/state/labor-sieve/run.log
StandardError=append:%h/.local/state/labor-sieve/run.log

Create ~/.config/systemd/user/labor-sieve.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Run LaborSieve daily

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* 08:17:00
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable and check it:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now labor-sieve.timer
systemctl --user list-timers labor-sieve.timer
systemctl --user start labor-sieve.service

On systems that support lingering, this allows user timers to run while the user is logged out:

loginctl enable-linger "$USER"

Upgrade And Uninstall

Upgrade from PyPI:

pipx upgrade labor-sieve

Remove generated user data and then uninstall:

labor-sieve uninstall-data --yes
pipx uninstall labor-sieve

pipx uninstall labor-sieve removes the installed command. It does not remove ~/labor-sieve/config.yaml or generated reports unless labor-sieve uninstall-data --yes is run first.

Developer Install

From a checkout:

python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"

labor-sieve quickstart -c config.yaml
labor-sieve validate-config -c config.yaml
labor-sieve run -c config.yaml

Run tests:

python -m compileall labor_sieve tests
python -m pytest

Build release artifacts:

scripts/build-release.sh
python -m twine check dist/*

The build script writes artifacts to dist/ and prints SHA-256 checksums.

Maintainer Notes

Add or tune role families in config and presets first. role_family_weights accepts custom snake_case keys, and presets can ship those weights without a code change.

Source inference changes belong in labor_sieve/sources/normalization.py. Add tests when changing inferred seniority, role_family, compensation parsing, URL normalization, or source-specific field mapping.

Bundled preset changes ship in the PyPI package. A remote preset index requires a public HTTPS file host for the preset YAML files:

python3 scripts/build-preset-index.py --base-url https://example.com/labor-sieve/presets