Before: Save g:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks Save g:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options Save g:ale_c_build_dir unlet! g:ale_c_build_dir unlet! b:ale_c_build_dir unlet! g:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks unlet! b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks unlet! g:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options unlet! b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options runtime ale_linters/cpp/clangtidy.vim call ale#test#SetFilename('test.cpp') After: unlet! b:ale_c_build_dir unlet! b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks unlet! b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options unlet! b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_executable Restore call ale#linter#Reset() Execute(The clangtidy command default should be correct): AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(You should be able to remove the -checks option for clang-tidy): let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks = [] AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' %s', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(You should be able to set other checks for clang-tidy): let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_checks = ['-*', 'clang-analyzer-*'] AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('-*,clang-analyzer-*') . ' %s', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(You should be able to manually set compiler flags for clang-tidy): let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options = '-Wall' AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s -- -Wall', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) \ Execute(The build directory should be configurable): let b:ale_c_build_dir = '/foo/bar' AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s -p ' . ale#Escape('/foo/bar'), \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(The build directory setting should override the options): let b:ale_c_build_dir = '/foo/bar' let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options = '-Wall' AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s -p ' . ale#Escape('/foo/bar'), \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(The build directory should be ignored for header files): call ale#test#SetFilename('test.h') let b:ale_c_build_dir = '/foo/bar' let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_options = '-Wall' AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s -- -Wall', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) \ call ale#test#SetFilename('test.hpp') AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('clang-tidy') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s -- -Wall', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr('')) Execute(The executable should be configurable): let b:ale_cpp_clangtidy_executable = 'foobar' AssertEqual \ ale#Escape('foobar') \ . ' -checks=' . ale#Escape('*') . ' %s', \ ale_linters#cpp#clangtidy#GetCommand(bufnr(''))