The Stack configuration that is used outside of projects is stored in the following location: ~/.stack/global-project/stack.yaml This configuration file is used when you run `stack ghci` outside of a project. Such project configuration files can specify the Stackage snapshot to be used (`resolver`), any packages that should be used that are different from or not in the specified Stackage snapshot (`extra-deps`), a list of packages that are being developed (`packages`, none by default in the "global project"), as well as some other settings documented at the following location. https://docs.haskellstack.org/en/stable/yaml_configuration/ Such a project configuration file determines what packages are *available* for use. The motivation is to provide an environment where all of the available packages work together, saving you from having to deal with dependency conflicts. It does not *expose* packages to the compiler or REPL. Packages are usually exposed by specifying them in a `.cabal` file (or `package.yaml` file when using hpack). In my experience, the `~/.stack/global-project/stack.yaml` configuration is most often used when installing executables using Stack. For example, one can install the version of `hlint` that is in the Stackage snapshot configured in the configuration file as follows: stack install hlint What you would like to do is not normal usage of Stack, but I understand your motivation. It is possible to do what you want by configuring a global project with the packages that you would like to make available. First, create file `~/.stack/global-project/global-project.cabal` with the following content: name: global-project version: 0.0.0.0 cabal-version: 1.24 build-type: Simple library build-depends: base , safe default-language: Haskell2010 Add any packages that you would like to expose to the `build-depends` list. Next, configure `~/.stack/global-project/stack.yaml` as follows: resolver: lts-17.14 packages: - . Update the `resolver` configuration whenever you want to change Stackage snapshots. Note that you will need to add `extra-deps` configuration to this file if you ever want to expose a package that is not in the configured snapshot, in addition to adding it to the `build-depends` list. With this configuration, the listed packages should be exposed when you run `stack ghci` to run a REPL. Good luck! Travis