Most Common Lisp implementations will try to load an init file on startup:
| Implementation | Init file | Site/System Init file | 
|---|---|---|
| ABCL | $HOME/.abclrc | |
| Allegro CL | $HOME/.clinit.cl | |
| ECL | $HOME/.eclrc | |
| Clasp | $HOME/.clasprc | |
| CLISP | $HOME/.clisprc.lisp | |
| Clozure CL | home:ccl-init.lisp or home:ccl-init.fasl or home:.ccl-init.lisp | |
| CMUCL | $HOME/.cmucl-init.lisp | |
| LispWorks | $HOME/.lispworks | |
| MKCL | $HOME/.mkclrc | |
| SBCL | $HOME/.sbclrc | $SBCL_HOME/sbclrc or /etc/sbclrc | 
| SCL | $HOME/.scl-init.lisp | 
Sample Initialization files:
| Implementation | Sample Init file | 
|---|---|
| LispWorks | Library/lib/7-0-0-0/config/a-dot-lispworks.lisp |