A system for dynamically managing a configuration file of a switch is provided. During operation, the system can determine one or more groups of line specifications in a specification file. A respective line specification can indicate a format of a respective variant of a configuration command of the switch. The system can then annotate a respective group in the specification file with a corresponding label. Subsequently, the system can associate a respective configuration command of the configuration file with a label of a group based on matching the configuration command with the group.