Settings

Configure how droid behaves and integrates with your workflow.

Accessing settings

To configure droid settings:

1. Run droid
2. Enter /settings
3. Adjust your preferences interactively

Changes take effect immediately and are saved to your settings file.

Where settings live

OS	Location
macOS / Linux	~/.factory/settings.json
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.factory\settings.json

If the file doesn’t exist, it’s created with defaults the first time you run droid.

Local overrides

You can create a settings.local.json alongside settings.json in any .factory/ folder:

• ~/.factory/settings.local.json (user-level)
• <project>/.factory/settings.local.json (project-level)

Local overrides merge on top of the corresponding settings.json at the same level and follow the same hierarchy precedence. Add settings.local.json to .gitignore if you want to keep machine-specific preferences out of version control.

Legacy Droid YAML configuration

.droid.yaml was an older project configuration surface. Use the current .factory/ files instead:

• Use settings.json and settings.local.json for Droid preferences and local overrides.
• Use AGENTS.md for repository instructions, conventions, and validation commands.
• Use MCP servers, hooks, and skills for integrations, automation, and reusable workflows.

Available settings

Setting	Options	Default	Description
sessionDefaultSettings.model	Any available model ID	Product default	The default AI model used by droid
sessionDefaultSettings.reasoningEffort	Reasoning value (model-dependent) — see Reasoning effort	Model-dependent default	Controls how much structured thinking the model performs.
sessionDefaultSettings.interactionMode	auto, spec	auto	Sets whether new sessions start in Auto or Spec Mode.
sessionDefaultSettings.autonomyLevel	off, low, medium, high	off	Sets the default Autonomy Level for new sessions.
cloudSessionSync	true, false	true	Mirror CLI sessions to Factory web.
diffMode	github, unified	github	Choose between split GitHub-style diffs and a single-column view.
completionSound	off, bell, fx-ok01, fx-ack01, or custom file path	fx-ok01	Audio cue when a response finishes.
awaitingInputSound	off, bell, fx-ok01, fx-ack01, or custom file path	fx-ack01	Audio cue when droid is waiting for user input.
soundFocusMode	always, focused, unfocused	always	When to play sound notifications.
commandAllowlist	Array of commands	Safe defaults provided	Commands that run without extra confirmation.
commandDenylist	Array of commands	Restrictive defaults provided	Commands that always require confirmation.
includeCoAuthoredByDroid	true, false	true	Automatically append the Droid co-author trailer to commits.
enableDroidShield	true, false	true	Enable secret scanning and git guardrails.
hooksDisabled	true, false	false	Globally disable all hooks execution.
ideAutoConnect	true, false	false	Auto-connect to IDE from external terminals.
showThinkingInMainView	true, false	false	Display AI thinking/reasoning blocks in the main chat view.
customModels	Array of model configs	[]	Custom model configurations for BYOK. See BYOK docs.
mcp.callTimeoutMs	Integer (milliseconds)	Built-in default	Global timeout for MCP tool calls. Overridden per-server by timeoutMs in mcp.json. See MCP call timeout.

Model

Set sessionDefaultSettings.model to a model ID from Available Models. For custom models, see Bring Your Own Key (BYOK).

For backward compatibility, model, reasoningEffort, autonomyMode, specModeModel, and specModeReasoningEffort are also accepted as top-level keys; droid migrates them into sessionDefaultSettings on load. New configurations should nest them under sessionDefaultSettings.

Reasoning effort

sessionDefaultSettings.reasoningEffort controls how much structured thinking the model performs before replying. The model picker and the Available Models Reasoning column show these levels as display labels; use the matching value below in settings.json:

Label	settings.json value
Off / None	off / none
Minimal	minimal
Low	low
Medium	medium
High	high
Extra High	xhigh
Max	max

Higher effort increases latency and cost. Which levels are available — and which is the default — depend on the model, so check the Reasoning column in Available Models. Display labels can vary slightly by surface (for example, max may appear as Max or Maximum).

Autonomy level

Use sessionDefaultSettings.interactionMode to choose whether new sessions start in Auto or Spec Mode, and sessionDefaultSettings.autonomyLevel to set the default Autonomy Level. off keeps manual approvals; low, medium, and high pre-authorize work at or below that risk level.

sessionDefaultSettings.autonomyMode is deprecated and retained for older configurations.

Diff mode

Control how droid displays code changes:

• github – Side-by-side, higher fidelity render (recommended).
• unified – Traditional single-column diff format.

Cloud session sync

When this switch is on, every CLI session is mirrored to Factory web so you can revisit conversations in the browser:

• true – Sync sessions to the web app.
• false – Keep sessions local only.

Sound notifications

Configure audio feedback for droid events:

Completion sound (completionSound) - plays when a response finishes:

• fx-ok01 – Built-in completion sound (default) - soft success bloop
• fx-ack01 – Alternative built-in sound effect - tactile ripple feedback
• bell – Use the system terminal bell
• off – No sound notifications
• Custom path – Provide a file path to your own sound file (e.g., "/path/to/sound.wav")

Awaiting input sound (awaitingInputSound) - plays when droid is waiting for user input. Same options as completion sound, defaults to fx-ack01.

Sound focus mode (soundFocusMode) - controls when sounds play:

• always – Play sounds regardless of window focus (default)
• focused – Only play sounds when the terminal is focused
• unfocused – Only play sounds when the terminal is not focused

Access sound settings via /settings or Shift+Tab → Settings in the TUI.

Hooks

The hooksDisabled setting provides a global toggle to disable all hooks execution without removing your hook configurations:

• false – Hooks are enabled and will execute normally (default)
• true – All hooks are disabled globally

You can also toggle this from the /hooks menu or /settings.

IDE auto-connect

The ideAutoConnect setting controls whether droid automatically connects to your IDE when running from external terminals (outside the IDE’s built-in terminal):

• false – Only auto-connect when running inside IDE terminal (default)
• true – Auto-connect to IDE from any terminal

Command allowlist & denylist

Use these settings to control which commands droid can execute automatically and which it must never run:

• commandAllowlist – Commands in this array are treated as safe and run without additional confirmation, regardless of autonomy prompts. Include only low-risk utilities you rely on frequently (for example ls, pwd, dir).
• commandDenylist – Commands in this array always require confirmation and are typically blocked because they are destructive or unsafe (for example recursive rm, mkfs, or privileged system operations).

Commands that appear in both lists default to the denylist behavior. Any command that is in neither list falls back to the autonomy level you selected for the session.

Example allow/deny configuration

{
  "commandAllowlist": ["ls", "pwd", "dir"],
  "commandDenylist": ["rm -rf /", "mkfs", "shutdown"]
}

Review and update these arrays periodically to match your workflow and security posture, especially when sharing configurations across teams.

Session defaults

Defaults applied when a new session starts. See also sessionDefaultSettings.interactionMode and sessionDefaultSettings.autonomyLevel in the table above.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
sessionDefaultSettings.specModeModel	string	Any available model ID	Inherits model	Override the model used when sessions start in Spec Mode.
sessionDefaultSettings.specModeReasoningEffort	string	See Reasoning effort	Model default	Reasoning effort applied to the spec model.

Display and UI

Tune how droid renders content in the terminal.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
toolResultDisplay	string	expanded, compact	expanded	How tool results are rendered in the transcript.
showTokenUsageIndicator	boolean	true, false	false	Show the live token usage indicator at the bottom of the input.
logoAnimation	string	once, always, off	once	Animate the droid logo on startup.
theme	string	Theme ID (see /themes)	System theme	Color theme used by the TUI.
overrideTerminalColors	boolean	true, false	false	Force droid’s theme to override the terminal’s color scheme.
nerdFont	boolean	true, false	false	Enable Nerd Font glyphs in the UI (requires a Nerd Font in your terminal).

Additional sound and notification settings

Extends the Sound notifications section with toggles for the bell, per-event focus modes, and subagent activity.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
subagentSounds	string	on, off	off	Play sounds for subagent lifecycle events (start, complete, error).

Mission settings

Configure Missions — multi-agent orchestration runs.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
missionModelSettings.workerModel	string	Any available model ID	Inherits	Default model used by mission worker subagents.
missionModelSettings.workerReasoningEffort	string	See Reasoning effort	Model default	Reasoning effort for mission workers.
missionModelSettings.validationWorkerModel	string	Any available model ID	Inherits	Model used by mission validators (scrutiny / user-testing workers).
missionModelSettings.validationWorkerReasoningEffort	string	See Reasoning effort	Model default	Reasoning effort for validation workers.
missionModelSettings.skipScrutiny	boolean	true, false	false	Skip scrutiny validation milestones during missions.
missionModelSettings.skipUserTesting	boolean	true, false	false	Skip user-testing validation milestones during missions.
missionOrchestratorModel	string	Any available model ID	Inherits	Model used by the mission orchestrator.
missionOrchestratorReasoningEffort	string	See Reasoning effort	Model default	Reasoning effort for the mission orchestrator.
keepSystemAwakeDuringMissions	boolean	true, false	true	Prevent the OS from sleeping while a mission is running.

Context and compaction

Controls when and how droid compacts the conversation to stay within the model’s context window.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
compactionTokenLimit	number	Token count	Model-dependent	Token threshold that triggers automatic compaction of the current session.
compactionTokenLimitPerModel	object	{ "<modelId>": number } map	{}	Per-model overrides for compactionTokenLimit.
compactionModelMode	string	same, <modelId>	same	Which model performs compaction: same uses the current session model, or specify a model ID.

Spec mode settings

Controls the persistent spec store created by Spec Mode.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
specSaveDir	string	Directory path	~/.factory/specs	Directory where saved specs are written. Supports ~ expansion.

Infrastructure

System-level settings for status line, worktrees, and request timeouts.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
statusLine	object	{ "command": string, "padding"?: number, "maxRows"?: number }	unset	Custom status line configuration. The command is executed and its stdout rendered above the input. Configure interactively with /statusline.
worktreeDirectory	string	Directory path	~/.factory/worktrees	Default parent directory for git worktrees created with --worktree / -w.
llmRequestTimeout	number	Milliseconds	Product default	Timeout for individual LLM requests before they are aborted.

Enterprise and org-level settings

Enterprise / Org-level. The settings below are typically managed by an organization administrator and pushed to members through the Factory web app or a managed settings.json. Individual users generally do not set these directly.

Setting	Type	Options	Default	Description
maxAutonomyLevel	string	off, low, medium, high	high	Enterprise. Maximum Autonomy Level any session may use. Higher levels selected by users are clamped.
modelPolicy	object	{ "allowedModelIds"?: string[], "blockedModelIds"?: string[], "allowCustomModels"?: boolean, "allowedBaseUrls"?: string[] }	unset	Enterprise. Restrict which models members can select, control whether custom models are permitted, and allowlist base URLs for custom model providers.
mcpPolicy	object	{ "enabled"?: boolean, "allowlist"?: string[] }	unset	Enterprise. Control whether MCP servers can run and which servers are permitted. See MCP.
missionPolicy	object	{ "restrictedAccess"?: boolean, "allowedUserIds"?: string[] }	unset	Enterprise. Restrict who can launch Missions.
networkPolicy	object	{ "allowedIps": string[] }	unset	Enterprise. Restrict outbound network access from droid sessions to the specified IPs or CIDR ranges in allowedIps.
sandbox	object	{ "enabled"?: boolean, "mode"?: string, "filesystem"?: object, "network"?: object }	unset	Beta. Sandbox configuration controlling filesystem and network isolation for tool execution. See Sandbox.
restrictMemberVisibility	boolean	true, false	false	Org-level. Hide other org members from non-admin users.
restrictApiKeyCreationToManagers	boolean	true, false	false	Org-level. Only org managers may create API keys.
sessionRetentionDays	number	14–365	Org default	Org-level. How long synced session history is retained before deletion.
wikiCloudSync	boolean	true, false	true	Org-level. Sync generated Wiki content to Factory cloud.
managedComputersEnabled	boolean	true, false	false	Enterprise. Enable Factory-managed remote computers for the org.
byomComputersEnabled	boolean	true, false	false	Enterprise. Allow members to register their own machines via droid computer register (BYOM).

Example configuration

{
  "sessionDefaultSettings": {
    "model": "claude-opus-4-8",
    "reasoningEffort": "high"
  },
  "diffMode": "github",
  "cloudSessionSync": true,
  "completionSound": "fx-ok01",
  "awaitingInputSound": "fx-ack01",
  "soundFocusMode": "always"
}

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Need more?

• CLI Overview – see the main TUI workflow
• CLI Reference – command flags & options
• IDE Integrations – editor-specific setup
• Custom models & BYOK - add custom models and API keys