Archon/docs/configuration.md

Configuration Guide

Archon supports a layered configuration system with sensible defaults, optional YAML config files, and environment variable overrides.

Directory Structure

User-Level (~/.archon/)

~/.archon/
├── workspaces/     # Cloned repositories
│   └── owner/repo/
├── worktrees/      # Git worktrees for isolation
│   └── repo-name/
│       └── branch-name/
├── archon.db       # SQLite database (when DATABASE_URL not set)
└── config.yaml     # Global configuration (optional)

Repository-Level (.archon/)

.archon/
├── commands/       # Custom commands
│   └── plan.md
├── workflows/      # Future: workflow definitions
└── config.yaml     # Repo-specific configuration (optional)

Configuration Priority

Settings are loaded in this order (later overrides earlier):

1. Defaults - Sensible built-in defaults
2. Global Config - ~/.archon/config.yaml
3. Repo Config - .archon/config.yaml in repository
4. Environment Variables - Always highest priority

Global Configuration

Create ~/.archon/config.yaml for user-wide preferences:

# Default AI assistant
defaultAssistant: claude # or 'codex'

# Streaming preferences per platform
streaming:
  telegram: stream # 'stream' or 'batch'
  discord: batch
  slack: batch
  github: batch

# Custom paths (usually not needed)
paths:
  workspaces: ~/.archon/workspaces
  worktrees: ~/.archon/worktrees

# Concurrency limits
concurrency:
  maxConversations: 10

Repository Configuration

Create .archon/config.yaml in any repository for project-specific settings:

# AI assistant for this project (used as default provider for workflows)
assistant: claude

# Commands configuration
commands:
  folder: .archon/commands
  autoLoad: true

# Worktree settings
worktree:
  baseBranch: main  # Optional: Base branch for workspace sync (default: auto-detect)
  copyFiles:  # Optional: Additional files to copy to worktrees
    - .env.example -> .env  # Rename during copy
    - .vscode               # Copy entire directory

# Defaults configuration
defaults:
  loadDefaultCommands: true   # Load app's bundled default commands at runtime
  loadDefaultWorkflows: true  # Load app's bundled default workflows at runtime
  copyDefaults: false         # Deprecated: use loadDefaultCommands/loadDefaultWorkflows instead

Default behavior: The .archon/ directory is always copied to worktrees automatically (contains artifacts, plans, workflows). Use copyFiles only for additional files like .env or .vscode.

Defaults behavior: The app's bundled default commands and workflows are loaded at runtime and merged with repo-specific ones. Repo commands/workflows override app defaults by name. Set defaults.loadDefaultCommands: false or defaults.loadDefaultWorkflows: false to disable runtime loading.

Base branch behavior: Before creating a worktree, the canonical workspace is synced to the latest code:

• If worktree.baseBranch is set: Uses the configured branch. Fails with an error if the branch doesn't exist (no silent fallback).
• If worktree.baseBranch is omitted: Auto-detects the default branch via git symbolic-ref (falls back to main or master).

Environment Variables

Environment variables override all other configuration:

Variable	Description	Default
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection (optional)	SQLite at ~/.archon/archon.db (recommended for single-developer use)
ARCHON_HOME	Base directory for Archon	~/.archon
DEFAULT_AI_ASSISTANT	Default AI assistant	claude
TELEGRAM_STREAMING_MODE	Telegram streaming	stream
DISCORD_STREAMING_MODE	Discord streaming	batch
SLACK_STREAMING_MODE	Slack streaming	batch
GITHUB_STREAMING_MODE	GitHub streaming	batch
MAX_CONCURRENT_CONVERSATIONS	Concurrency limit	10

.env File Locations

Infrastructure configuration (database URL, platform tokens) is stored in .env files:

Component	Location	Purpose
CLI	~/.archon/.env	Global infrastructure config
Server	<archon-repo>/.env	Platform tokens, database

Important: The CLI loads .env only from ~/.archon/.env, not from the current working directory. This prevents conflicts when running Archon from projects that have their own database configurations.

Best practice: Use ~/.archon/.env as the single source of truth. If running the server, symlink or copy to the archon repo:

# Create global config
mkdir -p ~/.archon
cp .env.example ~/.archon/.env
# Edit with your values

# For server, symlink to repo
ln -s ~/.archon/.env .env

Docker Configuration

In Docker containers, paths are automatically set:

/.archon/
├── workspaces/
└── worktrees/

Environment variables still work and override defaults.

Command Folder Detection

When cloning or switching repositories, Archon looks for commands in this priority order:

1. .archon/commands/ - Always searched first
2. Configured folder from commands.folder in .archon/config.yaml (if specified)

Example .archon/config.yaml:

commands:
  folder: .claude/commands/archon  # Additional folder to search
  autoLoad: true

Examples

Minimal Setup (Using Defaults)

No configuration needed! Archon works out of the box with:

• ~/.archon/ for all managed files
• Claude as default AI assistant
• Platform-appropriate streaming modes

Custom AI Preference

# ~/.archon/config.yaml
defaultAssistant: codex

Project-Specific Settings

# .archon/config.yaml in your repo
assistant: claude  # Workflows inherit this provider unless they specify their own
commands:
  autoLoad: true

Docker with Custom Volume

docker run -v /my/data:/.archon ghcr.io/dynamous-community/remote-coding-agent

Troubleshooting

Config Parse Errors

If your config file has invalid YAML syntax, you'll see error messages like:

[Config] Failed to parse global config at ~/.archon/config.yaml: <error details>
[Config] Using default configuration. Please fix the YAML syntax in your config file.

Common YAML syntax issues:

• Incorrect indentation (use spaces, not tabs)
• Missing colons after keys
• Unquoted values with special characters

The application will continue running with default settings until the config file is fixed.