Configuration

Most settings are things you change from inside a session, and they stick per project. This page covers what's configurable and where it's stored.

Per-project settings

Set these in a session and memcode remembers them for the project:

• Your model choice, with /model
• The permission mode, with /mode
• The color theme, with /theme
• The assistant's voice, with /personality
• How hard it thinks, with /effort

They're saved in .memcode/config.json at your repo root. That file never holds API keys.

Where secrets live

Your tokens and keys live in ~/.config/memcode/.env, written by memcode login and the setup wizard. memcode reads only this file for credentials. It deliberately does not read your project's .env, so repo files never leak keys into memcode.

Custom instructions

Rules memcode should always follow go in a MEMCODE.md file. See MEMCODE.md.

Share memory with other tools

memcode sync writes a summary of what memcode knows into the context files other assistants read, such as CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md. Run it interactively to pick which files to update:

memcode sync

Hooks

If you want to run your own commands at set points, such as before a tool runs or when a session ends, memcode supports hooks. Configure them in ~/.memcode/hooks.json for all projects or .memcode/hooks.json for one project. The full reference is in HOOKS.md in the repository.

Environment variables

For backend selection and other knobs you set in your shell, see Environment variables.