Configuration File | Coding Friend

Overview

Configure Coding Friend using .coding-friend/config.json. Two locations:

Global: ~/.coding-friend/config.json — applies to all projects
Local: .coding-friend/config.json — project-specific, overrides global

Edit interactively with cf config, or manually edit the JSON files.

Full Config

{
  "language": "en",
  "docsDir": "docs",
  "privacyBlock": true,
  "scoutBlock": true,
  "commit": {
    "verify": true
  },
  "learn": {
    "language": "en",
    "outputDir": "docs/learn",
    "categories": [
      {
        "name": "concepts",
        "description": "Design patterns, algorithms, architecture principles"
      },
      {
        "name": "patterns",
        "description": "Repository pattern, observer pattern"
      },
      {
        "name": "languages",
        "description": "Language-specific features, syntax, idioms"
      },
      { "name": "tools", "description": "Libraries, frameworks, CLI tools" },
      { "name": "debugging", "description": "Debugging techniques, bug fixes" }
    ],
    "autoCommit": false,
    "readmeIndex": false
  },
  "statusline": {
    "components": ["version", "folder", "model", "branch", "context", "usage"],
    "accountAliases": {
      "me@work.com": "Work"
    }
  },
  "autoApprove": false,
  "autoApproveAllowExtra": [],
  "autoApproveIgnore": [],
  "memory": {
    "tier": "auto",
    "embedding": {
      "provider": "transformers",
      "model": "Xenova/all-MiniLM-L6-v2",
      "ollamaUrl": "http://localhost:11434"
    },
    "daemon": {
      "idleTimeout": 0
    },
    "autoCapture": false,
    "autoStart": false
  }
}

Properties

`language`

Type: string
Default: "en"
Language for doc-generating skills (/cf-ask, /cf-remember, /cf-plan, /cf-research)

`docsDir`

Type: string
Default: "docs"
Top-level folder name where all skill outputs are stored
Must be a single folder name (no slashes) — all subfolders (plans/, memory/, research/, sessions/) sit inside it

`privacyBlock`

Type: boolean
Default: true
Enables the privacy-block hook that prevents reading sensitive files (.env, credentials, etc.)
Set to false to disable

`scoutBlock`

Type: boolean
Default: true
Enables the scout-block hook that prevents the agent from reading too many files at once
Set to false to disable

`commit`

Settings for the /cf-commit workflow.

`commit.verify`

Type: boolean
Default: true
Run tests before allowing commit
Set to false to skip pre-commit verification

`learn`

Settings for the /cf-learn skill.

`learn.language`

Type: string
Default: "en"
Language for /cf-learn notes
Falls back to top-level language, then "en"

`learn.outputDir`

Type: string
Default: "docs/learn"
Where learning docs are saved
Supports absolute paths (/path/to/dir) or ~/ paths for external storage

`learn.categories`

Type: array of { name, description }
Default: 5 categories (concepts, patterns, languages, tools, debugging)
Subdirectories and their descriptions for organizing learning docs

`learn.autoCommit`

Type: boolean
Default: false
Auto-commit after each /cf-learn (useful for external output dirs)

`learn.readmeIndex`

Type: boolean | "per-category"
Default: false
false — no index
true — single README containing all indexes
"per-category" — one README per category folder

`statusline`

Settings for the statusline display (global config only).

`statusline.components`

Type: array of component IDs
Default: all components shown
Available components: "version", "folder", "model", "branch", "context", "usage"
Only listed components are shown — omit a component to hide it

`statusline.accountAliases`

Type: Record<string, string> (email → alias)
Default: {} (no aliases)
Custom display names for accounts, keyed by email address
When set, the alias replaces the full name/email display in the statusline (e.g., 👤 Work instead of 👤 Name (email))
Each account can have its own alias — switching accounts preserves all aliases
Set interactively via cf statusline, cf config, or cf init

`autoApprove`

Type: boolean
Default: false
Enables the auto-approve hook that reduces permission prompts
Uses a 3-step classification pipeline (rules → working-dir → LLM) to auto-approve safe operations

`autoApproveAllowExtra`

Type: string[]
Default: []
Additional Bash command prefixes to auto-approve (merged with built-in allow list)
Entries are matched as command prefixes: "cargo test" matches cargo test, cargo test --lib, etc.
Cannot override DENY patterns — adding "rm -rf" does not bypass the built-in deny
Both global and local configs are merged (union, deduped)
See Auto-Approve reference for details

`autoApproveIgnore`

Type: string[]
Default: []
Bash command prefixes the hook should not classify — returns no decision so Claude Code's native permissions.allow patterns handle them
Only applies to commands that would be prompted ("ask") or sent to the LLM classifier ("unknown"). Security DENY patterns are always enforced
For compound commands (pipes, chains), the first segment is checked
Both global and local configs are merged (union, deduped)
Use this when you have flexible glob patterns in .claude/settings.json (e.g. "Bash(cargo test * | *)") and want Claude Code to decide instead of the hook
See Auto-Approve reference for the difference with autoApproveAllowExtra

`memory`

Settings for the memory system.

`memory.tier`

Type: "auto" | "full" | "lite" | "markdown"
Default: "auto"
Controls which search backend the MCP server uses — this does not start or stop the daemon
"auto" — detect best available at startup: SQLite installed → Tier 1, daemon running → Tier 2, otherwise → Tier 3
"full" — require Tier 1 (SQLite + hybrid search). Fails if deps not installed via cf memory init
"lite" — require Tier 2 (MiniSearch daemon). Fails if daemon not running via cf memory start-daemon
"markdown" — force Tier 3 (grep over markdown files). Always works, no setup needed
Use this to force a specific tier for testing or to skip auto-detection (e.g., "markdown" to use Tier 3 even when SQLite is installed)

`memory.embedding`

Settings for the embedding model used in Tier 1 semantic search. See Embedding Models for details.

`memory.embedding.provider`

Type: "transformers" | "ollama"
Default: "transformers"
"transformers" — local Transformers.js model, no external service needed
"ollama" — local Ollama server, supports more models

`memory.embedding.model`

Type: string
Default: "Xenova/all-MiniLM-L6-v2" (transformers) or "all-minilm:l6-v2" (ollama)
The embedding model to use for vector generation
Changing to a model with different dimensions requires cf memory rebuild

`memory.embedding.ollamaUrl`

Type: string
Default: "http://localhost:11434"
URL of the Ollama server (only used when provider is "ollama")

`memory.daemon`

Settings for the Tier 2 MiniSearch daemon.

`memory.daemon.idleTimeout`

Type: number (milliseconds)
Default: 0 (no timeout — daemon runs until explicitly stopped)
Auto-shutdown the daemon after this many milliseconds of inactivity. Set to 0 to disable auto-shutdown (recommended). The cf memory config wizard prompts in minutes and converts automatically.
If the daemon stops (e.g., due to idle timeout or crash), it is automatically respawned on the next memory request with up to 3 retry attempts before falling back to Tier 3.

`memory.autoCapture`

Type: boolean
Default: false
Enable automatic memory capture via PreCompact hook
When enabled, session summaries are saved as episode memories before context compaction

`memory.autoStart`

Type: boolean
Default: false
Auto-start the daemon when the MCP server connects

Layered Config

Local settings override global settings at the top-level key level (not deep merge).

If global has { "language": "en", "docsDir": "docs" } and local has { "language": "vi" }, the result is { "language": "vi", "docsDir": "docs" }
If local has a learn object, it replaces the entire global learn object

Custom Skill Guides

Separate from config.json, you can extend built-in skills with project-specific guidance. See Custom Skill Guides for details.