Settings¶

Set preferences in init.lua by assigning to smelt.settings:

smelt.settings.vim = true
smelt.settings.auto_compact = true
smelt.settings.compact_threshold = 0.65
smelt.settings.show_tps = true

Use --set KEY=VALUE for a one-off override on a single launch. Booleans are true or false, numbers are parsed as numbers, and strings are checked against the allowed values. Unknown keys and wrong types raise an error. Saved changes apply automatically; see Reloading.

All settings¶

Read or write via smelt.settings.<key> from init.lua. Saved Lua config reloads automatically by default; run /reload to apply changes manually. Override from the CLI with --set KEY=VALUE. Assigning an unknown key or wrong type raises at the call site.

Web search¶

web_search_provider = "auto" uses Brave when its API key is available and DuckDuckGo otherwise. To require Brave:

smelt.settings.web_search_provider = "brave"
smelt.settings.brave_search_api_key_env = "BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY"

export BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=...

Notifications¶

Turn-end desktop notifications are a nested table, not a --set key:

smelt.settings.notifications = {
  turn_end = true, -- default false
}

/notify overrides this for the current session.

Transcript¶

smelt.settings.transcript controls how the conversation is displayed. It is a Lua table, not a --set key.

smelt.settings.transcript = {
  show_timestamps = true,
  view = {
    blocks = { thinking = "peek" },
    tools = { read_file = "collapsed", edit_file = "collapsed", write_file = "expanded" },
    groups = { explore = "collapsed", lsp = "collapsed", web = "collapsed" },
  },
  limits = { tool_output_rows = 20, thinking_peek_rows = 4 },
}

• view sets the default fold state ("collapsed", "peek" or "expanded") for block kinds, tools and groups. Use false for a group to switch it off.
• limits caps how many rows tool output and thinking previews show: tool_rows, tool_header_rows, tool_body_rows, tool_output_rows, collapsed_error_rows, thinking_peek_rows and thinking_peek_head_rows.
• show_timestamps = false hides timestamps on messages and tool calls. Tool durations stay visible.

Request audit¶

request_audit controls what is stored about each provider request in the session database.

Full payloads can contain prompts, source code and tool results, so treat a session database or smelt export requests output created in this mode as sensitive. SMELT_REQUEST_AUDIT=off|summary|full pins the mode for a process and wins over config.

Math rendering (LaTeX)¶

LaTeX math in Markdown ($$...$$, \[...\], $...$, \(...\)) renders as images on terminals that support the Kitty graphics protocol and as Unicode text elsewhere. Set math_rendering = "unicode" to always use text. Inside tmux, enable passthrough with set -g allow-passthrough on. Copying an equation copies its original Markdown source.