Configuration

nanocode reads a single TOML file, ~/.nanocode/config.toml by default. Generate a commented starter with nanocode --init-config, or point at another file with --config <path>.

Only the [provider] block is required. Every other key falls back to a built-in default, so a minimal config is just a provider. Inspect the resolved configuration at any time with /config.

Providers

Define one or more [provider.<name>] blocks and pick the active one with [provider] active:

[provider]
active = "default"

[provider.default]
url = "https://api.deepseek.com"
key = "sk-..."
model = "deepseek-v4-flash"

Switch providers within a session with /provider [NAME] and models with /model [MODEL].

Provider options

Key	Default	Meaning
url	—	Base URL of the API
key	—	API key
model	—	Model name
api	auto	Request format: auto, anthropic, or chat. auto picks the right one for the host and model.
reasoning	medium	Reasoning effort: off, minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh
chat_reasoning	auto	Chat-API reasoning format: auto, off, reasoning, reasoning_effort, thinking, or enable_thinking
prompt_cache_key	auto	Stable prompt-cache key; use off to disable or provide a custom key
timeout	180	Request timeout, in seconds
available_models	—	Models offered by /model’s picker
temperature	—	Sampling temperature (omit to use the server default)
max_tokens	—	Cap on output tokens (omit to use the server default)
strict_tools	false	Emit strict tool-call schemas where supported (OpenAI, DeepSeek); toggle live with /strict

For well-known hosts, auto settings pick sensible defaults for you, so url, key, and model are usually all you need. Anything you set explicitly is always respected. Tested with DeepSeek, OpenCode, Alibaba Cloud, and ZenMux; other OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic endpoints work too.

Runtime

Optional; the defaults shown are used when omitted.

Key	Default	Meaning
yolo	false	Start without confirmation prompts
max_context_tokens	128000	Context budget before automatic compaction
max_agent_steps	200	Maximum tool steps in one turn
shell_timeout	60	Maximum shell-command lifetime, in seconds
bash_wait_timeout	10	Foreground wait before a running command becomes a background job; 0 disables promotion
max_parallel_tools	4	Maximum read-only tool calls executed concurrently; 1 disables parallelism
session_retention_days	7	Delete inactive saved sessions older than this at startup; 0 keeps them indefinitely
theme	auto	Terminal theme: auto, light, or dark; overridden by --theme

Selected tuning values can be changed for the current session with /set (Tab completion lists the supported keys). /yolo toggles yolo.

Data location

[paths]
data_dir = "~/.nanocode"   # sessions, code index, OAuth tokens, user skills, update cache

Sessions live under <data_dir>/sessions/.