Configuration

Lua, and a program rather than a data file: it may probe the machine, loop and branch. Nothing is discovered by scanning — a file the entry point does not name does not load.

plate 11load order, and where a project file is refused

The entry point

-- ~/.config/magi/init.lua — the only entry point.
-- Nothing is discovered by scanning: a file not named here does not load.
magi.load("clients/hexe.lua")
magi.load("clients/oslo.lua")
magi.load("clients/balthasar.lua")
magi.load("tools.lua")

magi.model   = "openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6"
magi.confine = true                     -- refuse paths outside the session root
magi.allow   = { … }                    -- answered in advance, not under pressure

What it takes

setting	does
`magi.model`	which model, as `magi models` prints it
`magi.confine`	whether `read`, `write` and `edit` refuse paths outside the session's directory
`magi.allow`	permissions granted in advance, so they are not asked about
`magi.trusted`	directories whose `.magi.lua` is as good as this file
`magi.env`	environment every process magi starts is given, on top of what it inherits
`magi.project`	what this session is called, in the name other sessions see
`magi.agent_talk`	how far one session may reach another
`magi.ui`	every colour, glyph and measurement the screen draws with
`magi.melchior` · `magi.balthasar`	settings handed to that sibling, in its vocabulary — one place to edit rather than two

A project's own file

A .magi.lua arrives with a checkout. Cloning a repository and running magi in it must not be enough to add a tool — a tool names a command to run — or to widen what runs without asking.

a project file may	and may not
choose a model the machine already offers	declare a tool
set ordinary settings	touch `confine`, `allow` or `trusted` — fatal, not a warning
load its own files	name its own directory as trusted

The one way past it is from your own configuration: naming a directory in magi.trusted makes its project file as good as yours. A decision made once, in advance, in the file only you can edit. Without a way to say yes, the rule would be worked around instead of used.

What magi does not keep, it says so about. A declaration for something a sibling owns, or a setting nested past what can be described, is reported on stderr rather than dropped. A config line that did nothing used to look exactly like one that worked.

Configuring a sibling through magi

magi asks each sibling what it takes, hands over what your config named, and reports anything the far side would not accept — a coordinator and a sibling disagreeing about what a name means is worth a line on stderr.

magi.balthasar = { promote_floor = 0.6 }
magi.melchior  = { max_tokens = 8192 }

$ balthasar needs      # what it will accept, in its own words
$ melchior needs

backinstall nextwriting a tool