Settings Reference

Complete reference of all Tabnine CLI settings. For an overview and getting started guide, see Settings.

Settings are read from settings.json files in order of precedence (highest first):

1. System Settings: Platform-specific system settings path — Admin-enforced overrides (highest priority)

2. Workspace: <project>/.tabnine/agent/settings.json — Project-specific overrides

3. User: ~/.tabnine/agent/settings.json — Personal defaults across all projects

4. System Defaults: Platform-specific system defaults path — Organization-wide defaults that users can override (lowest priority)

Settings are deep-merged — you only need to specify overrides. System file paths vary by platform and can be overridden with TABNINE_CLI_SYSTEM_SETTINGS_PATH and TABNINE_CLI_SYSTEM_DEFAULTS_PATH environment variables.

Legend:

• ⟳ = requires restart to take effect

System file paths:

Platform	System Settings	System Defaults
Windows	C:\ProgramData\tabnine-cli\settings.json	C:\ProgramData\tabnine-cli\system-defaults.json
macOS	/Library/Application Support/TabnineCli/settings.json	/Library/Application Support/TabnineCli/system-defaults.json
Linux	/etc/tabnine-cli/settings.json	/etc/tabnine-cli/system-defaults.json

General Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
general.defaultApprovalMode	enum	You can control how tool execution is approved by choosing default (prompts for approval), auto_edit (automatically approves edit tools), or plan (read-only mode).	default
general.vimMode	boolean	You can use Vim keybindings for navigation and editing when this is enabled.	false
general.enableNotifications	boolean	You will receive desktop notifications for action-required prompts and session completion when this is enabled.	false
general.retryFetchErrors	boolean	The CLI will automatically retry network fetch errors when this is enabled.	true
general.maxAttempts	number	You can set the maximum number of retry attempts for model requests (this cannot be set higher than 10).	10
general.debugKeystrokeLogging	boolean	Keystrokes are logged to the console for debugging purposes when this is enabled.	false
general.preferredEditor	string	You can specify the editor you prefer to use for opening files.	—
general.devtools	boolean	DevTools inspector opens on launch when this is enabled (you can access it by pressing F12).	false
general.tabnineHost	string	You can specify the Tabnine host URL you want to use for authentication. ⟳	—
general.checkpointing.enabled	boolean	Session checkpointing is available for recovery when this is enabled. See Checkpointing. ⟳	false

Session Retention Settings

Automatic cleanup of old chat sessions:

Setting	Type	Description	Default
general.sessionRetention.enabled	boolean	Old chat sessions are automatically cleaned up when this is enabled.	true
general.sessionRetention.maxAge	string	Sessions older than this time period are deleted (you can use formats like 7d, 24h, 1w).	30d
general.sessionRetention.maxCount	number	You can specify the maximum number of sessions to keep as an alternative to maxAge (keeps the most recent ones).	—
general.sessionRetention.minRetention	string	You can set the safety minimum retention period that prevents accidental deletion of very recent sessions.	1d

Plan Mode Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
general.plan.directory	string	You can specify the directory where planning artifacts are stored (defaults to system temp dir if not specified). ⟳	—
general.plan.modelRouting	boolean	Automatically switches between Pro (planning) and Flash (implementation) models when this is enabled.	true

Output Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
output.format	enum	You can choose the format for CLI output by selecting text or json.	text

User Interface Settings

All UI settings are nested under the ui key.

Setting	Type	Description	Default
ui.theme	string	You can specify the color theme you want to use (see Themes).	(auto)
ui.autoThemeSwitching	boolean	Automatically switches between light and dark themes based on your terminal background when this is enabled.	true
ui.terminalBackgroundPollingInterval	number	You can set how often (in seconds) the CLI checks your terminal background color.	60
ui.customThemes	object	You can define your custom theme definitions (see Themes for schema).	{}
ui.showLineNumbers	boolean	Line numbers are displayed in chat when this is enabled.	true
ui.hideBanner	boolean	The startup banner is hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.hideTips	boolean	Helpful tips are hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.hideFooter	boolean	The footer bar is hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.showMemoryUsage	boolean	Memory usage information is shown when this is enabled.	false
ui.showSpinner	boolean	A spinner is shown during operations when this is enabled.	true
ui.inlineThinkingMode	enum	You can control how model thinking is displayed by choosing off or full.	off
ui.loadingPhrases	enum	You can choose what you see while the CLI is working by selecting tips, witty, all, or off.	tips
ui.customWittyPhrases	array	You can specify custom phrases to cycle through during loading (replaces defaults when provided).	[]
ui.errorVerbosity	enum	You can choose the level of error details you want to see by selecting low or full.	low
ui.showStatusInTitle	boolean	Model thoughts are shown in your terminal title when this is enabled.	false
ui.dynamicWindowTitle	boolean	Your terminal title is updated with status icons when this is enabled.	true
ui.hideWindowTitle	boolean	The window title bar is hidden when this is enabled. ⟳	false
ui.useAlternateBuffer	boolean	Alternate screen buffer is used when this is enabled. ⟳	false
ui.incrementalRendering	boolean	Flickering is reduced when this is enabled (requires useAlternateBuffer). ⟳	true
ui.showCitations	boolean	Citations for generated text are shown when this is enabled.	false
ui.showModelInfoInChat	boolean	The model name for each response is shown when this is enabled.	false
ui.showUserIdentity	boolean	Your signed-in user identity is shown when this is enabled.	true
ui.showShortcutsHint	boolean	The "? for shortcuts" hint is shown when this is enabled.	true
ui.hideContextSummary	boolean	The context summary above the input is hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.escapePastedAtSymbols	boolean	@ symbols in pasted text are escaped when this is enabled.	false
ui.useBackgroundColor	boolean	Background colors are used in the UI when this is enabled.	true
ui.showHomeDirectoryWarning	boolean	You are warned when running in your home directory when this is enabled. ⟳	true
ui.showCompatibilityWarnings	boolean	Terminal compatibility warnings are shown when this is enabled. ⟳	true
ui.accessibility.screenReader	boolean	Screen reader mode with plain text output is activated when this is enabled. ⟳	false

Footer customization

Setting	Type	Description	Default
ui.footer.items	array	You can specify a list of item IDs to display in the footer (rendered in order).	—
ui.footer.showLabels	boolean	Descriptive headers are displayed above footer items when this is enabled.	true
ui.footer.hideCWD	boolean	The working directory is hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.footer.hideModelInfo	boolean	The model name and context usage are hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.footer.hideSandboxStatus	boolean	The sandbox indicator is hidden when this is enabled.	false
ui.footer.hideContextPercentage	boolean	The context window usage percentage is hidden when this is enabled.	true

Model Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
model.name	string	You can specify the model identifier you want to use. See Model Selection.	—
model.maxSessionTurns	number	You can set the maximum number of turns per session (-1 means unlimited).	-1
model.compressionThreshold	number	You can specify the context usage fraction that triggers compression. ⟳	0.7
model.disableLoopDetection	boolean	Infinite loop detection is disabled when this is enabled. ⟳	false
model.skipNextSpeakerCheck	boolean	The next speaker check is skipped when this is enabled.	true
model.summarizeToolOutput	object	You can configure per-tool summarization settings (e.g., {\"run_shell_command\": {\"tokenBudget\": 2000}}).	—

Tools Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
tools.enableRemoteCodeSearch	boolean	Tabnine Remote Code Search is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
tools.enableCoaching	boolean	Tabnine Coaching Guidelines are enabled when this is enabled. See Coaching Guidelines. ⟳	true
tools.useRipgrep	boolean	Ripgrep is used for faster file search when this is enabled.	true
tools.truncateToolOutputThreshold	number	You can specify the maximum number of characters before tool output is truncated. ⟳	40000
tools.disableLLMCorrection	boolean	LLM error correction for edits is disabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
tools.searchOutputLimitEnabled	boolean	Search tool output size is limited when this is enabled.	true
tools.searchMaxChars	number	You can specify the maximum number of characters from search tools.	50000
tools.core	array	You can restrict built-in tools to this allowlist. ⟳	—
tools.allowed	array	You can specify tool names that bypass the confirmation dialog. ⟳	—
tools.exclude	array	You can specify tool names to exclude from discovery. ⟳	—
tools.discoveryCommand	string	You can specify a command to run for tool discovery. ⟳	—
tools.callCommand	string	You can specify a custom shell command for invoking discovered tools (reads JSON from stdin, emits JSON on stdout). ⟳	—

Shell Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
tools.shell.enableInteractiveShell	boolean	Interactive shell is used when this is enabled. ⟳	true
tools.shell.showColor	boolean	Color is shown in shell output when this is enabled.	false
tools.shell.inactivityTimeout	number	You can specify the maximum number of seconds without output (default 5 min).	300
tools.shell.pager	string	You can specify the pager command for shell output.	cat
tools.shell.enableShellOutputEfficiency	boolean	Shell output efficiency optimizations are enabled when this is enabled.	true

Sandbox Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
tools.sandbox	object	You can enable sandboxed execution by setting this to true/false, a string command name ("docker", "podman"), or an object with enabled, command, image, allowedPaths, and networkAccess properties. ⟳	—

Security Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
security.disableYoloMode	boolean	YOLO mode is blocked even from CLI flags when this is enabled. ⟳	false
security.disableAlwaysAllow	boolean	"Always allow" is removed from confirmation dialogs when this is enabled. ⟳	false
security.enablePermanentToolApproval	boolean	"Allow for all future sessions" option is shown when this is enabled.	false
security.autoAddToPolicyByDefault	boolean	"Allow for all future sessions" defaults to enabled for low-risk tools when this is enabled.	false
security.toolSandboxing	boolean	Experimental per-tool sandboxing is enabled when this is enabled.	false
security.blockGitExtensions	boolean	Extensions installed from Git are blocked when this is enabled. ⟳	true
security.allowedExtensions	array	You can specify a regex allowlist for extensions (overrides blockGitExtensions). ⟳	[]
security.folderTrust.enabled	boolean	Workspace trust checks are enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
security.enableConseca	boolean	Context-aware security checker is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	false

Environment variable redaction

Setting	Type	Description	Default
security.environmentVariableRedaction.enabled	boolean	Environment variables that may contain secrets are redacted when this is enabled. ⟳	false
security.environmentVariableRedaction.allowed	array	You can specify environment variables to never redact. ⟳	[]
security.environmentVariableRedaction.blocked	array	You can specify environment variables to always redact. ⟳	[]

Context Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
context.includeDirectoryTree	boolean	Directory tree is included in initial context when this is enabled.	true
context.discoveryMaxDirs	number	You can specify the maximum number of directories to scan for memory files.	200
context.loadMemoryFromIncludeDirectories	boolean	Include directories are scanned for TABNINE.md files when this is enabled.	false
context.includeDirectories	array	You can specify additional directories to include in the workspace context.	[]
context.fileName	string	You can override the context file name(s) to load into memory.	—
context.importFormat	enum	You can specify the memory import format (tree or flat).	—
context.fileFiltering.respectGitIgnore	boolean	.gitignore is respected when searching when this is enabled. ⟳	true
context.fileFiltering.respectGeminiIgnore	boolean	.tabnineignore is respected when searching when this is enabled. ⟳	true
context.fileFiltering.enableRecursiveFileSearch	boolean	Recursive file search for @ references is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
context.fileFiltering.enableFuzzySearch	boolean	Fuzzy file search is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
context.fileFiltering.customIgnoreFilePaths	array	You can specify additional ignore file paths (take precedence over .gitignore and .tabnineignore). ⟳	[]

Telemetry Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
telemetry.enabled	boolean	You can enable or disable telemetry collection.	—
telemetry.otlpEndpoint	string	You can specify a custom OTLP endpoint for telemetry data.	—
telemetry.otlpProtocol	enum	You can specify the OTLP protocol to use (grpc or http).	—
telemetry.logPrompts	boolean	Prompts are included in telemetry when this is enabled.	—
telemetry.outfile	string	You can specify a file path for writing telemetry output.	—

Billing Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
billing.overageStrategy	enum	You can specify how to handle quota exhaustion by choosing ask, always, or never.	ask

MCP Servers Settings

The mcpServers key is a top-level object mapping server names to their configuration. See MCP Server Config for transport types, tool filtering, and authentication.

Setting	Type	Description	Default
mcp.serverCommand	string	You can specify a command to start an MCP server. ⟳	—
mcp.allowed	array	You can specify an allowlist of MCP server names. ⟳	—
mcp.excluded	array	You can specify a blocklist of MCP server names. ⟳	—

Hooks Settings

See Hooks for full documentation.

Setting	Type	Description	Default
hooksConfig.enabled	boolean	The hooks system is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
hooksConfig.notifications	boolean	Indicators are shown when hooks run when this is enabled.	true
hooksConfig.disabled	array	You can specify a list of hook command names to disable.	[]

Hook events are configured under the hooks key with arrays per event: BeforeTool, AfterTool, BeforeAgent, AfterAgent, Notification, SessionStart, SessionEnd, PreCompress, BeforeModel, AfterModel, BeforeToolSelection.

IDE Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
ide.enabled	boolean	IDE integration mode is enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	false

Skills Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
skills.enabled	boolean	Agent Skills are enabled when this is enabled. ⟳	true
skills.disabled	array	You can specify a list of disabled skill names. ⟳	[]

Extensions Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
extensions.disabled	array	You can specify a list of disabled extension names. ⟳	[]

Agents Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
agents.overrides	object	You can specify per-agent override settings (model config, run config, enable/disable). ⟳	{}
agents.browser.sessionMode	enum	You can specify the browser session mode by choosing persistent, isolated, or existing. ⟳	persistent
agents.browser.headless	boolean	The browser runs in headless mode when this is enabled. ⟳	false
agents.browser.profilePath	string	You can specify the path to browser profile directory for session persistence. ⟳	—
agents.browser.visualModel	string	You can specify a model override for the browser visual agent. ⟳	—
agents.browser.allowedDomains	array	You can specify allowed domains for the browser agent. ⟳	["github.com", "*.google.com", "localhost"]
agents.browser.disableUserInput	boolean	User input on browser window is disabled during automation when this is enabled.	true

Advanced Settings

Setting	Type	Description	Default
advanced.autoConfigureMemory	boolean	Node.js memory limits are automatically configured when this is enabled. ⟳	false
advanced.dnsResolutionOrder	string	You can specify the DNS resolution order (ipv4first or verbatim). ⟳	—
advanced.excludedEnvVars	array	You can specify environment variables to exclude from project context.	["DEBUG", "DEBUG_MODE"]
policyPaths	array	You can specify additional policy files or directories to load. ⟳	[]
adminPolicyPaths	array	You can specify additional admin policy files or directories to load. ⟳	[]