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Settings

What each section of Settings changes, for this machine and for each project.

Open Settings in the rail (on a phone, in the ☰ menu). The list on the left has three parts: This host (the machine running PDT), a few pages of their own (Notifications, Plugins, All connections, Secrets, MCP servers), and each project. Search settings at the top finds a section by its name or any setting on it.

Every setting saves as you change it: a moment of Saved beside it says so. Tokens and secrets have their own Save button.

This host

Updates

How PDT updates itself. See Updates for what each choice does.

  • Version: the version you run, with Check for updates, and what the last check found.
  • Install updates: Install automatically when idle, Notify only or Manual (no checks).
  • Installing updates: a time window, whether to wait for agents or install anyway after a while, stable releases only, the check after installing and telling you what changed. These set the Install updates workflow. See Installing updates by themselves.
  • Update channel: Stable releases, or Nightly builds too.
  • Check for updates: how often PDT looks.
  • Release repository: where updates come from. Leave it empty.
  • Advanced › GitHub token: only for a private repository or a fork, or a higher rate limit; PDT reads its releases without one. Bug reports are filed with it. Kept in your keychain.

Agents

  • Default agent: the agent a ticket’s Start picks first, and listed first everywhere else.
  • Default view: whether a new session opens as a Conversation or the agent’s own Terminal.
  • Ticket permissions and Session permissions: the permission mode tickets and new sessions start with. See Workspaces and sessions.
  • Agents running at once: the most agents working at the same time before PDT’s own work (workflow steps, auto-start) waits for a slot. What you send yourself never waits.
  • Triage per author and Triage per repository: the most new issues triaged an hour, from one author or one repository. See Outside contributions.
  • Credentials: Subscription (remove API keys) starts agents without ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and OPENAI_API_KEY, so they use your subscription login; Pass through keeps them (for API keys, Bedrock, Vertex or a proxy). A project can choose differently.
  • When an agent is stuck: how many times a stalled agent is nudged, the nudge messages, whether it is restarted in a fresh session before you are asked, and what happens at a loop limit or a time limit. See When an agent is stuck.
  • Default models: the model each agent starts with, unless the session or its persona picks another.
  • Programs: where each agent’s program is, a switch to turn the agent off, and whether PDT found it. Leave a path empty to use the one on your PATH.
  • ACP agents: other agents that speak the Agent Client Protocol. See Connect agents and GitHub.

PM

  • Daily checkpoint: when the PM’s conversations are brought up to date: at a set time or each hour, on which days, and a chat channel to post the update to. These set the PM daily checkpoint workflow. See Change when it’s brought up to date.

Network

Where PDT listens. Changes apply when PDT restarts: a banner offers Restart now, and Network shows a restart badge until then. Sessions are interrupted and resume when PDT is back.

  • Port: PDT’s port, 7420 unless you change it (if something else needs 7420, say). After a restart on a new port, the page reopens itself there.
  • Allowed hosts: other names you open PDT by on this machine (an alias in your hosts file, say), with :port when needed. localhost and your tailnet name are always allowed; PDT refuses a page opened by any other name, so that websites can’t reach it through your browser.

A setting marked env is set by an environment variable PDT was started with (PDT_PORT, PDT_ALLOWED_HOSTS), which wins over the setting, so you can’t change it here. See Troubleshooting.

Remote access

Serve on the tailnet, its Status and address, and the Owner. See Remote access and your phone.

Runs

A run is a command PDT starts from a ticket’s branch, such as your app’s dev server or its tests. Each project defines its runs in .pdt/project.toml or in the project’s settings.

  • Ports: each run that serves something gets a port from this range, for its link (and its Tailscale link when remote access is on).
  • Max concurrent runs: how many runs may be going at once across all projects; tests don’t count. Starting one more offers to stop the oldest.

See Run configuration.

Storage

Free space on each disk PDT uses, and what each project’s worktrees take, with their build output apart.

  • Clean or Remove… a worktree, or Clean all finished tickets’ worktrees at once.
  • While pickup is paused, why, with Resume pickup.
  • Cleanup sets the Clean up storage workflow:
    • Low-disk warning: below this much free space (20 GB unless you change it), the Inbox warns you.
    • Almost full below: below this (5 GB), a disk is almost full.
    • Pause pickup: while a disk is almost full, auto-start starts no new tickets (on unless you turn it off).
    • Clean finished worktrees now: when a disk is almost full, clean every finished ticket’s build output at once (on unless you turn it off).
    • Customize as a workflow → opens the workflow. Once you change it there beyond these settings, this section says so, with Open and Reset to default.

See Disk space.

Projects folder

Where a repository you add by Clone URL is cloned to (~/work unless you change it).

Documents

The Default provider new documents go to (the first one PDT has, unless you pick one), and the Local documents folder where documents kept on this machine are saved (PDT’s data folder unless you change it). A project can set its own.

Appearance

Theme: System, Dark or Light. It’s kept in this browser, so your phone can differ from your computer.

Bug reports

Send reports to: where Report a bug… sends a report about PDT: Automatic (a GitHub issue on PDT’s repository), GitHub issue, Local ticket (a draft ticket here, nothing sent anywhere) or Off. The report form shows what it includes before you send it, and its logs are cleaned of secrets, tokens and your machine’s names.

Checks

Whether PDT found the programs it runs: git, the agents and Tailscale, with where it found them or what’s wrong. Run checks again after installing something.

Setup

Open Get started brings back the first-run checklist.

Danger zone

Remove the GitHub token deletes the GitHub token from your keychain; updates go on without it. It always asks first.

Notifications

How each kind of news reaches you: off, a dot, the Inbox, a toast, or a desktop notification, and Desktop notifications for this device. You can also escalate what waits unanswered, set quiet hours, and post questions, approvals and failed runs to a chat channel. These set the Notification rules workflow. See The Inbox.

Plugins and All connections

Turn plugins on and off and manage their connections; the GitHub plugin is where you sign in to GitHub. See Plugins and connections and GitHub and other forges.

Secrets

Keys and tokens that agents and workflows use without seeing them. See Secrets.

MCP servers

MCP servers every agent gets, signed in once, with each tool allowed, asked or blocked. See MCP servers.

A project’s settings

Each project has its own sections. A personal project (one without a repository) has fewer.

  • General: its Name, its Key (the letters in its ticket numbers), the Base branch work starts from, and its Repository folder.
  • Worktrees: the checkouts PDT made for its branches, each with its ticket and size. Open one’s changes, Clean its build output or remove it. Clean build output after and Remove worktree after set the automatic cleanup of finished tickets’ worktrees.
  • Runs on this host: what Run and Test start, from the repository’s file plus overrides kept on this machine. See Run configuration.
  • Agent instructions: extra instructions for every agent in this project, on top of the repository’s own CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md. Kept on this machine, never written to the repository.
  • Agents: Agent credentials for this project, and the Agent permission mode for workflow steps.
  • Review: Merge through pull requests: Merge… only turns on auto-merge for the pull request, and never merges on your machine.
  • Pipeline and policies: who may merge, approvals, how many tickets run at once, auto-start, and whether the PM acts without asking. See Workflows and Personas and approvals.
  • Plugins: which Jira project, Buildkite pipeline or other service this project’s issues and CI live in.
  • Documents: the documents linked to the project, with Add, and its own Default provider and Local documents folder (blank: this host’s).
  • Danger zone: Remove this project. PDT forgets it and stops its sessions and runs; the files on disk stay.