Configuration

Default Command

# Set the default command pre-filled in the new-pane form
dot-agent-deck config set default_command "claude"

# Read the current value
dot-agent-deck config get default_command

default_command is the agent command pre-filled in the new-pane form's Command field and the value that seeds the schedule-authoring agent. Both the new-pane form and the Scheduled Tasks Add/Edit flow use the same form — you type the command directly into the Command field (it accepts claude, opencode, pi, codex, devin, a path, or any command), pre-filled from default_command. If default_command is unset, the schedule-authoring agent falls back to claude.

When default_command is unset or empty, the new-pane form's Command field is instead pre-filled with your last command — the most recent command you launched from the new-agent form, in any mode (schedule / issue-dispatch authoring included). This value is global, persists across deck restarts, and is only ever pre-filled into the editable field (never auto-run), so you can edit or clear it before you submit. On a fresh install — where you have never launched a command from the form — the field starts blank. An explicit default_command always takes precedence over this last-command fallback.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
DOT_AGENT_DECK_SOCKET	$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/dot-agent-deck.sock or /tmp/dot-agent-deck-{uid}.sock	Unix socket path for daemon IPC. {uid} in the /tmp fallback is the user's POSIX uid, included so two users on the same host get disjoint sockets (the XDG path is already per-user since XDG_RUNTIME_DIR typically resolves to /run/user/{uid}).
DOT_AGENT_DECK_CONFIG	~/.config/dot-agent-deck/config.toml	Config file path
DOT_AGENT_DECK_SESSION	~/.config/dot-agent-deck/session.toml	Session file path
DOT_AGENT_DECK_LOG	(unset)	When set, enables file-based tracing logs. Empty value or 1 writes to /tmp/dot-agent-deck.log; any other value is treated as the target log file path.

Project Configuration

Per-project workspace modes are defined in .dot-agent-deck.toml at the project root. This file is loaded automatically when you select a directory in the new-pane flow.

Quick Example

[[modes]]
name = "dev"

[[modes.panes]]
command = "git log --oneline -20"
name = "Recent Commits"

[[modes.rules]]
pattern = "cargo\\s+(build|test|check)"
watch = false

Schema Overview

Block	Key Fields
[[modes]]	name (required), init_command (optional), panes, rules, reactive_panes (default: 2)
[[modes.panes]]	command (required), name (optional label), watch (default: true)
[[modes.rules]]	pattern (regex, required), watch (bool), interval (seconds)

For the full reference and more examples, see Workspace Modes.

Top-Level Keys

These belong to no block, which makes their placement load-bearing: TOML assigns every key after a table header to that table, so a top-level key must appear above the first [[modes]] or [[orchestrations]] header in the file. Appended at the end it silently becomes a key of whichever table came last, where nothing reads it — the file still parses, dot-agent-deck validate still reports Config is valid., and the default stays in effect. A misplaced key gives you no signal at all.

Key	Default	Description
worker_response_timeout_minutes	120	How long a delegated worker may go without signalling work-done before the daemon reports it to the orchestrator. Accepted range 1–10080 (one minute to seven days); an out-of-range value falls back to the default rather than being clamped. 0 disables the detector entirely — it does not mean "report immediately". Applies to orchestrations only; see Idle Workers & Notifications.

Scaffolding

Run dot-agent-deck init inside a project directory to generate a starter .dot-agent-deck.toml.

Idle ASCII Art

When a session has been idle long enough, the dashboard can generate a short, context-aware ASCII art animation on the card using a lightweight LLM call. The feature is opt-in and disabled by default.

Enabling

dot-agent-deck config set idle_art.enabled true

Set the API key for your chosen provider as an environment variable:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...   # for Anthropic (default)
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...      # for OpenAI
# Ollama requires no API key

Options

Key	Default	Description
idle_art.enabled	false	Enable idle ASCII art on dashboard cards
idle_art.provider	anthropic	LLM provider: anthropic, openai, or ollama
idle_art.model	claude-haiku-4-5	LLM model to use for generation
idle_art.timeout_secs	300	Seconds a session must be idle before art is triggered

Note: Idle art only appears in Spacious card density. Normal and Compact densities show the standard flashing-dot indicator instead.

Standalone CLI

You can generate ASCII art outside the dashboard with the ascii subcommand:

dot-agent-deck ascii --input "debug the login flow" --output "fixed auth token refresh"

Optional --provider and --model flags override the configured defaults. The CLI works regardless of the idle_art.enabled setting.