Configuration

Complete reference for config.json.

Location

~/.outheis/human/config.json

Created automatically on first outheis start with sensible defaults.

Full Example

{
  "human": {
    "name": "Max",
    "phone": ["+49123456789"],
    "language": "de",
    "timezone": "Europe/Berlin",
    "vault": ["~/Documents/Vault", "~/Work/Notes"]
  },
  "signal": {
    "enabled": false,
    "bot_phone": "+49987654321",
    "bot_name": "Ou",
    "allowed": [
      {"name": "Partner", "phone": "+49111222333"}
    ]
  },
  "llm": {
    "providers": {
      "anthropic": {
        "api_key": "sk-ant-..."
      },
      "ollama": {
        "base_url": "http://localhost:11434"
      }
    },
    "models": {
      "fast": {
        "provider": "anthropic",
        "name": "claude-haiku-4-5",
        "run_mode": "on-demand"
      },
      "capable": {
        "provider": "anthropic",
        "name": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
        "run_mode": "on-demand"
      },
      "local": {
        "provider": "ollama",
        "name": "llama3.2:3b",
        "run_mode": "persistent"
      }
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "relay": {"name": "ou", "model": "fast", "enabled": true},
    "data": {"name": "zeno", "model": "capable", "enabled": true},
    "agenda": {"name": "cato", "model": "capable", "enabled": true},
    "action": {"name": "hiro", "model": "capable", "enabled": false},
    "pattern": {"name": "rumi", "model": "capable", "enabled": true},
    "code": {"name": "alan", "model": "capable", "enabled": false}
  },
  "schedule": {
    "pattern_infer":   {"enabled": true, "time": ["04:00"]},
    "memory_migrate":  {"enabled": false, "time": ["04:00"]},
    "index_rebuild":   {"enabled": true, "time": ["04:30"]},
    "archive_rotation":{"enabled": true, "time": ["05:00"]},
    "shadow_scan":     {"enabled": true, "time": ["03:30"]},
    "agenda_review": {
      "enabled": true,
      "time": ["04:55","05:55","06:55","07:55","08:55","09:55",
               "10:55","11:55","12:55","13:55","14:55","15:55",
               "16:55","17:55","18:55","19:55","20:55","21:55",
               "22:55","23:55"]
    },
    "agenda_midnight": {"enabled": true},
    "session_summary": {"enabled": true},
    "action_tasks":    {"enabled": true}
  },
  "updates": {
    "auto_migrate": true,
    "schedule": "04:00"
  }
}

Sections

human

User identification and vault locations.

Environment overrides:

• OUTHEIS_HUMAN_DIR — override human data directory (~/.outheis/human)
• OUTHEIS_VAULT — override primary vault path

signal

Signal messenger transport configuration.

Allowed contact format:

{"name": "Partner", "phone": "+49111222333"}

The user's own phone (from human.phone) is always allowed.

llm

LLM providers and model aliases.

providers

Provider names: anthropic, ollama, openai

API key resolution: 1. Config file (api_key field) 2. Environment variable (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, etc.)

local_fallback

When cloud API billing fails (credit exhausted), outheis automatically enters fallback mode:

• All agents switch to the model alias specified by local_fallback
• The user is notified on all channels
• A periodic probe checks when cloud credits are restored and exits fallback automatically

{
  "llm": {
    "local_fallback": "local"
  }
}

If local_fallback is not configured, outheis notifies the user but cannot process requests until credits are restored.

models

Model aliases used by agents.

run_mode:

• on-demand — Start model per request (cloud APIs)
• persistent — Keep model loaded (local Ollama)

Default aliases:

{
  "fast": {"provider": "anthropic", "name": "claude-haiku-4-5"},
  "capable": {"provider": "anthropic", "name": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"}
}

agents

Agent configuration. Each agent has:

Agent roles:

Disabled agents are not instantiated and their scheduled tasks don't run.

schedule

Scheduled task configuration.

All scheduled tasks use the "time" field (list of "HH:MM" strings) for time-based scheduling. Interval-based tasks only support "enabled".

Fixed-time tasks

Fields:

{
  "enabled": true,
  "time": ["04:00"]
}

Multiple times are supported: "time": ["04:00", "16:00"]

Time-list tasks

Fields:

{
  "enabled": true,
  "time": ["04:55","05:55","06:55","07:55","08:55","09:55",
           "10:55","11:55","12:55","13:55","14:55","15:55",
           "16:55","17:55","18:55","19:55","20:55","21:55",
           "22:55","23:55"]
}

Conditional execution: Agenda review checks file hashes before running. If nothing changed, no LLM call is made. Morning (04:55) and evening (23:55) runs are unconditional.

Interval tasks

Fields:

{
  "enabled": true
}

Interval is hardcoded; only enabled is configurable.

updates

Memory migration and housekeeping.

Minimal Config

The smallest working config:

{
  "llm": {
    "providers": {
      "anthropic": {
        "api_key": "sk-ant-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Everything else uses defaults.

Environment Variables

Environment variables take precedence over config file values.

CLI Commands

# Show current config
outheis config show

# Edit config (opens in $EDITOR)
outheis config edit

# Set a value
outheis config set human.language de

# Validate config
outheis config validate

Validation

Config is validated on load. Invalid config prevents daemon startup:

• Required fields must be present
• Types must match (string, int, bool, array)
• Referenced model aliases must exist
• Provider names must be valid

Hot Reload

Some settings can be reloaded without restarting:

• Agent enabled status
• Schedule times
• Model aliases

Others require restart:

• Provider configuration
• Vault paths
• Signal configuration

# Reload config
outheis reload

# Or restart
outheis stop && outheis start

See Also

• Architecture — How components fit together
• Memory — Memory system details
• Agenda — Agenda agent configuration

Open source under AGPL-3.0 · Code on GitHub