Advanced settings keys (JSON)

This page describes Orion settings keys that are stored in JSON and are useful for fine-grained control. Some are available in the Settings UI; others are JSON-only. Use them in ~/.orion/settings.json or <workspace>/.orion/settings.json when you need project-specific defaults or values the UI does not expose yet.

For file paths, merge order, and safe editing, start with Workspace settings. You can also load /orion-settings in chat and ask the assistant to change specific keys.

When you need this

• Tuning agent context compaction or tool limits for large repos.
• Standardizing notebook output collapse, plot height, or export fonts per project.
• Setting default panel sizes or sidebar tabs via committed workspace overrides.

Notes

• Values must match the types and ranges below. Invalid JSON may fail to load; partial workspace files are merged with defaults.
• Changing agent.filesystem.blockedBashCommandPatterns affects Ask-mode shell safety — use valid regular-expression sources only.
• Most users should change chat, editor, empty editor shortcuts, and notebook.presentationHideAllCellInputs through the UI or simple overrides first.

appearance.experienceMode

Controls the primary Orion workspace shell.

Key	Type	Default	Description
experienceMode	pro or business	business	pro shows the full notebook IDE. business shows the simplified report-and-chat workspace.
experienceModeChosen	boolean	false for new installs	Whether the first-run experience dialog has been completed.

Use Settings → Appearance for normal changes. See Business mode.

chat.communicationStyle

Value	Effect
default	Minimal narration around tool calls
narrative	Step-by-step before and after each tool call
friendly	Warm, encouraging tone
pragmatic	Direct; only essential information

Default: default.

notebook.output

Controls how notebook outputs render (not the .ipynb file itself).

Key	Type	Default	Description
textOutputAutoCollapseThreshold	integer	2000	Characters above which text outputs auto-collapse
collapsedHeightDefaultPx	integer	192	Default collapsed output height (px)
collapsedHeightMinPx	integer	64	Minimum collapsed height (px)
defaultPlotHeightPx	integer	360	Default Plotly chart height
plotMinResizeWidthPx	integer	160	Minimum Plotly width when resizing
plotMinResizeHeightPx	integer	120	Minimum Plotly height when resizing
plotlyHoverCornerRatio	number 0–1	0.15	Plotly hover label rounding
minimapOutputPreviewMaxLines	integer	4	Lines shown in minimap output preview
minimapHeadingNavigateDelayMs	integer	220	Delay before minimap heading jump (ms)
chartColors	string array	10 hex colors	Palette for table charts

Example workspace override:

{
  "version": 1,
  "overrides": {
    "notebook": {
      "output": { "defaultPlotHeightPx": 420 }
    }
  }
}

notebook.export

Key	Type	Default	Description
sansFontFamily	string	'Saira', sans-serif	Font stack for HTML/PDF export

notebook.editor

Key	Type	Default	Description
doublePressTimeoutMs	integer	400	Window for double-key shortcuts (ms)

editor.emptyEditor

Controls the two shortcut cards shown when no file is open in the editor.

The editor also supports Autosave and Autosave interval in Settings → Appearance. In JSON, set editor.autosaveEnabled and editor.autosaveIntervalMs (milliseconds). Business mode autosaves dirty editor files even when editor.autosaveEnabled is false.

Set editor.unopenableFileAction to choose what happens when you click a file Orion cannot open in the editor:

Value	Effect
mention_in_chat	Add the file as a chat mention so the assistant can inspect or summarize it
open_externally	Open the file with your system's default app

Key	Type	Default	Description
leftCard	recent_files, pinned_files, or pinned_workspaces	recent_files	Content shown in the left empty-editor card
rightCard	recent_files, pinned_files, or pinned_workspaces	pinned_files	Content shown in the right empty-editor card
maxItems	integer 1–20	5	Maximum entries shown per card

Example workspace override:

{
  "version": 1,
  "overrides": {
    "editor": {
      "unopenableFileAction": "open_externally",
      "emptyEditor": {
        "leftCard": "pinned_workspaces",
        "rightCard": "recent_files",
        "maxItems": 8
      }
    }
  }
}

agent.context

Chat context and compaction behavior.

Key	Type	Default	Description
compactionAutoThreshold	number 0–1	0.92	Fraction of context cap that triggers auto-compaction before send
compactionRetentionTurns	integer ≥ 1	4	Recent user turns kept verbatim after compaction
optimizerRetentionTurns	integer ≥ 1	6	Recent user turns kept in wire payload optimizer

agent.toolOutput

Limits on tool results sent back to the model.

Key	Type	Default	Description
textCharBudget	integer	40000	Max characters from text tool outputs
imageBase64CharBudget	integer	100000	Max base64 characters for image outputs
maxOmittedRatio	number 0–1	≈0.33	Max fraction omitted when truncating

agent.terminal

Shell tool timing and output handling (milliseconds unless noted).

Key	Default	Description
pollIntervalMs	150	Poll interval for bash / await
foregroundBudgetMs	5000	Foreground wait before bash returns “still running”
awaitBudgetMs	30000	await_command wait budget
maxBlockMs	600000	Maximum block wait (10 minutes)
outputSpillThresholdChars	200000	Bash output size that spills to a file
outputPreviewHeadChars	6000	Head preview when spilled
outputPreviewTailChars	6000	Tail preview when spilled
executorTimeoutMs	15000	System command timeout
executorAvailabilityTimeoutMs	3000	Availability probe timeout
executorPollIntervalMs	300	Executor poll interval
poolIdleTimeoutMs	3600000	Idle terminal reclaim (1 hour)
poolSystemSize	2	Warm system terminals
poolReaperIntervalMs	60000	Pool reaper interval

agent.search

Grep and glob tool limits.

Key	Default	Description
maxMatches	100	Max grep matches returned
maxLineLength	200	Max grep line length
globTerminalMaxResults	500	Max paths from glob
globMaxDisplayResults	100	Max glob paths shown to the model
grepTimeoutMs	15000	Grep timeout
whichTimeoutMs	3000	which check timeout

agent.filesystem

Key	Description
ignoreDirs	Directory names skipped in listings (e.g. node_modules, .git)
binaryExtensions	Extensions treated as binary in search (e.g. .png, .pdf)
blockedBashCommandPatterns	RegExp sources blocked in Ask-mode bash (destructive commands)

Defaults include standard Node/Python build and cache folders. Override only when your repo needs extra ignores — use directory names, not full paths.

Example:

{
  "version": 1,
  "overrides": {
    "agent": {
      "filesystem": {
        "ignoreDirs": ["node_modules", ".git", "vendor", "my-large-artifacts"]
      }
    }
  }
}

agent.web

Key	Default	Description
toolTimeoutMs	30000	web_fetch / web_search timeout (ms)
fetchMaxResponseBytes	5242880	Max download size (5 MiB)
fetchMaxRedirects	5	Max HTTP redirects
searchDefaultNumResults	8	Default web_search result count
exaMcpUrl	https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp	Search MCP endpoint URL

shell

App chrome defaults. Session-only UI state may still override these until Orion persists shell settings from JSON.

shell.panelVisibility

Key	Default	Description
leftCollapsed	false	Left sidebar collapsed
rightCollapsed	false	Chat sidebar collapsed
bottomCollapsed	true	Bottom panel collapsed
isFocusMode	false	Focus mode

shell.panelLayout

Key	Default	Description
horizontal	[15, 50, 20]	Left / center / right size weights (positive numbers)
vertical	[70, 30]	Main / bottom size weights

shell.sidebar

Key	Default	Description
activeViews	["files"]	Visible sidebar tabs: files, search, toc, cpu, vars, dataSources, secrets
openAccordionItems	["files", "toc"]	Expanded accordion sections
showHiddenFiles	true	Show dotfiles in file tree
showMinimapOutputs	true	Show outputs in notebook minimap
minimapPreviewMode	compact	compact or miniature
isSearchCaseSensitive	false	Case-sensitive sidebar search

shell.chat

Key	Default	Description
maxHighlightChars	15000	Max chars for syntax highlighting in chat code
maxInlineLines	24	Lines before inline code scrolls
codeBlockInlineMaxHeightClass	max-h-40	Tailwind class for tall inline code
markdownTableMaxHeightClass	max-h-80	Tailwind class for chat tables
awaitCommandCountdownSeconds	30	UI countdown for long-running commands

shell (root)

Key	Default	Description
mobileBreakpointPx	768	Width at or below mobile layout applies
minRefreshSpinMs	500	Minimum refresh spinner duration
toastLimit	1	Max simultaneous toasts

Related

• Workspace settings
• Built-in skill: Orion settings
• Models and tool approval

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Last updated July 2026.