Configuration

ctxfile works with zero configuration. To tune it, put a .ctxfile.json at your project root. Every field is optional; unknown fields are rejected.

Full example

{
  "tokenBudget": 50000,
  "maxFileTokens": 4000,
  "cacheDir": "~/.ctxfile",
  "cacheMaxAgeMs": 30000,
  "include": ["src/**", "docs/plan.md"],
  "exclude": ["fixtures/", "*.snap"],
  "notion": {
    "pageIds": ["1a2b3c4d-…"]
  },
  "ollama": {
    "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
    "model": "qwen3:4b",
    "summarize": false
  },
  "consult": {
    "providers": [
      {
        "type": "anthropic",
        "model": "claude-sonnet-5",
        "apiKeyEnv": "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
      },
      {
        "type": "openai-compatible",
        "model": "gpt-5.2",
        "baseUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1",
        "apiKeyEnv": "OPENAI_API_KEY"
      },
      { "type": "ollama", "model": "qwen3:4b" }
    ]
  },
  "voice": {
    "whisperPath": "/opt/homebrew/bin/whisper-cli",
    "modelPath": "~/models/ggml-base.en.bin",
    "audioDir": "~/voice-notes"
  },
  "export": {
    "profile": "repo-safe",
    "include": ["plan", "gitState", "keyFiles"]
  },
  "telemetry": { "enabled": false }
}

Fields

Field	Default	What it does
tokenBudget	50000	Total token budget for the whole snapshot. Files are greedily fitted to it.
maxFileTokens	4000	Per-file cap. Larger files get head+tail truncation.
cacheDir	~/.ctxfile	Where the local SQLite snapshot cache lives.
cacheMaxAgeMs	30000	A cached snapshot younger than this is served without rebuilding.
include	[]	Allowlist patterns for the file connector. Empty means rank-based selection.
exclude	[]	Extra gitignore-style excludes, on top of .gitignore and denied paths.
notion.pageIds	[]	Explicit Notion page IDs to ingest. Only active when `NOTION_TOKEN` is also set.
ollama.baseUrl	http://localhost:11434	Your local Ollama endpoint.
ollama.model	None	Model used for the session summary.
ollama.summarize	false	Opt-in switch for the local summarizer.
consult.providers	[]	Providers for the Pro consult tool. Each entry: `type` (`anthropic` \| `openai-compatible` \| `ollama`), `model`, `baseUrl`, `apiKeyEnv`: the name of the env var holding the key, never the key itself.
voice.whisperPath	None	Path to your whisper.cpp binary (Pro voice notes).
voice.modelPath	None	Path to the whisper model file.
voice.audioDir	None	Extra directory (besides root) that transcription may read audio from.
telemetry.enabled	false	Opt-in anonymous install ping. Off by default, stays off until you set it.
export.profile	repo-safe	Default profile for `ctxfile export`: `repo-safe` \| `full` \| `custom`. See Cloud agents.
export.include	None	Section allowlist used by the `custom` profile: `plan`, `gitState`, `keyFiles`, `keyFileContent`, `notionPages`, `sessions`, `sessionSummary`.
serve.tokens	[]	Reserved for the upcoming `ctxfile serve`: named tokens (`name`, `tokenEnv`, `scopes`). Validated today, used by nothing yet; tokens are env-var names, never literal secrets.

Environment variables

Variable	Role
NOTION_TOKEN	Notion integration token. The Notion connector activates only when this is set and `notion.pageIds` is non-empty.
OLLAMA_BASE_URL	Overrides `ollama.baseUrl`.

Secrets never live in config. apiKeyEnv naming is deliberate. See Privacy for what each opt-in actually enables.

CLI flags

ctxfile --root <dir>       # project root (default: cwd)
ctxfile --config <path>    # explicit config file
ctxfile ui                 # local dashboard on 127.0.0.1
ctxfile export             # write .ctxfile/context.{json,md}
ctxfile hooks install      # pre-commit export refresh
ctxfile activate <key>     # activate a Pro license
ctxfile --version

Every command and flag, including export --profile/--stdout and ui --port, is documented on the CLI reference.