Configuration Reference

Complete schema reference for all PanCode configuration fields, settings files, presets, and agent specs.

PanCodeConfig Schema

The main runtime configuration object.

Field	Type	Default	Description
`packageRoot`	string	(auto)	Absolute path to PanCode installation
`cwd`	string	(auto)	Working directory for the session
`profile`	string	`"standard"`	Config profile name
`domains`	string[]	(see below)	Enabled PanCode domains
`extensions`	string[]	(same as domains)	Backward-compatible alias
`safety`	SafetyLevel	`"auto-edit"`	Safety enforcement level
`reasoningPreference`	string	`"medium"`	Reasoning/thinking level
`theme`	string	`"dark"`	TUI theme name
`prompt`	string	`"list files in the current directory"`	Default prompt
`provider`	string or null	null	Provider override
`model`	string or null	null	Model override (provider/model-id)
`preferredProvider`	string or null	null	Preferred provider for resolution
`preferredModel`	string or null	null	Preferred model for resolution
`tools`	string	`"read,bash,grep,find,ls"`	Default tool set
`timeoutMs`	number	`120000`	Default timeout in milliseconds
`runtimeRoot`	string	(auto)	Path to `.pancode/runtime/`
`resultsDir`	string	(auto)	Path to `.pancode/runtime/results/`

SafetyLevel Values

Value	Description
`"suggest"`	Read-only tools only. Model suggests changes.
`"auto-edit"`	File reads and edits allowed. Destructive actions gated.
`"full-auto"`	All operations allowed without confirmation.

ReasoningPreference Values

Value	Description
`"off"`	No reasoning/thinking
`"minimal"`	Minimal internal reasoning
`"low"`	Light reasoning
`"medium"`	Balanced reasoning (default)
`"high"`	Extended reasoning
`"xhigh"`	Maximum reasoning depth

Default Enabled Domains

safety, session, agents, prompts, dispatch,
observability, scheduling, panconfigure, ui

The intelligence domain is opt-in via PANCODE_INTELLIGENCE=enabled.

Settings File Schema

Both ~/.pancode/settings.json (global) and .pancode/settings.json (project) share the same schema.

{
  "theme": "dark",
  "safetyMode": "auto-edit",
  "reasoningPreference": "medium",
  "preferredProvider": "localhost-ollama",
  "preferredModel": "localhost-ollama/llama3.2"
}

Field	Type	Description
`theme`	string	TUI theme name
`safetyMode`	SafetyLevel	Safety enforcement level
`reasoningPreference`	string	Reasoning level
`preferredProvider`	string	Default provider for model resolution
`preferredModel`	string	Default model reference

Preset Schema

Presets are defined in ~/.pancode/panpresets.yaml.

local:
  description: "Local inference via homelab engines"
  model: localhost-ollama/llama3.2
  workerModel: dynamo-ollama/codellama
  scoutModel: localhost-ollama/llama3.2
  reasoning: medium
  safety: auto-edit

Field	Type	Required	Description
`description`	string	No	Human-readable description
`model`	string	Yes	Orchestrator model (provider/model-id)
`workerModel`	string or null	No	Worker model override
`scoutModel`	string or null	No	Scout model override
`reasoning`	string	No	Reasoning level (default: medium)
`safety`	SafetyLevel	No	Safety level (default: auto-edit)

Agent Spec Schema

Agent specifications in ~/.pancode/panagents.yaml.

agents:
  agent-name:
    description: "Agent purpose"
    model: ${PANCODE_WORKER_MODEL}
    tools: [read, write, edit, bash, grep, find, ls]
    sampling: coding
    readonly: false
    runtime: pi
    tier: mid
    prompt: default
    speed: balanced
    token_budget: 8000
    autonomy: supervised
    isolation: none
    max_turns: 20
    retry_on_failure: true
    tags: [coding, mutable]
    system_prompt: "Instructions for the agent"

Field	Type	Default	Description
`description`	string	required	Human-readable purpose
`model`	string	none	Model reference. Supports `${ENV_VAR}` expansion.
`tools`	string[]	varies	Tool allowlist
`sampling`	string	`"general"`	Sampling preset
`readonly`	boolean	`false`	If true, no file mutations
`system_prompt`	string	required	System prompt text
`runtime`	string	`"pi"`	Runtime backend
`runtime_args`	string[]	`[]`	Extra runtime CLI arguments
`tier`	string	`"any"`	Model tier: `frontier`, `mid`, `any`
`prompt`	string	`"default"`	Prompt source (`default` for PanPrompt)
`speed`	string	`"balanced"`	`fast`, `balanced`, `thorough`
`token_budget`	number	`4000`	Max output tokens
`autonomy`	string	`"supervised"`	`autonomous`, `supervised`, `confirmatory`
`isolation`	string	`"none"`	`none`, `worktree`, `container`
`max_turns`	number	`10`	Max conversation turns
`retry_on_failure`	boolean	`false`	Auto-retry on failure
`tags`	string[]	`[]`	Routing and filtering tags

Agent Class Profiles

Fixed operational envelopes for each agent class.

Profile	Context Window	Temperature	Top-P	Top-K	Reasoning	Max Tool Calls
Orchestrator	262,144	0.6	0.95	20	Yes	Unlimited
Worker	200,000	0.3	0.9	40	No	Unlimited
Scout	100,000	0.1	0.9	40	No	15

Mode Definitions

Mode	Dispatch	Shadow	Mutations	Reasoning	Description
Admin	Yes	Yes	No	xhigh	Full system management
Plan	No	Yes	No	high	Analysis and planning
Build	Yes	Yes	Yes	medium	Implementation
Review	Yes	Yes	No	xhigh	Quality checks

Validation

PanCode validates configuration at load time:

profile, theme, prompt: must be strings
provider, model, preferredProvider, preferredModel: must be strings or null
safety: must be suggest, auto-edit, or full-auto
reasoningPreference: must be off, on, minimal, low, medium, high, or xhigh
domains, extensions: must be arrays of strings
timeoutMs: must be a positive finite number

Invalid project settings produce a warning on stderr and are skipped.