Settings

Settings are a file, not a dialog. They use VS Code's key names, so if you know VS Code you already know these.

Two files, project on top

flowchart LR
    U["**User**<br/><small>settings.json in the<br/>app data directory</small>"] --> M{"In effect"}
    P["**Project**<br/><small>.arvo/settings.json in<br/>the project folder</small>"] --> M

    style P fill:#1f6feb,stroke:#1f6feb,color:#fff

	Where	Applies to
User	settings.json in the app data directory	everything you open
Project	.arvo/settings.json in the project folder	that project, overriding your own key by key — not file by file, so it only has to name what differs

Settings → Reveal config file opens either.

Project settings are committable, which is the reason they exist: a project folder can carry the interpreter and the agent it expects, and a second machine picks them up.

An example

.arvo/settings.json

{
  "workbench.colorTheme": "Arvo Dark",
  "editor.fontSize": 13,
  "editor.minimap.enabled": false,
  "python.defaultInterpreterPath": ".venv/bin/python",
  "agent.command": "npx --yes @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp"
}

Every key is listed in the reference. Unknown keys are ignored rather than refused — settings are read as plain JSON, not against a fixed schema — so a file written for a newer Arvo still loads, and you can keep notes in it.

Keybindings work the same way

keybindings.json, in the same two places, using VS Code's chord syntax — so Ctrl+K Ctrl+S means what you expect.

What is not in settings

Two things, deliberately:

	Where instead	Why
Credentials	the operating system keychain	a token in a JSON file is a token in a backup, a screenshot and a commit
The risk model	risk.json in the project	it governs money, and it belongs with the research it applies to rather than with your font size

Themes come from extensions rather than settings keys. Extensions →