hort config

Ask what this host can do and write the global configuration.

hort config [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -f, --force  Overwrite a configuration already on disk without asking
  -h, --help   Print help

When it runs

• By itself, once. The first time you run hort up or hort attach on a terminal and there is no global configuration file yet, hort runs this dialogue first, then carries on with the command you typed. Without a terminal it does not: the command continues with no global configuration, and hort up then stops at no rootfs configured ....
• Whenever you run it, to generate the file again. If ~/.config/hort/config.json exists, it asks before overwriting, unless you pass -f.

hort ls, down, prune and doctor never start it.

The dialogue

A few inline questions, answered with the keyboard. What it offers depends on what it finds on your host. A run on a host with no rootfs yet, where ~/.claude exists:

do you have a prepared rootfs directory? [y/n] no
which of these should every sandbox mount read-only?:
> [ ] ~/.config/nvim
  [ ] ~/.config/fish
  [ ] ~/.gitconfig
add Claude Code to the agents list, mounting ~/.claude read-only? [y/n] no
raise a desktop notification when an agent announces that it finished? [y/n] yes
warning: no rootfs directory was given, so 'rootfs' is written commented out: hort cannot build a sandbox until it names a prepared directory

1. rootfs. If you answer yes, it asks path to the prepared rootfs directory and checks it at once. A directory that could not build a sandbox is still written, with a warning carrying the same message hort up would print.
2. Dotfiles. A multi-select of ~/.config/nvim, ~/.config/fish, ~/.tmux.conf and ~/.gitconfig, showing only those that exist. Move with the arrow keys, toggle each item with Space (select as many as you like), confirm with Enter. A hint on the prompt itself is planned. (Prefer individual fish files over the whole directory; see the fish tip.)
3. Agents. Offered only when their credentials exist on the host: Claude Code when ~/.claude exists, written as claude --dangerously-skip-permissions with ~/.claude read-only and its completion hook enabled.
4. Notifications. Whether to raise a desktop notification when an agent finishes.

What it writes

A commented JSONC file. Everything your host cannot do, or that you did not ask for, is written commented out with a note on how to enable it, so the file never promises something that will not work. The file written by the run above:

// hort global configuration, written as JSONC: comments and trailing commas are
// fine here. A project's own .hort.json overrides these, key by key.
{
  // No prepared rootfs yet. hort runs a rootfs directory and never builds
  // one, so make one first, then put its path here and uncomment:
  //   podman export $(podman create <image>) | tar -x -C <dir>
  //   debootstrap stable <dir> http://deb.debian.org/debian
  //   umoci unpack --image <image> <bundle>, then keep <bundle>/rootfs
  // "rootfs": "~/.local/share/hort/rootfs/devbox",

  // Host paths every sandbox mounts read-only, dotfiles and the like.
  "mounts": {
    "readOnly": [],
  },

  // Uncomment to give each sandbox a clone of its own, so an agent can commit
  // and open a pull request from inside. The default, worktree, keeps git a
  // host activity. A token you pass in so the agent can push lives inside the
  // box with it: scope it to one repository and protect the remote's branches.
  // The clone borrows your history instead of copying it and costs about as
  // much disk as a worktree: 2.3 GB of history gave a .git of about 6 MB.
  // "git": "clone",

  // Outbound is open and unfiltered until this is uncommented. With a list, a
  // sandbox reaches only these hosts, and only through tools that read
  // HTTP_PROXY. A bare name matches exactly, and "*." covers subdomains
  // but not the name itself.
  // "egress": { "allow": ["api.example.com", "*.example.com"] },

  // Agents you typically run here. A reminder for you and not a binding:
  // a sandbox boots empty and you start the agent yourself.
  "agents": [],

  // Raised when an agent announces that it finished.
  // Add a "message" here to change the text; <name> becomes the sandbox name.
  "notifications": {
    "sink": "desktop",
  },

  // A sandbox is capped by nothing until one of these is uncommented.
  "resources": {
    // Uncomment to cap the memory a sandbox may use.
    // "memory": "4g",
    // Capping the CPU needs the cpu controller, not delegated to this user.
    // Add cpu to Delegate= in a systemd drop-in for user@.service first.
    // "cpus": 2,
  },
}

The commented rootfs is only an example path. Put your own rootfs directory there (for example the ~/.local/share/hort/devbox from Preparing a rootfs), and export each rootfs into a directory of its own.

You can edit the file by hand at any time; see Configuration.

Messages