Customization¶

Config File¶

The config lives at ~/.config/smelt/config.yaml (respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME). Load a different file with --config <path>.

The Getting Started guide covers basic provider setup. See the Configuration Reference for every option.

Runtime Settings¶

Toggle settings at runtime with /settings, set defaults in config under settings:, or override from the CLI with --set key=value. See the Configuration Reference for all available settings.

Themes¶

Thirteen accent color presets:

lavender · sky · blue · mint · rose · peach · lilac · gold · ember · ice · sage · coral · silver

Set in config:

theme:
  accent: mint

Or change at runtime with /theme. You can also use a raw ANSI color value (0–255).

The task slug color is separate — change it per-session with /color.

Custom Commands¶

Create .md files in ~/.config/smelt/commands/ and they become slash commands. For example, ~/.config/smelt/commands/commit.md:

---
description: commit staged changes
model: gpt-4o
temperature: 0.2
reasoning_effort: low
bash:
  allow: ["git *"]
---

Create a conventional commit for the staged changes.

Staged diff:

!`git diff --cached`

Recent commits for style reference:

!`git log --oneline -5`

Type /commit and the agent receives the evaluated prompt with shell outputs inlined. Pass arguments too: /commit fix typos appends to the prompt body.

See Custom Commands in the Slash Commands Reference for all frontmatter fields and template syntax.

Skills¶

Skills are on-demand knowledge packs the agent can load during a conversation. Place a SKILL.md file in ~/.config/smelt/skills/<name>/ (global) or .smelt/skills/<name>/ (project-local). See the Configuration Reference for the full format.

External Tools (MCP)¶

Connect external tool servers via the Model Context Protocol. Servers run as child processes and their tools become available to the agent. See the Configuration Reference for setup.

Custom Instructions (AGENTS.md)¶

Place an AGENTS.md file in your project root (or ~/.config/smelt/AGENTS.md for global instructions). Its contents are automatically appended to the system prompt for every conversation in that directory.

Use it for project conventions, coding standards, or any persistent context the agent should know about.

Disable with --no-system-prompt.