Configuration

All configuration lives in .instar/config.json, created during setup and editable at any time. Most keys live at the top level. A handful of subsystems (scheduler, monitoring, threadline, evolution, multiMachine, dashboard, tunnel, updates, publishing, externalOperations, dispatches, gitBackup, inputGuard, notifications, onboarding, recoveryKey, integratedBeing, backup, prGate, parallelDev) nest their settings under their own key — sections below note which is which.

Server

{
  "port": 4040,
  "host": "127.0.0.1"
}

Field	Default	Description
port	4040	Server port
host	127.0.0.1	Bind address (localhost only by default)
requestTimeoutMs	30000	Request timeout in milliseconds

Messaging

Telegram, WhatsApp, and other adapters are configured via a messaging array:

{
  "messaging": [
    {
      "type": "telegram",
      "botToken": "...",
      "chatId": -100...
    },
    {
      "type": "whatsapp"
    }
  ]
}

Each entry specifies an adapter type and its adapter-specific options. WhatsApp state is managed internally via the Baileys library.

Scheduler

{
  "scheduler": {
    "enabled": true,
    "maxConcurrentSessions": 3
  }
}

Auth

{
  "authToken": "..."
}

The auth token is a top-level key, generated during setup. Used for API authentication via Bearer header.

For dashboard web access, a simpler dashboardPin is also available:

{
  "dashboardPin": "1234"
}

Sessions

{
  "sessions": {
    "maxConcurrent": 5,
    "timeoutMinutes": 120,
    "claudePath": "/path/to/claude",
    "tmuxPath": "/path/to/tmux",
    "idlePromptKillMinutes": 15,
    "idlePromptKillMinutesBoundToTopic": 240,
    "defaultMaxDurationMinutes": 240
  }
}

Field	Default	Description
maxConcurrent	5	Maximum number of concurrent Claude Code sessions
timeoutMinutes	120	Session idle timeout in minutes
claudePath	auto-detected	Path to the claude CLI binary. Override if your Claude Code installation is in a non-standard location or if auto-detection fails.
tmuxPath	auto-detected	Path to the tmux binary. Override if tmux is installed in a non-standard location.
idlePromptKillMinutes	15	Minutes a session can sit idle at the Claude prompt before being killed. Increase for long-running research or cataloguing sessions.
idlePromptKillMinutesBoundToTopic	240	Idle threshold for sessions actively bound to a Telegram/Slack/iMessage topic. Topic-bound sessions sit at the prompt waiting for the user — that is healthy, not a zombie. The default 4h covers normal conversational pauses through a workday; raise it if your conversations frequently span longer gaps.
defaultMaxDurationMinutes	240	Absolute maximum session duration in minutes (4 hours by default). Safety net for sessions without an explicit per-session timeout.

Safety & Autonomy

{
  "safety": { ... },
  "agentAutonomy": { ... },
  "autonomyProfile": "supervised",
  "externalOperations": { ... }
}

Field	Description
safety	Safety configuration for autonomous operation
agentAutonomy	Agent autonomy configuration
autonomyProfile	Unified autonomy level: cautious, supervised, collaborative, autonomous
externalOperations	External operation safety — gate, sentinel, trust

Response Review (Coherence Gate)

{
  "responseReview": {
    "enabled": true,
    "mode": "observe"
  }
}

See Coherence Gate for full configuration options.

Threadline

{
  "threadline": { ... }
}

Configures the Threadline relay for inter-agent communication. See Threadline Protocol for details.

Telegram Bridge (Threadline)

Mirror agent-to-agent threadline messages into per-thread Telegram topics for real-time visibility.

{
  "threadline": {
    "telegramBridge": {
      "enabled": false,
      "autoCreateTopics": false,
      "mirrorExisting": true,
      "allowList": [],
      "denyList": []
    }
  }
}

Field	Default	Description
enabled	false	Master kill-switch. When false, the bridge never posts to Telegram.
autoCreateTopics	false	When true, automatically creates a new Telegram forum topic for each new threadline conversation. When false, only mirrors traffic into topics that already exist (or are in allowList).
mirrorExisting	true	Mirror messages into topics that already have a binding, regardless of autoCreateTopics.
allowList	[]	Remote agent identifiers that always get auto-created topics, even if autoCreateTopics is false.
denyList	[]	Remote agent identifiers that never get auto-created topics. allowList takes precedence when both contain the same ID.

Thread-to-topic bindings are persisted in .instar/threadline/telegram-bridge-bindings.json. Configure via the dashboard Threadline tab or the /threadline/telegram-bridge/config API endpoint.

Additional Config Keys

Key	Description
messagingStyle	Free-text description of how outbound messages should be written for this agent’s user (e.g. "ELI10, short sentences, plain words"). Consumed by the outbound tone gate’s B11_STYLE_MISMATCH rule — replies that clearly violate the style are blocked with HTTP 422. When unset, the style rule does not apply.
monitoring	Health monitoring configuration
relationships	Relationship tracking config
feedback	Feedback loop config
dispatches	Dispatch (intelligence broadcast) config
gitBackup	Git backup config (opt-in for standalone agents)
updates	Update configuration (auto-updater behavior)
publishing	Publishing (Telegraph) config
tunnel	Cloudflare Tunnel config
evolution	Evolution system configuration
multiMachine	Multi-machine coordination config
agentType	standalone or project-bound
userRegistrationPolicy	User registration policy
inputGuard	Cross-topic injection defense
notifications	Notification preferences for autonomy events
dashboard	Dashboard configuration
onboarding	Controls what data is collected during user registration
recoveryKey	Recovery key for admin self-recovery

Identity Files

These aren’t in config.json but are critical configuration:

File	Purpose
.instar/AGENT.md	Agent identity — who it is, its principles
.instar/USER.md	User context — who it works with, preferences
.instar/MEMORY.md	Persistent learnings across sessions
.instar/ORG-INTENT.md	Organizational constraints (optional)

Jobs

Jobs are defined in .instar/jobs.json. See Job Scheduler for the format.

Hooks

Behavioral hooks are installed in .claude/settings.json and scripts live in .instar/hooks/ and .claude/scripts/. See Hooks reference for details.