Core config (settings, rules and small switches)

Status: bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/LifeosConfig.ts · required

What it does

Core config is the set of files in LIFEOS/USER/CONFIG/ that every other system reads to learn how your install is set up. The two that must be right are LIFEOS_CONFIG.toml, which holds your name, timezone, your assistant’s name and voice, and where your folders live, and OPERATIONAL_PREFERENCES.md, your own working rules, which the assistant reads at the start of every session. The system’s general rules ship with LifeOS; this file is where your preferences go.

Several small files sit beside them. Most do nothing until you choose to change them, and each ships in a safe “not configured” state:

File	What it is
STANDING_FACTS.md	A few one-line facts that are added to every turn, such as capabilities you already have, so the assistant stops rediscovering them.
settings.user.json	Your overlay on the harness settings. Shipped as {}, which changes nothing.
notifications.json	The most unrequested interruptions per day you will accept. Shipped at 12, which is also the built-in default.
delivery-roots.json	The folders where finished files land, watched by the output reconciler. Shipped as Downloads, Desktop, Documents and iCloud Drive.
deploy-registration-gate.json	Optional checks run after you deploy a site. Shipped empty, which skips them.
LocalPatches.json	A list of edits you keep on shipped files. Shipped empty, because most installs never need one.

README.md and FILES.md in the same folder describe the rest of the folder, file by file.

Fill in

The interview writes the first version of LIFEOS_CONFIG.toml (see Identity.md): ask your DA to run the LifeOS interview, or type /LifeOS interview. By hand, the sections are:

Section	Keys
[principal]	name and timezone are required. pronunciation, hometown and currency (a code such as USD or EUR) are optional.
[da]	name is required. full_name, display_name and color are optional.
[da.voices.main]	fish_reference_id (the Fish Audio voice model id) is the one voice setting that matters. voice_id is an optional marker Fish resolvers use to recognize the voice. fish_speed tunes the pace; voice_name and volume are optional. See Voice.md.
[integrations.*]	One table per integration. The Cloudflare table names the environment variable that holds the token.
[paths]	user_dir and projects_dir, where your files and code projects live. The defaults are ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER and ~/Projects.

Entries in OPERATIONAL_PREFERENCES.md are short bullets under headings such as tool preferences, repo conventions, deployment and one heading per domain you work in. It is one file that loads every session. A preference says what you want and belongs there; a step that says how belongs only as a safety gate, a tool contract or a verified gotcha, and gotchas go under § Gotchas. Write an entry when you catch yourself correcting the assistant twice. The history behind an entry lives in git.

For settings, do not edit the generated ~/.claude/settings.json. At the start of each session LifeOS rebuilds it from settings.system.json plus your settings.user.json, and your overlay wins any conflict. The merge rules, from LIFEOS/TOOLS/MergeSettings.ts: objects merge key by key, a plain value or array in your overlay replaces the system one, { "__merge": "append", "values": [...] } adds to an array, and { "__merge": "remove" } drops a key. For example, this adds one permission and keeps the system list:

{ "permissions": { "allow": { "__merge": "append", "values": ["Bash(bun test:*)"] } } }

The overlay is read only from LIFEOS/USER/CONFIG/settings.user.json; a copy placed at the top of ~/.claude is ignored.

For the small switches, change a value only if you want to. In notifications.json, lower interruptions_per_day to be interrupted less. In delivery-roots.json, edit the roots list; a file that parses replaces the built-in list, and deleting the file restores it. In deploy-registration-gate.json, fill in project and files only if you keep an analytics registry file in a repo, and list a {prefix, reason} pair under workersDevExempt for any workers.dev-only worker that needs no registration. Each file’s _docs line says exactly what its code reads.

Accounts and secrets

Nothing in this folder holds a secret. Tokens and API keys live in ~/.claude/.env, and the config names the variable, never the value. Check that a key exists without printing it:

bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/Secrets.ts has CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN   # prints "CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN yes" or "... no"
bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/Secrets.ts keys                       # lists the names stored, never values

The plaintext .env stays on your machine and out of git. If you keep ~/.claude in git and want an encrypted copy of .env to travel with it, bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/Secrets.ts init creates the key in your macOS login Keychain and bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/Secrets.ts seal writes the encrypted copy; run seal again after each change to .env, and Secrets.ts status says whether the copy is current. Credential files for Google and similar services go in CONFIG/CREDENTIALS/, which you create with owner-only permissions when you need it.

Prove it works

bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/LifeosConfig.ts     # prints the resolved config as JSON; exit 0 means it is valid, exit 1 prints what is wrong
bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/MergeSettings.ts --system ~/.claude/settings.system.json --user ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CONFIG/settings.user.json --check ~/.claude/settings.json
bun LIFEOS/TOOLS/StandingFacts.ts check    # confirms the standing-facts card agrees with your settings

The first command must exit 0, and the names it prints should be yours. The second reports “no differences” when settings.json matches what the merge would produce from your two settings files; it only compares and writes nothing. If the printed config still shows “Your Name” or “Aria”, the interview has not run yet.