Settings

Every persistent setting, changeable mid-session.

Type /settings to open a dialog with every persistent setting. Changes are written to $ZOT_HOME/config.json and take effect on the next turn — no restart needed. Rows that open a sub-view (like model shortcuts) use esc to go back one level before it closes the dialog.

SettingWhat it controls
render imagesDraw images returned by read inline using the terminal's image protocol (Ghostty, Kitty, iTerm2, WezTerm). Auto-detected from TERM_PROGRAM; the toggle overrides detection. Greyed out and forced off on terminals that speak no image protocol.
auto-swarmLet the main agent spawn background sub-agents in parallel via swarm_spawn.
auto-compact thresholdChoose when interactive sessions automatically condense conversation history: off, 70%, 80%, 85% (default), or 90% of the model's advertised context window. The choice takes effect without restarting and is stored as auto_compact_threshold. Off disables percentage-based triggers, but manual /compact and automatic recovery from payload-too-large responses remain available.
jail new sessions by defaultStart interactive, print, JSON, RPC, and background-agent runs with tools confined to the working directory. Off by default. Changing it updates the current sandbox immediately; /jail and /unjail only override the current session. Stored as jail_by_default.
OpenRouter Server ToolsOpt in to OpenRouter's remote web search, web fetch, advisor, subagent, fusion, image generation, datetime, and model-search tools. Off by default and available only with the OpenRouter provider. zot allows at most four remote server-tool calls per turn. --no-tools disables them, and preset-owned tools are not overridden. These tools run without zot's local confirmation dialog and may incur additional OpenRouter charges. Stored as openrouter_server_tools_enabled.
show loaded resources at startupList loaded AGENTS.md paths, extensions, and user-installed skills in compact Context, Extensions, and Skills sections above the transcript. Built-in skills are omitted. Off by default. The lists are display-only and are not sent to the model or stored in the session transcript. Stored as show_instructions_at_startup.
tui settingsSub-view for input style, status position, and working spinner position. See TUI settings.
reasoning levelReasoning depth for the active model. Use /reasoning to open this selector directly. It only shows distinct levels supported by the model; models without reasoning support only offer off. Also settable per run with --reasoning.
color themeauto/dark/light or any JSON theme from $ZOT_HOME/themes or a loaded extension.
model shortcutsSub-view with nine slots (model 1 ... model 9). Press enter on a slot to open the /model selector and bind a provider/model, backspace to clear it. Then Ctrl+1 ... Ctrl+9 from the editor instantly switch the active model (same cross-provider swap as /model, transcript and cost carried over). No-op while a turn is running.