Configuration

Configuration

Use the CLI to inspect version-specific settings:

atlas config list
atlas config get ATLAS_MAX_DB_BYTES

Persist a setting:

atlas config set ATLAS_MAX_DB_BYTES 10GiB

Clear a persisted override:

atlas config set ATLAS_MAX_DB_BYTES ""

Precedence

Configuration precedence is:

1. environment variable
2. repository .atlas/settings.json
3. compiled default

Environment variables are appropriate for automation and containers. Repository settings are appropriate for stable local policy.

Common Controls

Setting	Purpose
ATLAS_ENABLE_VECTORS	Enable optional semantic retrieval
ATLAS_EMBED_URL	Configure an embedding endpoint when used
ATLAS_NO_WATCH	Disable automatic file watching
ATLAS_WATCH_MODE	Select the watcher mode, including polling
ATLAS_MEMORY_LIMIT	Bound Atlas memory use
ATLAS_GOGC	Tune Go garbage collection
ATLAS_MCP_CALL_TIMEOUT	Bound an MCP tool call
ATLAS_API_TOKEN	Protect HTTP API and MCP access
ATLAS_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS	Allow additional browser origins
ATLAS_SERVER_URL	Route compatible CLI operations through a server

Run atlas config list for current names, defaults, descriptions, and accepted values.

Database Selection

Default repository-local database:

sqlite://./.atlas/atlas.db

Explicit database:

atlas --db "sqlite:///absolute/path/.atlas/atlas.db" status

Use absolute database paths in assistant configuration to avoid resolving a relative path from the assistant's process directory.

Resource-Constrained Environments

Start with:

export ATLAS_MEMORY_LIMIT=2GiB
export ATLAS_NO_WATCH=1
atlas index .

For very large repositories, exclude generated files and dependency caches before increasing limits. Confirm behavior with atlas status, atlas stats, and atlas doctor.