# Configuration and tuning

slipstream works with zero configuration. Everything below has a sensible default; you only touch it to change behaviour deliberately.

## Dashboard settings

`.claude/slipstream/dashboard.json` in your project (`src/dashboard/settings.ts`):

```jsonc
{
  "enabled": true,   // auto-start the local server on SessionStart
  "autoOpen": true   // open the browser on first start
}
```

Environment overrides, for a single session without editing the file:

| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
| `SLIPSTREAM_DASHBOARD=0` | disable the dashboard (also stops the MCP server auto-starting it) |
| `SLIPSTREAM_DASHBOARD=1` | force enable |
| `SLIPSTREAM_DASHBOARD_OPEN=0` | keep the browser shut |
| `SLIPSTREAM_DASHBOARD_OPEN=1` | force open |
| `SLIPSTREAM_MCP_EMIT=0` | stop the MCP server emitting activity events (set by the plugin, since its PostToolUse hook already emits) |

These last two gate the [cross-IDE](Cross-IDE-Support) behaviour. Outside Claude Code both default on, so the MCP server feeds and auto-starts the dashboard with no setup; the plugin sets both to `0` because the hooks already do it.

## Token-budget control

`.claude/slipstream/budget.json` is the shared, editable budget the dashboard gauge, `sp_budget` and the statusline all read (`src/context/budget-config.ts`):

```jsonc
{
  "targetTokens": 200000,  // the target the gauge fills toward
  "warnPct": 60,           // gauge turns amber here
  "compactPct": 85,        // gauge turns red here
  "actualTokens": 0        // optional: paste the editor's real count to calibrate
}
```

Edit it from the dashboard's "set budget" panel, with `slipstream budget`, or by hand. Thresholds are clamped and ordered on save so a bad edit cannot break the math.

## Context budget

`src/context/budget.ts` holds the tunable constants:

| Constant | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `BYTES_PER_TOKEN` | 3.6 | bytes-per-token estimate; lower is more cautious |
| `DEFAULT_WINDOW_TOKENS` | 200,000 | model context window |
| `COMFORT_FRACTION` | 0.6 | the share treated as comfortably usable (`ok` below this) |
| `LARGE_FILE_BYTES` | 16,000 | the threshold above which a whole-file read is flagged |

The window can be overridden per call: `sp_budget(bytesRead, windowTokens)` and `slipstream budget --bytes N --window N`. The levels are `ok` below `COMFORT_FRACTION`, `warn` up to 85%, `compact` above.

## Recall budget

`src/memory/recall.ts`:

| Constant | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `RECALL_TOKEN_BUDGET` | 1,200 | the ceiling on the relevant subset reloaded at session start |
| `WEIGHTS` | branch 4, tag 3, file 3, description 2, haystack 0.5 | the ranking weights |

Raise the budget to reload more at session start, at the cost of more tokens; lower it to reload less. The weights are tuned against this project's own store (see [Memory recall](Memory-Recall)).

## Digest bounds

`src/memory/digest.ts` bounds the digest so it stays a memory the next session can afford to reload: `MAX_DECISIONS` 8, `MAX_FILES` 20, `MAX_LINE` 200 characters.

## Statusline

The statusline reads the same budget constants. To change what it shows, edit `formatStatusline` in `src/statusline/index.ts` (it is pure and unit-tested, so a change is caught by the test). To enable it manually, see [Statusline](Statusline).

## Where state lives

slipstream writes only under `.claude/slipstream/` in your project:

```
.claude/slipstream/
  map.md  map.json              # the project map (from /slipstream:map)
  memory/                       # one .md per fact + MEMORY.md index
  observations/<session>.jsonl  # auto-captured observation memory (+ .cursor, .counter)
  budget.json                   # editable token-budget target + thresholds
  savings.json                  # optimization tally: scoped reads vs whole-file baseline
  dashboard/<session>.jsonl     # append-only event log per session
  dashboard/server.json         # the running server's pid/port/url
  dashboard.json                # optional settings
```

Add `.claude/slipstream/` to `.gitignore` to keep it local, or commit `memory/` if you want the team to share durable facts.

## See also

- [Data formats](Data-Formats) for the exact shapes of these files.
- [Memory recall](Memory-Recall) for the recall tuning in context.
- [Security model](Security-Model) for what is written and what is redacted.

---
SarmaLinux . sarmalinux.com . [Repository](https://github.com/sarmakska/slipstream)