# Settings

> Your settings live on your machine, not in an account. Theme, speed reader, minimap, pager, updates, library layout, and window size sit in a plain JSON file you can read.

Settings are owned by the Rust app rather than browser storage, which keeps them durable across restarts and consistent across the embedded WebView.

## Options

| Setting | Options | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Theme | Amaranth, Arabica, Bloodleaf, Fern, Ginger, GitHub, Goldenrod, Halcyon, Nightshade, Pippin, Sage, Random | Fern |
| Appearance | System, Light, Dark, Daylight | System |
| Minimap | On / Off | On |
| Pager | On / Off | On |
| Graph size | Focus, Medium, Large, Everything | Focus |

**Speed Reader** is not in this panel. It is a reading-view tool on the [floating toolbar](02-navigation.md#the-toolbar) — a way of reading rather than a setting to hunt for — though it saves to the same file as the rest. The code view's [typing help](07-editing.md#typing-help) wand works the same way: toggled where it applies, saved here.

Whether the rendered page can be typed into is **not** here. It is a padlock on the document in front of you — see [Editing](07-editing.md#the-padlock).

## Open

Click **Settings** in the app bar. The panel opens as a dropdown and updates the app immediately as you change values. The version you are running is shown at the foot of the panel ([Updates](#updates)).

## Files

| File | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `{config_dir}/settings.json` | Preferences |
| `{config_dir}/recent-files.json` | Last 8 opened files |
| `{data_dir}/manifest.db` | The [vaults](03-library.md#vaults) you have named, and which one is active |
| `{data_dir}/webview2` | WebView2 data |
| `{data_dir}/updates` | Verified installer waiting to be applied ([Updates](#updates)) |

Here `{config_dir}` and `{data_dir}` are the per-app directories derived from the app id `com.ryanallen.leaftext` — they already include the vendor/app path segments (there is no extra `leaftext/` component to add). See [Paths](#paths) for the real per-platform locations.

Both JSON files are editable by hand, and a byte order mark in front of the opening brace is fine — Windows editors add one by default. If `settings.json` still cannot be read, Leaftext starts on its defaults and says so in the corner rather than coming up looking factory-fresh; the file is left untouched for you to look at.

## Example

```json
{
  "minimap_enabled": true,
  "pager_enabled": true,
  "speed_reader_enabled": false,
  "code_intel_enabled": true,
  "theme_family": "random",
  "theme_mode": "daylight",
  "theme_random_used": [],
  "graph_scope": "small",
  "library_project_path": "",
  "library_closed": false,
  "library_width": 240,
  "window_width": 1080,
  "window_height": 820,
  "window_maximized": false,
  "update_last_checked": 0,
  "update_staged_version": "",
  "update_auto_applied": ""
}
```

Missing fields fall back to defaults when the file is loaded.

## Recents

`recent-files.json` stores the last 8 opened file paths.

Example:

```json
{
  "files": [
    "/Users/alice/projects/api/README.md",
    "/Users/alice/notes/daily.md"
  ]
}
```

Leaftext removes broken entries automatically and collapses equivalent path spellings to one item.

## Behavior

### Theme

- Saved as `theme_family` (family or `random`) and `theme_mode` (appearance)
- New installs default to `random` and `daylight`; once you pick a theme your choice is saved and used from then on
- Choosing [Random](06-themes.md#random) draws a fresh family at each launch; `theme_random_used` records the families already shown in the current no-repeat cycle so the rotation survives restarts

### Graph size

- Controls how many documents the [graph](03-library.md#graph) draws
- **Focus** (default) shows the open document and its direct links
- **Medium** shows up to the 2,000 most-linked documents, **Large** up to 5,000, and **Everything** the whole vault with no cap
- Smaller sizes open faster; the larger ones stay responsive by settling the layout sooner and repainting less often
- Saved as `graph_scope`, stored as `small`, `medium`, `large`, or `xl`

### Minimap

- On by default
- Can be turned off for a single-column reading layout
- Saved as `minimap_enabled`

### Speed Reader

- Off by default, toggled from the reading view's [toolbar](02-navigation.md#the-toolbar) rather than this panel
- Dims non-anchor prose text (including headings) so bold lead anchors carry the most contrast against the background
- Quiets links to the dimmed prose color with a faint underline, until hover or keyboard focus brightens them
- Regularizes existing bold text and adds bold lead anchors at word starts; all-caps acronyms (HTML, GFM) are bolded whole
- Saved as `speed_reader_enabled`

### Typing help

- On by default, toggled with the wand on the code view's [toolbar](07-editing.md#typing-help) rather than this panel
- Monaco's IntelliSense, answered from your notes: suggests them after `[[`, headings after `#`, previews a note on hover, and underlines [broken links](07-editing.md#typing-help) in the code view
- Saved as `code_intel_enabled`

### Pager

- On by default
- Appends a Previous / Next bar at the bottom of documents in a folder tree connected by `README.md` files
- Turn it off when you prefer clean document bottoms without navigation buttons
- Saved as `pager_enabled`

### Updates

- **Updating is not a setting.** It always happens, and it means what it says: **quit and reopen, and the app you get is the new one.** There is nothing to click and nothing to switch off
- **Every launch asks GitHub for the latest release**, unthrottled — opening the app is when you expect it to know whether it is current. A window left open re-checks in the background at most every six hours; `update_last_checked` records when it last did, so a long session does not spend requests against the rate limit
- When a newer release exists, its installer downloads in the background — the same `.dmg` or `.msi` published for hand-installing, since a release carries nothing else. A download that arrives short or oversized is deleted rather than kept, and the digest of what did land is recorded so the installer can be re-checked before it runs
- While it downloads, the button carries a spinner and fills left to right with the percentage; the dot over the Settings button turns into a spinning ring
- **The next launch installs it, before any window opens.** Windows cannot replace a running executable, so this is the one moment it can happen without interrupting anything: the app hands off to a detached helper, which waits for it to exit, installs, and starts the new version. No prompt — Leaftext installs per-user, which is what lets it replace itself without administrator rights
- **Restart to update** is still on the button for anyone who does not want to wait for the next launch
- Each staged version is installed automatically **once**. `update_auto_applied` records the attempt before the installer runs, so an installer that fails silently cannot be retried on every launch — that would be a boot loop. After one failed attempt the version waits for a deliberate click, and the next launch says what went wrong and names the reason
- **The update status, at the foot of the panel beside the version, is itself the button.** It reports what the last attempt found — *Up to date*, when it last checked, or why it could not: a refused request, a release with no installer for this platform, or a download that failed — and clicking it forces a fresh check at any time, past the six-hour throttle. Before the first check of a session it reads *Check for updates*
- The running version is printed at the foot of the panel, so after a relaunch you can confirm which build is installed
- Saved as `update_last_checked`, `update_staged_version`, and `update_auto_applied`

> [!NOTE]
> Only one staged installer is kept. Skipping several releases does not accumulate several downloads, and once an update is applied the folder is cleared.

### Window size

- The window reopens at the size it had when it last closed, and maximized if it was maximized
- Saved as `window_width` and `window_height` (in logical, DPI-independent pixels) plus `window_maximized`
- The size is stored separately from the maximized state, so un-maximizing returns to the windowed dimensions rather than the full-screen ones
- Window position is not restored — only the size and maximized state

## Paths

These per-app directories are derived from the app id `com.ryanallen.leaftext`:

- macOS: `config_dir` = `data_dir` = `~/Library/Application Support/com.ryanallen.leaftext`
- Windows: `config_dir` = `%APPDATA%\ryanallen\leaftext\config`; `data_dir` = `%LOCALAPPDATA%\ryanallen\leaftext\data`

Both live inside your user profile, so Leaftext never needs administrator rights to run. They are also independent of where the app is installed — reinstalling or moving it keeps your settings, recent files, and [vaults](03-library.md#vaults).

## Next

- [Library](03-library.md)
- [Themes](06-themes.md)