Configuration

Tribunus Desktop provides layered configuration that lets you control every aspect of the application — from model backend selection to UI theming. Settings are stored in ~/.tribunus/config.json, watched for changes at runtime so updates take effect without restarting the Electron main process. The Settings UI, rendered in SolidJS and styled with Tailwind, exposes all options through a panel accessible from the gear icon in the sidebar.

Model Backend Selection

Desktop supports running inference through Tribunus Compute (the local native engine, connected via IPC to the main process) or through remote API providers. Backend entries in the config file specify connection details:

{
  "backends": {
    "compute": { "type": "local", "model": "tribunus-7b" },
    "openai": { "apiKey": "$OPENAI_API_KEY", "model": "gpt-4o", "baseUrl": "" },
    "anthropic": { "apiKey": "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY", "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514" },
    "ollama": { "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434", "model": "llama3" }
  }
}

Environment variable expansion ($OPENAI_API_KEY) keeps secrets out of version control. Backend priority is order-based: when a tool or agent does not specify a backend, Desktop falls through the list until it finds an available backend. The Settings UI includes a backend status panel that shows connection health, model availability, and inference latency for each configured provider.

Agent Behavior Preferences

Agent behaviour is configured under the top-level agent section and can be overridden per-agent in plugin definitions:

• defaultModel — which backend to use when no preference is given.
• maxTokens — maximum tokens per response (default 4096).
• temperature — response randomness, from 0.0 (deterministic) to 2.0 (creative).
• timeout — maximum seconds to wait for a model response (default 300).
• tools — array of globally available tool IDs.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Desktop ships with a configurable keybinding system. Open the command palette with Cmd+K (macOS) / Ctrl+K (Linux). Common shortcuts include:

Action	Shortcut
New session	Cmd+N
Focus chat input	Cmd+L
Toggle sidebar	Cmd+B
Open Settings	Cmd+,
Command palette	Cmd+K

Shortcuts can be customised by adding a keybindings block to config.json. The binding format uses Electron accelerator syntax.

UI Customization

The UI section of the config file controls appearance and layout. Theme options are light, dark, and system (follows the OS preference). Additional settings include font family and size, sidebar default state, and output panel position (bottom, right, or floating). The renderer — built with SolidJS and Tailwind — applies these settings reactively, with no main-process restart required.