Configuration Reference

Precedence

rousseau resolves configuration in the order flag > env > file > default. The file lives at ~/.config/rousseau/config.yaml by default; override with --config.

Environment variables use the prefix ROUSSEAU_ with . replaced by _ — so provider becomes ROUSSEAU_PROVIDER, anthropic.api_key becomes ROUSSEAU_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is also honoured directly (it is bound to anthropic.api_key at load time).

Top-level

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`provider`	string	`claudecli`	LLM backend: `claudecli`, `anthropic`, `bedrock`, `vertex`, `openai`, `openrouter`, `ollama`.

`anthropic` — direct Anthropic API

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`api_key`	string	from `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Bearer for `api.anthropic.com`. Rejected if empty when the provider is selected.
`model`	string	`claude-sonnet-4-6`	Model identifier passed to the SDK.
`max_tokens`	int64	`4096`	Caps output tokens per completion.

See /providers/anthropic/.

`bedrock` — AWS Bedrock

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`region`	string	required	AWS region (`us-east-1`, `eu-west-2`).
`model`	string	required	Bedrock model ID (`anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6-20260101-v1:0`).
`profile`	string	empty	Credentials profile from `~/.aws/credentials`. Empty falls through the standard AWS credential chain.
`max_tokens`	int64	SDK default	Caps output tokens.

See /providers/bedrock/.

`vertex` — Google Vertex AI

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`project`	string	required	GCP project ID.
`region`	string	required	Vertex region (`us-central1`).
`model`	string	required	Anthropic-on-Vertex model ID (`claude-sonnet-4-6@20260101`).
`credentials_file`	string	empty	Path to service-account or authorized-user JSON. Empty uses Application Default Credentials.
`max_tokens`	int64	`4096`	Caps output tokens.

See /providers/vertex/.

`claudecli` — subprocess against local `claude` CLI

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`binary`	string	`claude`	Executable, resolved on `$PATH`.
`model`	string	empty	Passed to `--model`. Empty uses claude's default.
`permission_mode`	string	empty	Passed to `--permission-mode`. Values: `acceptEdits`, `auto`, `bypassPermissions`, `default`, `dontAsk`, `plan`. Unattended daemons typically need `bypassPermissions`.
`extra_args`	[]string	`[]`	Prepended before `-p` on every invocation. Useful for `--add-dir`, `--allowed-tools`, `--disallowed-tools`, `--plugin-dir`.

See /providers/claudecli/.

`openai` / `openrouter` / `ollama` — OpenAI-compatible endpoints

Shared shape. openrouter.base_url defaults to https://openrouter.ai/api/v1; ollama.base_url defaults to http://localhost:11434/v1; ollama.api_key defaults to not-required.

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`api_key`	string	required	Bearer token. Non-empty even for Ollama (any placeholder works).
`model`	string	required	Model identifier. There is no universal default across endpoints.
`base_url`	string	provider default	Full endpoint URL.
`max_tokens`	int64	SDK default	Caps output tokens.

See /providers/openai-compatible/.

`log`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`level`	string	`info`	`debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`.
`format`	string	`text`	`text` (human) or `json` (production / log aggregation).

`state`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`path`	string	`~/.local/share/rousseau/sessions.db`	SQLite database path (WAL mode, `busy_timeout=15s`).

`agent`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`system_prompt`	string	empty	Overrides the built-in default.
`max_iterations`	int	`32`	Caps model round-trips per `Turn`.
`skills_dir`	string	empty	Directory of `*.md` skill files. Empty disables skills.

`agent.compression`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`enabled`	bool	`false`	Enables LLM-backed session compression.
`trigger_messages`	int	`60`	Message count above which compression fires.
`keep_recent`	int	`8`	Recent messages preserved verbatim.
`prompt`	string	built-in	Overrides the default summarisation instruction.

`agent.approver`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`mode`	string	`allow_all`	`allow_all`, `deny_all`, or `pattern`.
`reason`	string	empty	Denial reason surfaced to the model.
`default`	string	`deny`	Fallback when no `allow` or `deny` rule matches (pattern mode).
`allow`	[]PatternEntry	`[]`	Regex allow rules per tool.
`deny`	[]PatternEntry	`[]`	Regex deny rules per tool. Deny wins over allow.

Each PatternEntry is {tool: <name>, match: <regex>}. tool: "" matches every tool; match: "" matches every input.

Transport blocks

`whatsapp`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`reply_header`	string	`💎 Rousseau Agent\n\n`	Prepended to every outbound message. Set to `" "` to disable.
`voice.enabled`	bool	`false`	Whisper-based transcription for inbound voice notes.
`voice.binary`	string	`whisper`	Whisper CLI executable.
`voice.model`	string	empty	Passed to `--model` (`base.en`, `small`).
`voice.model_path`	string	empty	Explicit `.bin` path, takes precedence over `model`.
`voice.language`	string	empty	Passed to `--language`. Empty auto-detects.
`voice.extra_args`	[]string	`[]`	Appended to every whisper invocation.

`signal`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`binary`	string	`signal-cli`	Executable to invoke in JSON-RPC daemon mode.
`account`	string	required	E.164 phone number the daemon runs as.
`extra_args`	[]string	`[]`	Inserted between `-a <account>` and `jsonRpc`.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound message.
`allowlist`	[]string	`[]`	E.164 numbers whose messages are handled. Empty accepts every sender.

`telegram`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`token`	string	required	Bot token from BotFather.
`base_url`	string	`https://api.telegram.org`	Override for a local Bot API server.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound reply.
`allowlist`	[]string	`[]`	Telegram user IDs whose messages are handled.

`matrix`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`homeserver_url`	string	required	Base URL, e.g. `https://matrix.org`.
`access_token`	string	required	Bot user's access token.
`user_id`	string	empty	Bot user's full MXID (`@bot:matrix.org`). Optional but recommended (own-message echo suppression).
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound reply.
`allowlist`	[]string	`[]`	Matrix IDs whose messages are handled.

`slack`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`app_token`	string	required	`xapp-*` app-level token with `connections:write`.
`bot_token`	string	required	`xoxb-*` bot token with `chat:write`.
`bot_user_id`	string	empty	Bot user's own `U…` ID for own-message loop prevention.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound message.
`allowlist`	[]string	`[]`	Slack user IDs whose messages are handled.

`discord`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`token`	string	required	Bot token from the Developer Portal.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound reply.
`allowlist`	[]string	`[]`	Discord user IDs whose messages are handled.

`sms`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`provider`	string	required	`twilio` or `vonage`.
`from`	string	required	E.164 sender or Twilio Messaging Service SID.
`account_sid`	string	required for twilio	Twilio account SID (`AC…`).
`auth_token`	string	required	Twilio auth token or Vonage API secret.
`api_key`	string	required for vonage	Vonage API key.
`base_url`	string	provider default	Override for regional or test endpoints.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound message.

`imessage`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`base_url`	string	required	BlueBubbles server URL (`http://localhost:1234`).
`password`	string	required	BlueBubbles server password.
`chat_guid`	string	empty	Outbound target GUID.
`poll_interval`	duration	`5s`	Poll cadence against `/api/v1/message`.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound message.

`email`

Field	Type	Default	Effect
`imap_addr`	string	required	`host:port` for TLS-wrapped IMAP (typically `:993`).
`imap_username`	string	required	IMAP username.
`imap_password`	string	required	IMAP password.
`mailbox`	string	`INBOX`	Mailbox to poll.
`poll_interval`	duration	`30s`	How often to look for UNSEEN mail.
`smtp_addr`	string	required	`host:port` for SMTP submission (typically `:587`).
`smtp_username`	string	required	SMTP username.
`smtp_password`	string	required	SMTP password.
`from`	string	required	Envelope + header `From` address.
`reply_header`	string	empty	Prepended to every outbound message body.

Complete example

provider: claudecli

anthropic:
  api_key: sk-ant-...
  model: claude-sonnet-4-6
  max_tokens: 4096

bedrock:
  region: us-east-1
  model: anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6-20260101-v1:0
  profile: default

vertex:
  project: my-gcp-project
  region: us-central1
  model: claude-sonnet-4@20260101
  credentials_file: ~/.config/gcloud/vertex-key.json

claudecli:
  binary: claude
  model: sonnet
  permission_mode: bypassPermissions
  extra_args: []

log:
  level: info
  format: json

state:
  path: ~/.local/share/rousseau/sessions.db

agent:
  system_prompt: ""
  max_iterations: 32
  skills_dir: ~/.local/share/rousseau/skills
  compression:
    enabled: true
    trigger_messages: 60
    keep_recent: 8
  approver:
    mode: pattern
    default: deny
    allow:
      - {tool: read, match: ".*"}
      - {tool: grep, match: ".*"}
      - {tool: edit, match: "^./workspace/.*"}
    deny:
      - {tool: bash, match: "rm -rf|sudo|:\\(\\)\\{ :\\|:& \\};:"}

whatsapp:
  reply_header: "💎 *Rousseau Agent*\n\n"
  voice:
    enabled: false

signal:
  account: "+447900123456"
  allowlist: ["+447900654321"]

telegram:
  token: "123:ABC"
  allowlist: ["12345678"]

matrix:
  homeserver_url: "https://matrix.org"
  access_token: "syt_..."
  user_id: "@bot:matrix.org"
  allowlist: ["@alice:matrix.org"]

slack:
  app_token: "xapp-..."
  bot_token: "xoxb-..."
  bot_user_id: "U0123ABCD"

discord:
  token: "bot-token"
  allowlist: ["123456789012345678"]

sms:
  provider: twilio
  from: "+15550000000"
  account_sid: "AC..."
  auth_token: "..."

imessage:
  base_url: "http://localhost:1234"
  password: "..."
  poll_interval: "5s"

email:
  imap_addr: "imap.example.com:993"
  imap_username: "bot@example.com"
  imap_password: "..."
  smtp_addr: "smtp.example.com:587"
  smtp_username: "bot@example.com"
  smtp_password: "..."
  from: "bot@example.com"
  poll_interval: "30s"

Troubleshooting

`config: unmarshal: 1 error(s) decoding: ...`

The YAML is valid but a field has the wrong type. The error message names the field — check the type in internal/config/config.go.

Env var override not picked up

Rousseau prefixes env vars with ROUSSEAU_ and replaces dots with underscores. anthropic.model becomes ROUSSEAU_ANTHROPIC_MODEL. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is a special case wired directly to anthropic.api_key.

`config: read: yaml: line X: found character that cannot start any token`

Tab indentation. YAML requires spaces.

Changes to `config.yaml` do not take effect

Rousseau reads config once at startup. Restart the daemon.

Two config values seem to be in effect

Precedence is flag > env > file > default. Enable log.level: debug and grep for config.loaded to see the resolved value.

Reference: Config Schema — every field.
Reference: Environment Variables — override matrix.
Reference: CLI Commands — per-transport flags.
Providers — provider-specific stanzas.
Transports — transport-specific stanzas.

Precedence

Top-level

`anthropic` — direct Anthropic API

`bedrock` — AWS Bedrock

`vertex` — Google Vertex AI

`claudecli` — subprocess against local `claude` CLI

`openai` / `openrouter` / `ollama` — OpenAI-compatible endpoints

`log`

`state`

`agent`

`agent.compression`

`agent.approver`

Transport blocks

`whatsapp`

`signal`

`telegram`

`matrix`

`slack`

`discord`

`sms`

`imessage`

`email`

Complete example

Troubleshooting

`config: unmarshal: 1 error(s) decoding: ...`

Env var override not picked up

`config: read: yaml: line X: found character that cannot start any token`

Changes to `config.yaml` do not take effect

Two config values seem to be in effect

Related pages

Further reading

Precedence

Top-level

anthropic — direct Anthropic API

bedrock — AWS Bedrock

vertex — Google Vertex AI

claudecli — subprocess against local claude CLI

openai / openrouter / ollama — OpenAI-compatible endpoints

log

state

agent

agent.compression

agent.approver

Transport blocks

whatsapp

signal

telegram

matrix

slack

discord

sms

imessage

email

Complete example

Troubleshooting

config: unmarshal: 1 error(s) decoding: ...

Env var override not picked up

config: read: yaml: line X: found character that cannot start any token

Changes to config.yaml do not take effect

Two config values seem to be in effect

Related pages

Further reading

`anthropic` — direct Anthropic API

`bedrock` — AWS Bedrock

`vertex` — Google Vertex AI

`claudecli` — subprocess against local `claude` CLI

`openai` / `openrouter` / `ollama` — OpenAI-compatible endpoints

`log`

`state`

`agent`

`agent.compression`

`agent.approver`

`whatsapp`

`signal`

`telegram`

`matrix`

`slack`

`discord`

`sms`

`imessage`

`email`

`config: unmarshal: 1 error(s) decoding: ...`

`config: read: yaml: line X: found character that cannot start any token`

Changes to `config.yaml` do not take effect