Chat Configuration

February 23, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Complete configuration reference for Probe Chat CLI and Web interface.

Environment Variables

API Keys

# Anthropic Claude (recommended)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# OpenAI GPT
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# Google Gemini
GOOGLE_API_KEY=...

Provider Configuration

# Force specific provider
FORCE_PROVIDER=anthropic  # anthropic, openai, google

# Model override
MODEL_NAME=claude-sonnet-4-6

# Custom API endpoints
LLM_BASE_URL=https://your-proxy.com
ANTHROPIC_API_URL=https://your-anthropic-proxy.com
OPENAI_API_URL=https://your-openai-proxy.com
GOOGLE_API_URL=https://your-google-proxy.com

Path Configuration

# Comma-separated list of search paths
ALLOWED_FOLDERS=/path/to/project1,/path/to/project2

Web Interface

# Server port
PORT=8080

# Basic authentication
AUTH_ENABLED=1
AUTH_USERNAME=admin
AUTH_PASSWORD=your-password

Debug & Logging

# Enable debug output
DEBUG=true
DEBUG_CHAT=1

# Suppress interactive prompts
PROBE_NON_INTERACTIVE=1

Prompt Configuration

# Prompt preset
PROMPT_TYPE=architect  # architect, code-review, code-review-template, support, engineer

# Custom prompt file
CUSTOM_PROMPT=/path/to/prompt.txt

Implementation Tool

Backend Selection

# Primary backend
IMPLEMENT_TOOL_BACKEND=claude-code  # aider, claude-code

# Fallback backends (comma-separated)
IMPLEMENT_TOOL_FALLBACKS=aider,claude-code

# Timeout (seconds, 60-3600)
IMPLEMENT_TOOL_TIMEOUT=1200

# Config file path
IMPLEMENT_TOOL_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/config.json

Aider Backend

AIDER_MODEL=gpt-4
AIDER_TIMEOUT=300000
AIDER_AUTO_COMMIT=false
AIDER_ADDITIONAL_ARGS=--no-auto-commits

Claude Code Backend

CLAUDE_CODE_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-6
CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_TOKENS=8000
CLAUDE_CODE_TEMPERATURE=0.3
CLAUDE_CODE_MAX_TURNS=100

Bash Execution

# Enable bash commands
ENABLE_BASH=1

MCP Integration

# Enable MCP
ENABLE_MCP=1

# Config file path
MCP_CONFIG_PATH=/path/to/mcp/config.json

# Debug MCP
DEBUG_MCP=1

Telemetry

# File tracing
OTEL_ENABLE_FILE=true
OTEL_FILE_PATH=./traces.jsonl

# Remote tracing
OTEL_ENABLE_REMOTE=true
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318/v1/traces

# Console tracing
OTEL_ENABLE_CONSOLE=true

Configuration Files

implement-config.json

{
  "implement": {
    "defaultBackend": "claude-code",
    "fallbackBackends": ["aider"],
    "selectionStrategy": "auto",
    "maxConcurrentSessions": 3,
    "timeout": 300000,
    "retryAttempts": 2,
    "retryDelay": 5000
  },
  "backends": {
    "aider": {
      "command": "aider",
      "timeout": 300000,
      "maxOutputSize": 10485760,
      "additionalArgs": [],
      "environment": {},
      "autoCommit": false,
      "modelSelection": "auto"
    },
    "claude-code": {
      "timeout": 300000,
      "maxTokens": 8000,
      "temperature": 0.3,
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-6",
      "systemPrompt": null,
      "tools": ["edit", "search", "bash"],
      "maxTurns": 100
    }
  }
}

MCP Configuration (.mcp/config.json)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "probe": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@probelabs/probe@latest", "mcp"],
      "transport": "stdio",
      "enabled": true
    },
    "github": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "transport": "stdio",
      "enabled": false,
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "your-token"
      }
    },
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/allowed/path"],
      "transport": "stdio",
      "enabled": false
    }
  },
  "settings": {
    "timeout": 30000,
    "retryCount": 3,
    "debug": false
  }
}

Config File Locations

Implementation Tool Config

Priority order:

  1. IMPLEMENT_TOOL_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
  2. ./implement-config.json (local)
  3. Default configuration

MCP Config

Priority order:

  1. MCP_CONFIG_PATH environment variable
  2. ./.mcp/config.json
  3. ./mcp.config.json
  4. ~/.config/probe/mcp.json
  5. ~/.mcp/config.json
  6. ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/mcp_config.json (macOS)

CLI Flags Reference

Provider & Model

-f, --force-provider <provider>    # anthropic, openai, google
-m, --model-name <model>           # Model identifier

Interface

-w, --web                          # Web interface mode
-p, --port <port>                  # Web server port
-d, --debug                        # Debug mode

Session

-s, --session-id <id>              # Session identifier

Non-Interactive

--message <message>                # Single message, then exit
--json                             # JSON output
--images <urls>                    # Comma-separated image URLs

Prompts

--prompt <value>                   # Preset or file path
--completion-prompt <prompt>       # Post-completion validation
--architecture-file <name>         # Architecture context file

Code Editing

--allow-edit                       # Enable editing
--implement-tool-backend <backend> # aider, claude-code
--implement-tool-timeout <ms>      # Timeout
--implement-tool-config <path>     # Config file
--implement-tool-list-backends     # List backends
--implement-tool-backend-info <b>  # Backend info

Bash

--enable-bash                      # Enable bash
--bash-allow <patterns>            # Allow patterns (override default deny)
--bash-deny <patterns>             # Deny patterns (always win, highest priority)
--no-default-bash-allow            # Disable default allow list
--no-default-bash-deny             # Disable default deny list (not recommended)
--bash-timeout <ms>                # Command timeout
--bash-working-dir <path>          # Working directory

Permission priority: Custom deny > Custom allow > Default deny > Allow list. --bash-allow "git:push" overrides the default deny for git push while keeping all other deny rules active. See Security Guide.

Tool Control

--max-iterations <n>               # Max tool iterations

Telemetry

--trace-file [path]                # File tracing
--trace-remote [endpoint]          # Remote tracing
--trace-console                    # Console tracing

Quick Start Examples

Minimal Setup

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
probe-chat ./my-project

Full Configuration

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
export FORCE_PROVIDER=anthropic
export MODEL_NAME=claude-sonnet-4-6
export ENABLE_MCP=1
export DEBUG=true

probe-chat \
  --allow-edit \
  --enable-bash \
  --prompt architect \
  --max-iterations 50 \
  ./my-project

Web Server

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
export PORT=3000
export AUTH_ENABLED=1
export AUTH_USERNAME=admin
export AUTH_PASSWORD=secure-password

probe-chat --web ./my-project