Settings
Open settings with Cmd+, or from the Sidequest menu bar > Settings…. You can also click the gear icon in the bottom toolbar.
Settings are organized into seven categories via the sidebar navigation.
General
Section titled “General”Language
Section titled “Language”Set the display language for the application. Supported languages:
| Value | Language |
|---|---|
| English | English (default) |
| Francais | French |
| Espanol | Spanish |
| Zhongwen | Chinese |
Preferred Editor
Section titled “Preferred Editor”The editor used when you click “Open in Editor” from the diff viewer, quest context menu, or command palette.
| Editor | Value |
|---|---|
| Visual Studio Code | vscode (default) |
| IntelliJ IDEA | intellij |
| Zed | zed |
Preferred Terminal
Section titled “Preferred Terminal”The terminal app used when you click “Open in Terminal” from quest or file context menus.
| Terminal | Value |
|---|---|
| Terminal.app | terminal (default) |
| iTerm2 | iterm2 |
| Warp | warp |
| Ghostty | ghostly |
Setup Guide
Section titled “Setup Guide”Re-run the first-launch setup wizard at any time. Useful if you skipped steps or need to reconfigure prerequisites like tmux or Claude Code.
Appearance
Section titled “Appearance”Diff Viewer
Section titled “Diff Viewer”Controls how file diffs are displayed in the Changes panel.
View Mode — Choose how diffs are laid out:
- Side by Side (default) — Old and new file content shown in parallel columns.
- Unified — Changes shown inline in a single column.
- Hunk — Only changed hunks are displayed.
Color Theme — Syntax highlighting theme for diffs. Options: Pierre (default), GitHub, One Dark, Dracula, Vitesse, Catppuccin, Everforest.
Render Markdown — When enabled, markdown files in diff views are rendered with formatting. Enabled by default.
System Tools
Section titled “System Tools”Override the auto-detected paths for system dependencies. Leave blank to use auto-discovery (recommended). Provide an absolute path only if auto-detection fails or you want a specific version.
| Tool | Setting | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Git | gitPath | Auto-detected |
| Tmux | tmuxPath | Auto-detected |
The auto-discovered path is shown as placeholder text in each field.
Tmux Mode
Section titled “Tmux Mode”Controls how Sidequest handles mouse and keyboard input in the terminal panel. Changing this setting requires a reload to apply to existing sessions.
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Chill Mode (default) | Smart handlers give you scroll, click, and drag without needing to know tmux. Best for most users. |
| Mouse Mode | Native tmux mouse mode. You can click panes and scroll, but text selection follows tmux behavior. |
| Raw Tmux | No mouse mode, no training wheels. Pure keyboard-driven tmux experience. |
Notifications
Section titled “Notifications”Claude Code Integration
Section titled “Claude Code Integration”Sidequest can notify you when Claude stops and needs attention in any quest session. This works by installing a Claude Code hook that sends events to Sidequest via IPC.
- Click Enable to install the hook.
- Once enabled, choose a notification sound from the built-in options or import a custom sound file (MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A).
- Optionally configure a custom notification command — a shell command that runs whenever a quest needs attention.
Available environment variables for custom commands:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
$SIDEQUEST_PROJECT_NAME | The project name |
$SIDEQUEST_QUEST_TITLE | The quest title |
Example:
curl -d "$SIDEQUEST_PROJECT_NAME needs attention" https://example.com/notifyUse the Test Command button to verify your command works before relying on it.
Custom Sounds
Section titled “Custom Sounds”Click the import button next to the sound selector to add your own audio files. Imported sounds appear under “Your Sounds” in the dropdown and can be deleted individually.
Per-project notification sounds can be configured separately from the project context menu in the sidebar.
Model Providers
Section titled “Model Providers”Claude
Section titled “Claude”CLI Path — Path to the Claude Code CLI executable. Defaults to claude (assumes it is on your PATH). Set an absolute path if Claude is installed in a non-standard location.
Effort Level — Controls Claude’s reasoning effort when starting new sessions. Higher effort means more thorough analysis but may use more tokens.
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Low | Minimal reasoning |
| Medium | Balanced |
| High | Thorough |
| Max | Maximum reasoning (default) |
Chrome Browser Tools — When enabled, passes --chrome to the Claude CLI to enable browser automation via MCP. Disabled by default.
Gemini and Codex
Section titled “Gemini and Codex”Path settings for Gemini CLI and Codex CLI are shown but currently marked as coming soon.
Extensions
Section titled “Extensions”Manage which extension buttons appear in the bottom toolbar. Each extension can be toggled on/off and reordered by dragging.
Built-in extensions:
| Extension | Description |
|---|---|
| Live Stats | Real-time token usage and tool call statistics for the active session. |
| Toolkit | Manage skills, commands, and agents for Claude Code. |
| Council | Get second-opinion feedback on the current conversation from Gemini or Codex. |
Only one extension panel can be open at a time. Opening one automatically closes any other.
Storage
Section titled “Storage”Handoff Retention
Section titled “Handoff Retention”Control how long handoff summaries are kept before automatic cleanup. Options: 7 days, 30 days (default), 90 days, or never delete.
Orphaned Worktrees
Section titled “Orphaned Worktrees”Sidequest scans for worktree directories that are no longer linked to any quest (e.g., left over from deleted quests or crashes). Click Clean All to remove them and reclaim disk space.
Orphaned Tmux Sessions
Section titled “Orphaned Tmux Sessions”Similar to orphaned worktrees, Sidequest detects tmux sessions that no longer correspond to active quests. Clean them up to free system resources.
Import and Export
Section titled “Import and Export”At the bottom of the settings sidebar, you can:
- Export Settings — Downloads a
sidequest-settings.jsonfile with all your non-internal settings. - Import Settings — Load settings from a previously exported JSON file.
This is useful for syncing settings across machines or sharing your configuration with teammates. Internal state (like column widths and last active workspace) is excluded from exports.