You can configure Symbiotic Code using a JSON or JSONC config file.
Locations
You can place your config in a couple of different locations and they have a different order of precedence.
Configuration files are merged together, not replaced.
- Remote config (from .well-known/symbiotic) - organizational defaults
- Global config (~/.config/symbiotic/symbiotic.json) - user preferences
- Custom config (SYMBIOTIC_CONFIG env var) - custom overrides
- Project config (symbiotic.json in project) - project-specific settings
- .symbiotic directories - agents, commands, plugins
- Inline config (SYMBIOTIC_CONFIG_CONTENT env var) - runtime overrides
- Managed config files (/Library/Application Support/symbiotic/symbiotic.json on macOS) - admin-controlled
- macOS managed preferences (.mobileconfig via MDM) - highest priority, not user-overridable
This means project configs can override global defaults, and global configs can override remote organizational defaults. Managed settings override everything.
Managed settings
Organizations can enforce configuration that users cannot override. Managed settings are loaded at the highest priority tier.
File-based
Drop an symbiotic.json or symbiotic.jsonc file in the system managed config directory:
Platform Path
macOS /Library/Application Support/symbiotic/
Linux /etc/symbiotic/
Windows %ProgramData%\symbiotic
These directories require admin/root access to write, so users cannot modify them.
Configurations
You can manage the tools an LLM can use through the tools option.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"tools": {
"write": false,
"bash": false
}
}
Models
You can configure the providers and models you want to use in your Symbiotic Code config through the provider, model and small_model options.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"provider": {},
"model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
"small_model": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"
}
Provider options
Provider options can include timeout, chunkTimeout, and setCacheKey:
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"provider": {
"anthropic": {
"options": {
"timeout": 600000,
"chunkTimeout": 30000,
"setCacheKey": true
}
}
}
}
Provider-Specific Options
Some providers support additional configuration options beyond the generic timeout and apiKey settings.
Amazon Bedrock
Amazon Bedrock supports AWS-specific configuration:
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"provider": {
"amazon-bedrock": {
"options": {
"region": "us-east-1",
"profile": "my-aws-profile",
"endpoint": "https://bedrock-runtime.us-east-1.vpce-xxxxx.amazonaws.com"
}
}
}
}
Agents
You can configure specialized agents for specific tasks through the agent option.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"agent": {
"code-reviewer": {
"description": "Reviews code for best practices and potential issues",
"model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5",
"prompt": "You are a code reviewer. Focus on security, performance, and maintainability.",
"tools": {
// Disable file modification tools for review-only agent
"write": false,
"edit": false,
},
},
},
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"default_agent": "plan"
}
Commands
You can configure custom commands for repetitive tasks through the command option.
{
"$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
"command": {
"test": {
"template": "Run the full test suite with coverage report and show any failures.\nFocus on the failing tests and suggest fixes.",
"description": "Run tests with coverage",
"agent": "build",
"model": "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5",
},
"component": {
"template": "Create a new React component named $ARGUMENTS with TypeScript support.\nInclude proper typing and basic structure.",
"description": "Create a new component",
},
},
}
Autoupdate
Symbiotic Code will automatically download any new updates when it starts up. You can disable this with the autoupdate option.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"autoupdate": false
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"formatter": {
"prettier": {
"disabled": true
},
"custom-prettier": {
"command": ["npx", "prettier", "--write", "$FILE"],
"environment": {
"NODE_ENV": "development"
},
"extensions": [".js", ".ts", ".jsx", ".tsx"]
}
}
}
Permissions
By default, opencode allows all operations without requiring explicit approval. You can change this using the permission option.
For example, to ensure that the edit and bash tools require user approval:
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"permission": {
"edit": "ask",
"bash": "ask"
}
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"compaction": {
"auto": true,
"prune": true,
"reserved": 10000
}
}
Watcher
You can configure file watcher ignore patterns through the watcher option.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"watcher": {
"ignore": ["node_modules/**", "dist/**", ".git/**"]
}
}
MCP servers
You can configure MCP servers you want to use through the mcp option.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"mcp": {}
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"plugin": ["opencode-helicone-session", "@my-org/custom-plugin"]
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"instructions": ["CONTRIBUTING.md", "docs/guidelines.md", ".cursor/rules/*.md"]
}
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"disabled_providers": ["openai", "gemini"]
}
Enabled providers
You can specify an allowlist of providers through the enabled_providers option. When set, only the specified providers will be enabled and all others will be ignored.
{
"$schema": "https://symbiotic.ai/config.json",
"enabled_providers": ["anthropic", "openai"]
}
