Configuration

MAESTRO reads configuration from four layers, in increasing precedence:

1. Defaults baked into care.config.CareConfig.
2. ~/.config/care/config.toml (user-global).
3. ./care.toml (per-project overrides).
4. CARE_* environment variables (highest).

The fastest way to a working config is care init, which writes a starter .env; care doctor checks it.

TOML ↔ env mapping

Nested fields use double underscores in env-var form, mirroring how the TOML sections nest. For example:

[mage]
model = "qwen/qwen3-coder"

is the same as:

CARE_MAGE__MODEL="qwen/qwen3-coder"

and [chat] default_mode = "production" is CARE_CHAT__DEFAULT_MODE=production.

Lenient default_mode parsing

chat.default_mode is parsed leniently: a known legacy alias (ad_hoc / ad-hoc / adhoc / prod) is normalised to its canonical id, and an unrecognised value is dropped so the field’s default (interactive) applies — either way a warning is logged and the rest of the config still loads. A malformed mode never crashes startup. Other fields are still validated strictly.

Sections

CareConfig nests twelve sections, each with the env prefix CARE_<SECTION>__:

Section	Env prefix	Purpose
mage	CARE_MAGE__*	MAGE generator (provider, API key, model, mode).
memory	CARE_MEMORY__*	GigaEvo Memory connection.
platform	CARE_PLATFORM__*	GigaEvo Platform connection (evolution).
hub	CARE_HUB__*	Agent hub for /deploy.
upload	CARE_UPLOAD__*	Artifact-upload endpoint (/upload).
sandbox	CARE_SANDBOX__*	AgentSkill sandbox backend + limits.
tools	CARE_TOOLS__*	@carl_tool registry + bundled builtins + synthesis.
telemetry	CARE_TELEMETRY__*	Opt-in event-stream sink (Langfuse, …).
defaults	CARE_DEFAULTS__*	UI defaults (language, history size).
chat	CARE_CHAT__*	Chat surface (default mode, ad-hoc history, retries).
context	CARE_CONTEXT__*	User-context injection (CARE.md + LTM digest).
artifacts	CARE_ARTIFACTS__*	Saved-artifact store directory.

See section reference for the notable keys in each, or .env.example for the complete surface.

First boot

Without ~/.config/care/config.toml on disk, the first launch lands on the Settings screen so you can configure Memory / Platform URLs + MAGE credentials. Returning users go straight to the chat surface.