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Ben Basha edited this page Jul 15, 2025 · 2 revisions

Configuration Guide

Claude Autopilot offers extensive configuration options to customize its behavior for your specific workflow and environment.

Accessing Settings

VS Code Settings UI

  1. Open Settings: File → Preferences → Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)
  2. Search for "Claude Autopilot" or navigate to Extensions → Claude Autopilot
  3. Modify settings using the UI

Settings JSON

Add configuration to your VS Code settings.json:

{
  "claudeAutopilot.developmentMode": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 500,
  "claudeAutopilot.session.autoStart": false
}

Core Settings

Development Mode

{
  "claudeAutopilot.developmentMode": false
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Enable development mode with debug controls and testing features
  • When to use: During development or when you need detailed logging

Queue Configuration

Maximum Queue Size

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 1000
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 1000
  • Range: 10 - 10,000
  • Description: Maximum number of messages in queue before cleanup
  • Recommendation: Increase for large batch operations, decrease for memory conservation

Maximum Message Size

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxMessageSize": 50000
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 50000 bytes
  • Range: 1,000 - 1,000,000 bytes
  • Description: Maximum size of individual message text
  • Note: Large messages may impact performance

Maximum Output Size

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxOutputSize": 100000
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 100000 bytes
  • Range: 1,000 - 1,000,000 bytes
  • Description: Maximum size of message output
  • Note: Limits memory usage for large outputs

Retention Period

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.retentionHours": 24
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 24 hours
  • Range: 1 - 168 hours (1 week)
  • Description: Hours to keep completed messages before cleanup

Auto Maintenance

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.autoMaintenance": true
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Enable automatic queue maintenance and cleanup
  • Recommendation: Keep enabled unless you need manual control

Session Management

Auto Start

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.autoStart": false
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Automatically start Claude session when extension activates
  • Use case: Enable for automated workflows

Skip Permissions

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.skipPermissions": true
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Skip Claude CLI permission prompts using --dangerously-skip-permissions
  • ⚠️ Security: Only use in trusted development environments

Health Check Interval

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.healthCheckInterval": 30000
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 30000 milliseconds (30 seconds)
  • Range: 5,000 - 300,000 milliseconds
  • Description: Interval for Claude process health checks
  • Performance: Longer intervals reduce CPU usage but slower error detection

Sleep Prevention

Enable Sleep Prevention

{
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.enabled": true
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Prevent computer from sleeping while processing queue
  • Use case: Essential for long-running batch operations

Sleep Prevention Method

{
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.method": "auto"
}
  • Type: String
  • Options:
    • "auto" - Automatically detect best method for your platform
    • "caffeinate" - macOS caffeinate command
    • "powershell" - Windows PowerShell method
    • "systemd-inhibit" - Linux systemd method
  • Default: "auto"
  • Recommendation: Use "auto" unless you have specific requirements

History & Logging

Maximum History Runs

{
  "claudeAutopilot.history.maxRuns": 20
}
  • Type: Number
  • Default: 20
  • Range: 1 - 100
  • Description: Maximum number of history runs to keep
  • Storage: Higher values use more storage space

Auto Save History

{
  "claudeAutopilot.history.autoSave": true
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Automatically save workspace history
  • Recommendation: Keep enabled for workflow continuity

Enable Logging

{
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": false
}
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Enable debug logging
  • Use case: Enable when troubleshooting issues

Logging Level

{
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.level": "info"
}
  • Type: String
  • Options: "error", "warn", "info", "debug"
  • Default: "info"
  • Description: Logging level for debug output
  • Performance: "debug" level may impact performance

Configuration Presets

Development Preset

Optimized for development and testing:

{
  "claudeAutopilot.developmentMode": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.level": "debug",
  "claudeAutopilot.session.autoStart": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 100,
  "claudeAutopilot.history.maxRuns": 10
}

Production Preset

Optimized for large-scale processing:

{
  "claudeAutopilot.developmentMode": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.session.autoStart": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.session.skipPermissions": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 2000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.autoMaintenance": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.enabled": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.history.maxRuns": 50
}

Minimal Preset

Lightweight configuration for basic usage:

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 50,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.retentionHours": 6,
  "claudeAutopilot.history.maxRuns": 5,
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.enabled": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": false
}

Environment-Specific Configuration

CI/CD Environment

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.skipPermissions": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.enabled": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.level": "info",
  "claudeAutopilot.history.autoSave": false
}

Remote Development

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.healthCheckInterval": 60000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxMessageSize": 25000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxOutputSize": 50000,
  "claudeAutopilot.sleepPrevention.enabled": false
}

Workspace-Specific Configuration

Add settings to your workspace .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 500,
  "claudeAutopilot.session.skipPermissions": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.developmentMode": true
}

Environment Variables

Claude Autopilot also supports environment variables for certain settings:

# Enable development mode
export CLAUDE_LOOP_DEV_MODE=true

# Set logging level
export CLAUDE_LOOP_LOG_LEVEL=debug

# Disable sleep prevention
export CLAUDE_LOOP_SLEEP_PREVENTION=false

Configuration Validation

Claude Autopilot validates all configuration values:

Common Validation Errors

  • Out of range values: Numbers outside specified ranges
  • Invalid enum values: Unsupported string options
  • Type mismatches: Wrong data types (string instead of number)

Validation Messages

Configuration errors appear in:

  1. VS Code Problems panel
  2. Claude Autopilot output channel
  3. Extension host console (development mode)

Performance Tuning

For Large Queues

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxSize": 5000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.autoMaintenance": true,
  "claudeAutopilot.session.healthCheckInterval": 60000
}

For Memory Conservation

{
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxMessageSize": 25000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.maxOutputSize": 50000,
  "claudeAutopilot.history.maxRuns": 10
}

For Network-Constrained Environments

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.healthCheckInterval": 120000,
  "claudeAutopilot.queue.retentionHours": 6
}

Security Considerations

Trusted Environments Only

{
  "claudeAutopilot.session.skipPermissions": true
}

⚠️ Only enable in trusted development environments

Sensitive Data Handling

{
  "claudeAutopilot.logging.enabled": false,
  "claudeAutopilot.history.autoSave": false
}

Disable logging and history for sensitive projects

Troubleshooting Configuration

Reset to Defaults

  1. Open VS Code Settings
  2. Search for "Claude Autopilot"
  3. Click the gear icon next to each setting
  4. Select "Reset Setting"

Check Current Configuration

Enable development mode and check the Claude Autopilot output channel for current configuration values.

Configuration Conflicts

Workspace settings override user settings. Check both:

  • User settings: Global VS Code settings
  • Workspace settings: .vscode/settings.json

Advanced Configuration

For advanced use cases, see:

Configuration guide last updated: July 2025

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