Config
Using the OpenCode JSON config.
You can configure OpenCode using a JSON config file.
Format
OpenCode supports both JSON and JSONC (JSON with Comments) formats.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", // Theme configuration "theme": "opencode", "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "autoupdate": true,}Locations
You can place your config in a couple of different locations and they have a different order of precedence.
Global
Place your global OpenCode config in ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json. You’ll want to use the global config for things like themes, providers, or keybinds.
Per project
You can also add a opencode.json in your project. It takes precedence over the global config. This is useful for configuring providers or modes specific to your project.
When OpenCode starts up, it looks for a config file in the current directory or traverse up to the nearest Git directory.
This is also safe to be checked into Git and uses the same schema as the global one.
Custom path
You can also specify a custom config file path using the OPENCODE_CONFIG environment variable. This takes precedence over the global and project configs.
export OPENCODE_CONFIG=/path/to/my/custom-config.jsonopencode run "Hello world"Custom directory
You can specify a custom config directory using the OPENCODE_CONFIG_DIR
environment variable. This directory will be searched for agents, commands,
modes, and plugins just like the standard .opencode directory, and should
follow the same structure.
export OPENCODE_CONFIG_DIR=/path/to/my/config-directoryopencode run "Hello world"Note: The custom directory is loaded after the global config and .opencode directories, so it can override their settings.
Schema
The config file has a schema that’s defined in opencode.ai/config.json.
Your editor should be able to validate and autocomplete based on the schema.
TUI
You can configure TUI-specific settings through the tui option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "tui": { "scroll_speed": 3 }}Learn more about using the TUI here.
Tools
You can manage the tools an LLM can use through the tools option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "tools": { "write": false, "bash": false }}Models
You can configure the providers and models you want to use in your OpenCode config through the provider, model and small_model options.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "provider": {}, "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "small_model": "anthropic/claude-3-5-haiku-20241022"}The small_model option configures a separate model for lightweight tasks like title generation. By default, OpenCode tries to use a cheaper model if one is available from your provider, otherwise it falls back to your main model.
You can also configure local models. Learn more.
Themes
You can configure the theme you want to use in your OpenCode config through the theme option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "theme": ""}Agents
You can configure specialized agents for specific tasks through the agent option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "agent": { "code-reviewer": { "description": "Reviews code for best practices and potential issues", "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514", "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, }, }, },}You can also define agents using markdown files in ~/.config/opencode/agent/ or .opencode/agent/. Learn more here.
Sharing
You can configure the share feature through the share option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "share": "manual"}This takes:
"manual"- Allow manual sharing via commands (default)"auto"- Automatically share new conversations"disabled"- Disable sharing entirely
By default, sharing is set to manual mode where you need to explicitly share conversations using the /share command.
Commands
You can configure custom commands for repetitive tasks through the command option.
{ "$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-3-5-sonnet-20241022", }, "component": { "template": "Create a new React component named $ARGUMENTS with TypeScript support.\nInclude proper typing and basic structure.", "description": "Create a new component", }, },}You can also define commands using markdown files in ~/.config/opencode/command/ or .opencode/command/. Learn more here.
Keybinds
You can customize your keybinds through the keybinds option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "keybinds": {}}Autoupdate
OpenCode will automatically download any new updates when it starts up. You can disable this with the autoupdate option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "autoupdate": false}Formatters
You can configure code formatters through the formatter option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "formatter": { "prettier": { "disabled": true }, "custom-prettier": { "command": ["npx", "prettier", "--write", "$FILE"], "environment": { "NODE_ENV": "development" }, "extensions": [".js", ".ts", ".jsx", ".tsx"] } }}Learn more about formatters here.
Permissions
By default, opencode allows all operations without requiring explicit approval. You can change this using the permission option.
For example, to ensure that the edit and bash tools require user approval:
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "permission": { "edit": "ask", "bash": "ask" }}Learn more about permissions here.
MCP servers
You can configure MCP servers you want to use through the mcp option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "mcp": {}}Instructions
You can configure the instructions for the model you’re using through the instructions option.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "instructions": ["CONTRIBUTING.md", "docs/guidelines.md", ".cursor/rules/*.md"]}This takes an array of paths and glob patterns to instruction files. Learn more about rules here.
Disabled providers
You can disable providers that are loaded automatically through the disabled_providers option. This is useful when you want to prevent certain providers from being loaded even if their credentials are available.
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "disabled_providers": ["openai", "gemini"]}The disabled_providers option accepts an array of provider IDs. When a provider is disabled:
- It won’t be loaded even if environment variables are set.
- It won’t be loaded even if API keys are configured through
opencode auth login. - The provider’s models won’t appear in the model selection list.
Variables
You can use variable substitution in your config files to reference environment variables and file contents.
Env vars
Use {env:VARIABLE_NAME} to substitute environment variables:
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "model": "{env:OPENCODE_MODEL}", "provider": { "anthropic": { "models": {}, "options": { "apiKey": "{env:ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}" } } }}If the environment variable is not set, it will be replaced with an empty string.
Files
Use {file:path/to/file} to substitute the contents of a file:
{ "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json", "instructions": ["./custom-instructions.md"], "provider": { "openai": { "options": { "apiKey": "{file:~/.secrets/openai-key}" } } }}File paths can be:
- Relative to the config file directory
- Or absolute paths starting with
/or~
These are useful for:
- Keeping sensitive data like API keys in separate files.
- Including large instruction files without cluttering your config.
- Sharing common configuration snippets across multiple config files.