Settings and keys

Settings opens as a full page over the window. Back to app (at the top of the sidebar) or Esc returns to the chat.

Pages

Check for Updates… is also in the app menu on macOS, and the Help menu on Windows and Linux.

API keys are encrypted with the OS keychain and stay in the app's main process.

Saving and undo

• No Save button. A switch, a choice, or a reorder saves at once; a text field saves when you leave it (so a half-typed pattern is never saved).
• Undo. The title bar shows when a change is saved and offers Undo for the last one.
• Modified sections. A section whose preferences differ from the defaults is marked Modified, with a Reset beside it.

Your preferences (General) exports them to a file, imports one, or resets them all:

• Importing first says what it replaces, and calls out any rules that allow calls or hooks that run commands.
• Exports leave out providers, API keys, MCP servers, and folders.
• A reset keeps those, plus your permission rules, hooks, and approval mode (whose fresh-install default depends on whether this machine's sandbox works).

Searching settings

The search box above the pages is focused when Settings opens (Cmd+F or Ctrl+F, or /, jumps back to it). It finds a setting from any page by:

• its name or description
• a common synonym ("proxy" finds Sandbox egress, "dark mode" finds Appearance)
• a value you entered (a model id, an MCP server, a rule pattern)

Results stay editable in place, the nav shows how many each page has, and Esc clears the search.

When a key won't save

If the OS keychain is unavailable, Settings (and the Get started checklist's Connect panel) says how to fix it and offers Restart Houston.

• macOS: this usually means the Keychain prompt was denied. macOS only asks again after a restart, so restart and choose Always Allow.
• Linux: unlock or install a keyring (such as GNOME Keyring or KWallet), then restart.