Configuration

All settings are under the sidecar.* prefix. Open VS Code settings (Cmd+, / Ctrl+,) and search for “sidecar”.

Connection

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.baseUrl	string	http://localhost:11434	API base URL. Ollama: http://localhost:11434, Anthropic: https://api.anthropic.com
sidecar.apiKey	string	ollama	API key. Ignored for local Ollama, required for Anthropic
sidecar.model	string	qwen3-coder:30b	Model for chat (e.g., qwen3-coder, claude-sonnet-4-6)
sidecar.systemPrompt	string	""	Custom system prompt appended to the default

Agent behavior

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.agentMode	enum	cautious	Approval mode: cautious, autonomous, manual
sidecar.agentMaxIterations	number	25	Max agent loop iterations
sidecar.agentMaxTokens	number	100000	Max tokens per agent run
sidecar.planMode	boolean	false	Generate a plan for approval before executing tools
sidecar.toolPermissions	object	{}	Per-tool overrides: { "tool_name": "allow" \| "deny" \| "ask" }

Context

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.includeWorkspace	boolean	true	Include workspace files in context
sidecar.includeActiveFile	boolean	true	Include the currently active file
sidecar.filePatterns	array	["**/*.ts", ...]	Glob patterns for workspace context (25+ languages)
sidecar.maxFiles	number	10	Max files to include in workspace context

Inline completions

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.enableInlineCompletions	boolean	false	Enable Copilot-like autocomplete
sidecar.completionModel	string	""	Model for completions (empty = use chat model)
sidecar.completionMaxTokens	number	256	Max tokens per completion
sidecar.completionDebounceMs	number	300	Minimum ms between completion requests

Debugging & reasoning

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.verboseMode	boolean	false	Show system prompt, iteration summaries, and tool selection context
sidecar.expandThinking	boolean	false	Show model reasoning blocks expanded by default

Extensibility

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sidecar.mcpServers	object	{}	MCP server connections. See MCP Servers
sidecar.hooks	object	{}	Pre/post tool execution hooks. See Hooks
sidecar.eventHooks	object	{}	Event-based hooks (onSave, onCreate, onDelete)
sidecar.scheduledTasks	array	[]	Recurring agent tasks. See Scheduled Tasks
sidecar.customTools	array	[]	Custom shell command tools. See Custom Tools

Custom tools example

"sidecar.customTools": [
  {
    "name": "deploy",
    "description": "Deploy the application to staging",
    "command": "npm run deploy:staging"
  }
]

Custom tools appear alongside built-in tools and go through the same approval flow.