Configuration

nsq works without any setup. To change something, edit ~/.neurosquad-cli/config.json (create it if it is not there). Every field is optional; a missing or broken file means the defaults.


{
  "logos": "auto",
  "notifications": true,
  "sound": true,
  "detachKey": "Ctrl+]",
  "dictation": {
    "enabled": true,
    "hotkey": "CommandOrControl+Shift+Space",
    "mode": "toggle",
    "model": "parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3"
  }
}

Setting	Values	Default
`logos`	`auto`, `images` (real logos where the terminal can draw images), `glyphs` (small coloured badges), `neutral` (no brand colours)	`auto`
`notifications`	desktop notifications — Notifications	`true`
`sound`	a sound with each notification	`true`
`detachKey`	the key that leaves a full-screen agent, `Ctrl+<key>`	`Ctrl+]`
`dictation.enabled`	dictation on or off — Dictation	on
`dictation.hotkey`	the global hotkey, e.g. `F9`, `Ctrl+Alt+Space`; `""` for none	`CommandOrControl+Shift+Space`
`dictation.mode`	`hold` (push to talk) or `toggle`; unset = tap to toggle, hold to talk	unset
`dictation.model`	`parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3` or `whisper-large-v3-turbo`	`parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v3`

Phone access is switched with nsq phone on|off and remembered in the same file.

Settings are read when the dashboard and the daemon start: after a change, reopen the dashboard, and for the daemon’s own settings (notifications, sound) run nsq down then nsq up.

Environment variables

Variable	What it does
`NSQ_HOME`	Keep nsq’s data somewhere other than `~/.neurosquad-cli` (a separate home gets its own daemon)
`OPENROUTER_API_KEY`	The OpenRouter key, where there is no OS keyring
`NSQ_LOGOS`	`images`, `glyphs` or `none` — like `logos` above
`NSQ_IMAGES=0`	Never draw images in the terminal
`NSQ_COLOR`	`truecolor`, `256`, `16` or `none` — override the detected colours
`NO_COLOR`	The standard “no colour” switch, respected
`NSQ_GLYPHS`	`ascii` or `unicode` — override the detected character set
`NSQ_AMBIGUOUS_WIDE=1`	For terminals that draw ambiguous-width characters double wide (some CJK setups)
`NSQ_NO_ANIMATION=1`	No animations
`NSQ_ANIMATION=1`	Animations even over SSH (off there by default)
`NSQ_NO_NOTIFY=1`	No desktop notifications (set it where the daemon starts)
`NSQ_NO_BROWSER=1`	`nsq login` prints the link instead of opening a browser

Where nsq keeps things

Everything is in ~/.neurosquad-cli (or NSQ_HOME):


`agents.json`	your agents
`config.json`	the settings above
`daemon.log`	the daemon’s log — the first place to look when something goes wrong
`layers/`	the per-agent settings nsq passes to each CLI
`worktrees/`	agents’ worktrees
`models/`	the dictation model

Secrets — the OpenRouter key and the optional account sign-in — are in the OS keyring, not in this folder.