Configuration

Straight Jacket uses layered configuration with clear precedence:

CLI flags  >  per-repo config  >  global config  >  built-in defaults

Global Config

Located at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sj/config.json (typically ~/.config/sj/config.json):

{
  "defaultAgent": "claude",
  "defaultPreset": "full-stack",
  "gitConfigSync": true,
  "sshForwarding": false,
  "githubCli": false,
  "autoUpdate": false
}

Per-Repo Config

Generate a per-repo config with all defaults pre-filled:

sj repo-config

This creates .sj/config.json in your project root. Override any setting per-project — for example, use a different preset for a Rust project without changing your global default.

Use --force to overwrite an existing config:

sj repo-config --force

Config Options

Option	Default	Description
defaultAgent	"claude"	Agent to launch with bare sj
defaultPreset	"full-stack"	Preset to use when not specified
autoUpdate	false	Update agent binaries before each launch
gitConfigSync	true	Sync host git config into the container
sshForwarding	false	Forward SSH agent for key-based auth and signing
githubCli	false	Prompt for gh auth if not authenticated
codexConfigSync	false	Sync Codex config and sessions
preRunScripts	[]	Shell scripts to run before agent launch

Directory Structure

~/.config/sj/
├── config.json              # Global config
├── presets/                  # User-defined presets
│   └── <name>/preset.json
├── units/                   # User-defined units
│   └── <name>/unit.json
└── harness-config/          # Per-agent sandboxed home directories
    ├── claude/
    └── codex/

Per-repo:

your-project/
└── .sj/
    ├── config.json           # Per-repo config overrides
    ├── presets/               # Per-repo custom presets
    └── units/                 # Per-repo custom units