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Configuration Guide

Complete guide to configuring tg-note.

Configuration Sources

tg-note supports multiple configuration sources with the following priority (highest to lowest):

  1. Environment Variables - Highest priority
  2. .env file - For credentials and overrides
  3. config.yaml - Base configuration
  4. Default values - Built-in defaults

Best Practice

  • Store sensitive data (tokens, API keys) in .env
  • Store general settings in config.yaml
  • Use environment variables for deployment overrides

Configuration Files

config.yaml

Main configuration file for non-sensitive settings.

# Knowledge Base Settings
KB_PATH: ./knowledge_base
KB_GIT_ENABLED: true
KB_GIT_AUTO_PUSH: true
KB_GIT_REMOTE: origin
KB_GIT_BRANCH: main

# Agent Configuration
AGENT_TYPE: "qwen_code_cli"  # stub, autonomous, qwen_code_cli
AGENT_MODEL: "qwen-max"
AGENT_TIMEOUT: 300
AGENT_ENABLE_WEB_SEARCH: true
AGENT_ENABLE_GIT: true
AGENT_ENABLE_GITHUB: true
AGENT_ENABLE_SHELL: false

# Processing Settings
MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT: 30
PROCESSED_LOG_PATH: ./data/processed.json

# Logging Settings
LOG_LEVEL: INFO  # DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL
LOG_FILE: ./logs/bot.log

# Security
ALLOWED_USER_IDS: ""  # Comma-separated, empty = all allowed

.env File

Credentials and sensitive data (never commit to git!).

# Required
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_bot_token_here

# Optional API Keys
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.openai.com/v1  # Optional, for custom endpoints
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
QWEN_API_KEY=your_qwen_key

# GitHub Integration
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_...

Configuration Options

Knowledge Base Settings

KB_PATH

  • Type: Path
  • Default: ./knowledge_base
  • Description: Path to your knowledge base directory
  • Example: /path/to/my-kb

KB_GIT_ENABLED

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Enable Git operations
  • Example: true or false

KB_GIT_AUTO_PUSH

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Automatically push changes to remote
  • Example: true or false

KB_GIT_REMOTE

  • Type: String
  • Default: origin
  • Description: Git remote name
  • Example: origin

KB_GIT_BRANCH

  • Type: String
  • Default: main
  • Description: Git branch to use
  • Example: main or master

Agent Settings

AGENT_TYPE

  • Type: String
  • Default: stub
  • Options: stub, autonomous, qwen_code_cli
  • Description: Agent implementation to use
  • Recommendation: Use qwen_code_cli for production, or autonomous for OpenAI-compatible APIs

AGENT_MODEL

  • Type: String
  • Default: qwen-max
  • Description: AI model to use
  • Examples: qwen-max, qwen-turbo, gpt-4

AGENT_QWEN_CLI_PATH

  • Type: String
  • Default: qwen
  • Description: Path to qwen CLI executable
  • Examples: qwen, /usr/local/bin/qwen, ./bin/qwen

AGENT_INSTRUCTION

  • Type: String (Optional)
  • Default: None
  • Description: Custom instruction for the agent
  • Example: "Always be concise and use bullet points"

AGENT_TIMEOUT

  • Type: Integer (seconds)
  • Default: 300
  • Description: Maximum time for agent processing
  • Example: 600 (10 minutes)
  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Allow web search capability
  • Example: true or false

AGENT_ENABLE_GIT

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Allow Git operations
  • Example: true or false

AGENT_ENABLE_GITHUB

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Allow GitHub API access
  • Example: true or false

AGENT_ENABLE_SHELL

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: false
  • Description: Allow shell command execution
  • Warning: ⚠️ Security risk, use with caution
  • Example: false

AGENT_ENABLE_FILE_MANAGEMENT

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Enable file operations (create, edit, delete, move files)
  • Example: true or false

AGENT_ENABLE_FOLDER_MANAGEMENT

  • Type: Boolean
  • Default: true
  • Description: Enable folder operations (create, delete, move folders)
  • Example: true or false

Processing Settings

MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT

  • Type: Integer (seconds)
  • Default: 30
  • Description: Wait time before processing grouped messages
  • Example: 60 (1 minute)

PROCESSED_LOG_PATH

  • Type: Path
  • Default: ./data/processed.json
  • Description: Path to processing tracker database
  • Example: ./data/tracker.json

Logging Settings

LOG_LEVEL

  • Type: String
  • Default: INFO
  • Options: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL
  • Description: Logging verbosity level
  • Example: DEBUG for development

LOG_FILE

  • Type: Path
  • Default: ./logs/bot.log
  • Description: Path to log file
  • Example: ./logs/tg-note.log

Security Settings

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: Yes
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: Telegram bot authentication token
  • Example: 1234567890:ABCdefGHIjklMNOpqrsTUVwxyz

ALLOWED_USER_IDS

  • Type: String (comma-separated)
  • Default: "" (all users allowed)
  • Description: Whitelist of allowed Telegram user IDs
  • Example: 12345678,87654321

OPENAI_API_KEY

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: No
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: OpenAI API key for autonomous agent
  • Example: sk-...

OPENAI_BASE_URL

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: No
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: OpenAI API base URL for custom endpoints
  • Example: https://api.openai.com/v1

QWEN_API_KEY

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: No
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: Qwen API key (for custom integrations)
  • Example: your_qwen_key

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: No
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: Anthropic API key (future use)
  • Example: sk-ant-...

GITHUB_TOKEN

  • Type: String (Secret)
  • Required: No
  • Source: .env or environment variable only
  • Description: GitHub personal access token for API operations
  • Example: ghp_...

Configuration Examples

Development Setup

config.yaml
# Development configuration
KB_PATH: ./dev-kb
KB_GIT_ENABLED: true
KB_GIT_AUTO_PUSH: false  # Manual push for dev

AGENT_TYPE: "stub"  # Fast testing
AGENT_TIMEOUT: 60

MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT: 10  # Quick testing

LOG_LEVEL: DEBUG
LOG_FILE: ./logs/dev.log

ALLOWED_USER_IDS: "your_user_id"  # Only you

Production Setup

config.yaml
# Production configuration
KB_PATH: /var/kb/production
KB_GIT_ENABLED: true
KB_GIT_AUTO_PUSH: true
KB_GIT_REMOTE: origin
KB_GIT_BRANCH: main

AGENT_TYPE: "qwen_code_cli"
AGENT_MODEL: "qwen-max"
AGENT_TIMEOUT: 300
AGENT_ENABLE_WEB_SEARCH: true
AGENT_ENABLE_GIT: true
AGENT_ENABLE_GITHUB: true
AGENT_ENABLE_SHELL: false
AGENT_ENABLE_FILE_MANAGEMENT: true
AGENT_ENABLE_FOLDER_MANAGEMENT: true

MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT: 30
PROCESSED_LOG_PATH: /var/data/processed.json

LOG_LEVEL: INFO
LOG_FILE: /var/log/tg-note/bot.log

ALLOWED_USER_IDS: ""  # Allow all authenticated users

Testing Setup

config.yaml
# Testing configuration
KB_PATH: ./test-kb
KB_GIT_ENABLED: false  # No git for tests

AGENT_TYPE: "stub"
AGENT_TIMEOUT: 30

MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT: 5

LOG_LEVEL: WARNING  # Reduce noise
LOG_FILE: ./logs/test.log

ALLOWED_USER_IDS: "123"  # Test user only

Environment-Specific Configuration

Using Environment Variables

Override any setting using environment variables:

export MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT=120
export LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
export AGENT_TYPE=qwen_code_cli

python main.py

Docker Environment

ENV TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=your_token
ENV KB_PATH=/app/kb
ENV LOG_LEVEL=INFO
ENV AGENT_TYPE=qwen_code_cli

Configuration Validation

Check Current Configuration

poetry run python -c "from config import settings; print(settings)"

Validate Configuration

from config import settings

errors = settings.validate()
if errors:
    print(f"Configuration errors: {errors}")
else:
    print("Configuration is valid!")

Troubleshooting

Setting Not Applied

Check the priority order:

  1. Environment variable set? → Takes precedence
  2. Value in .env? → Overrides config.yaml
  3. Value in config.yaml? → Uses this
  4. Falls back to default
# Check environment variable
echo $MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT

# Check .env file
cat .env | grep MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT

# Check config.yaml
cat config.yaml | grep MESSAGE_GROUP_TIMEOUT

YAML Syntax Error

Validate YAML syntax:

python -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('config.yaml'))"

Permission Issues

Check file permissions:

ls -la config.yaml .env
chmod 600 .env  # Secure credentials
chmod 644 config.yaml

See Also