Configuration files

Everything lives in one folder: ~/.the-atlas/ (on Windows %USERPROFILE%\.the-atlas\). Set ATLAS_HOME to use another folder. Nothing is stored anywhere else, except the Claude Code settings change made by atlas statusline --install claude.

Path	Contents
`config.json`	Keys, default provider and models, fallback order, language, proxy token
`sessions/<id>.json`	Saved chats, one file each
`limits.json`	Today’s request counters per provider
`mcp.json`	MCP servers
`voice.json`	Saved microphone
`agents.conf`	Your own agents, added to the catalog
`agents-state.json`	Agent usage counts, for sorting the picker
`cache/models-<provider>.json`	Model lists, cached for 6 hours

Files that can hold secrets (config.json, mcp.json) are written with mode 600 on macOS and Linux. On Windows they inherit your user profile’s permissions.

config.json

Written by atlas connect, atlas keys, atlas use, atlas lang, /model and similar. You can also edit it by hand while The Atlas is not running.

{
  "keys": { "openrouter": "sk-or-...", "groq": "gsk_..." },
  "baseURLs": { "omniroute": "https://gw.example.com/v1" },
  "models": { "groq": "llama-3.3-70b-versatile" },
  "order": ["openrouter", "gemini", "groq", "cerebras", "mistral", "github", "nvidia", "sambanova", "omniroute", "ollama"],
  "provider": "auto",
  "lang": "en",
  "system": "You are a concise assistant.",
  "serveToken": "atlas-..."
}

Field	Meaning
`keys`	API key per provider ID. Sent only to that provider
`baseURLs`	Override a provider’s API URL, e.g. a remote OmniRoute or Ollama on another host
`models`	Default model per provider
`order`	Provider order for auto fallback. Providers not listed are tried after these
`provider`	Selected provider, or `auto`
`lang`	Interface language: `uz`, `ru` or `en`. Default `uz`
`system`	Optional custom system prompt. Replaces the built-in “You are Atlas” prompt
`serveToken`	Token for `atlas serve`, created on first use

If the file is not valid JSON, The Atlas stops with “Config is corrupted” and the path. Fix or delete the file.

sessions/

Each chat is saved after every answer as <date>-<random>.json, with its folder, title, model and messages. /history lists them; /export turns one into Markdown. Delete files to forget chats.

limits.json

Request counters and the last rate-limit numbers seen per provider. Resets each day (UTC). Safe to delete. See Free models.

mcp.json

MCP servers in Claude Desktop’s mcpServers format. Managed with atlas mcp. See MCP servers.

voice.json

The microphone chosen with atlas voice device. Delete it, or run atlas voice device auto, to use the system default.

agents.conf

Your own agents, one per line, in the format of the bundled catalog:

NAME|BINARY|COMMAND|INSTALL|DESCRIPTION|CATEGORY|AUTH|URL|WIN_INSTALL

Lines starting with # are comments. Agents are added to the bundled list; a name that already exists in the bundled catalog is ignored. See AI agents launcher.

cache/

Model lists fetched from providers, refreshed after 6 hours. Safe to delete at any time.