Configuration

VellumFE uses TOML files for configuration, stored in ~/.vellum-fe/ (override the location with the VELLUM_FE_DIR environment variable or --data-dir).

Configuration Files

File	Purpose
config.toml	General settings (connection, UI, sound, TTS, web server)
layout.toml	Window positions, sizes, and properties (TUI)
keybinds.toml	Keyboard shortcuts
controller.toml	Gamepad binds, wheels, rumble, tuning (global + per-character)
highlights.toml	Text highlighting, sounds, squelch rules
colors.toml	Color palette, stream presets, spell colors
hotbars.toml	Hotkey bars (command buttons)
macros.toml	Macro buttons for the mobile web frontend

Directory Layout

~/.vellum-fe/
├── launcher.toml         # Launcher profiles (passwords live in the OS keyring)
├── global/               # Shared settings for all characters
│   ├── config.toml
│   ├── keybinds.toml
│   ├── controller.toml    # Gamepad binds/wheels/rumble/tuning (per-char override in profiles/)
│   ├── highlights.toml
│   ├── colors.toml
│   ├── hotbars.toml
│   ├── macros.toml
│   ├── sounds/           # Sound files for highlight alerts
│   ├── skins/            # GUI skins (one folder per skin: skin.toml + images)
│   └── images/           # Shared image pool (icons/, frames/, dolls/, compass/, backgrounds/)
├── layouts/              # Saved layouts (.savelayout / .loadlayout)
├── profiles/
│   └── CharName/         # Per-character overrides + auto-saved layout.toml
├── themes/               # Custom themes (.edittheme saves here)
└── vellum-fe.log

Files in profiles/<name>/ override the matching global file for that character.

Editing Configuration

Most things can be edited in-app without touching files:

Command	Opens
`.settings`	Settings editor — every registered setting, on both frontends
`.highlights`	Highlights browser
`.keybinds`	Keybinds browser
`.hotbars`	Hotbar editor
`.streams`	Stream routing editor
`.colors`	Color palette browser
`.uicolors` / `.spellcolors`	UI element / spell-circle colors
`.themes`	Theme browser
`.tts`	Text-to-speech controls (GUI: Settings > Speech)

If you edit files directly, apply changes without restarting:

.reload              # reload everything
.reload highlights   # or just one: highlights, keybinds, settings, colors, layout
.reloadmacros        # macros.toml (also pushes to connected phones)

How Saves Work

You shouldn’t need to care, but for the curious:

Sparse saves — user files only contain what you’ve changed from the shipped defaults, with your comments preserved. Settings you never touched pick up new defaults automatically on upgrade.
Atomic writes with backups — every save writes a temp file and swaps it in, keeping a .bak of the previous version. A crash mid-save can’t corrupt your config.
Additive default refresh — new shipped highlights/keybinds/hotbars appear after an upgrade, but ones you deleted stay deleted (a .defaults-seen.toml sidecar remembers what you’ve already been given).

Resetting to Defaults

Delete a configuration file and it is recreated with defaults on next launch:

rm ~/.vellum-fe/global/keybinds.toml

Or delete the entire directory for a full reset. (Individual shipped entries you deleted from collection files like highlights stay deleted across upgrades — deleting the whole file is the reset switch.)