Configuration

Editora keeps preferences and session state in a config folder. Most settings have a UI in the Settings window; everything underneath is plain text you can edit by hand.

Config directory

The folder is chosen by this precedence:

~ is your home directory; on Windows that is %USERPROFILE%, so the default folder is %USERPROFILE%\.editora.

Use --dev to run a development instance that never touches your everyday settings or session. The live path is shown in About Editora. See the command-line reference for all the flags.

Two editors on one config folder

A second launch normally goes to the editor that is already running on the same config folder, so one folder has one process. Starting another with --new-instance gives two processes that share the folder. That is safe: each one writes only what it changed, so settings, sessions, projects, notes, bookmarks, breakpoints, macros, the dictionary, and Local History from both are kept.

The second process shows a one-time notice in its status bar. A change made in one process appears in the other only after that one restarts, and when both change the same setting or entry, the one saved last wins. Settings sync runs only in the first process.

Files

Preferences, sessions, and list files are JSON. If settings.json is absent, Editora converts an existing settings.toml automatically. Once the JSON replacement has been written safely, the old file is renamed to settings.toml.migrated and kept, because the JSON file does not carry over its comments.

Safety copies

These folders and files hold copies Editora makes before it replaces something. They are created only when needed.

A config file that cannot be read is never silently replaced by defaults: the original is copied to <name>.corrupt.bak and the problem is reported in the status bar at startup.

Inside a project

Two files live in the project itself rather than in your config directory, so they can be committed and shared:

Only toolchain settings can be overridden this way; appearance, keymap and fonts stay personal, because checking out a repository should not rearrange somebody else’s editor. Project: Edit Project Settings… creates the first file with an example. An existing project TOML file remains readable and is converted when you open Edit Project Settings. See projects.

Preferences (settings.json)

Edit in the Settings window, or directly:

{
  "fontFamily": "JetBrains Mono",
  "fontSize": 14,
  "theme": "Editora Dark",
  "tabSize": 4,
  "autoSave": "afterDelay"
}

autoSave accepts off, afterDelay, or onFocusChange. Text zoom is stored separately as fontZoom (adjusted with C-= / C-- / C-0 or Ctrl+wheel) and isn’t shown in the Settings window.

Schema versioning

Each structured config file carries a schemaVersion; in Editora 0.21.0 settings.json is at version 117. Editora migrates older files forward automatically on read. A file written by a newer Editora than you’re running is backed up to <name>.v<n>.bak and defaults are loaded, so an older build never clobbers a newer config. When you return to the newer build, it puts that copy back, provided the file left in its place still holds only defaults.

Export and reset

• Export Configuration… (Settings → Advanced, or config.export) zips the active config folder into a timestamped archive in your home directory. .bak backups and installed plugins are included. Local History is left out, because it holds the text of your files rather than configuration. Runtime files are left out too: downloaded language servers and debug adapters, jdtls workspaces, the sync/ folder, the lock files, the MCP endpoint file with its live token, and the session log.
• Reset to Defaults (Settings → Advanced) resets every preference, including the keymap choice, which goes back to Emacs. Text zoom is kept, and your key rebinds stay stored with the keymap you made them in, so they apply again when you switch back to it. Before anything is reset, the current preferences are saved beside settings.json as settings.json.before-reset-<date>.bak, and the status bar names that file; if the copy cannot be written, nothing is reset. A Local History limit that is higher than the default is kept, so a reset never deletes revisions.

More

• Keymaps and rebinding: Keymaps & keybindings.
• Themes, fonts, and zoom: Themes & fonts.
• Snippets and templates: Snippets & templates.
• The same snippets, abbreviations, templates, and dictionary on every computer: Settings sync.

Full internals live in the README.