Configuration

Showtail's project settings live in .showtail/config.json, written at track time and shared (committed) across the team. Machine-local state — the active session and author — lives separately in .showtail/state.json, which is git-ignored. See Data layout for the full file tree.

config.json

{
  "version": 1,
  "name": "Week 5 Parser",
  "anchor": "/abs/path/to/project",
  "anchorKind": "git",
  "settings": {
    "git": true,
    "captureAiOutput": true,
    "captureCode": true,
    "idleTimeoutMinutes": 60,
    "redact": { "enabled": true, "secrets": true, "pii": true }
  }
}

Key	Meaning
version	Showtail config schema version.
name	Project name shown in report titles. Set with showtail track --project <name>.
anchor	Absolute path the trail is rooted at.
anchorKind	Whether anchor was chosen from the git repo root (git) or the working dir (cwd).
settings.git	Try to capture the git commit hash on each event.
settings.captureAiOutput	Capture AI text responses (Stop hook / imports). Default on.
settings.captureCode	Capture AI-suggested code/diffs alongside edits. Default on.
settings.idleTimeoutMinutes	Minutes of inactivity after which an open session auto-closes (stamped at its last event). Defaults to 60.
settings.redact	Sensitive-data redaction settings — see below.

Redaction

Showtail makes a best-effort pass to scrub secrets and personal data from captured text before it is written to disk. It is a safety net, not a guarantee — still keep secrets out of your prompts. Tune it under settings.redact in config.json:

"redact": {
  "enabled": true,
  "secrets": true,
  "pii": true,
  "custom": ["MY-INTERNAL-[A-Z0-9]{8}"],
  "allow": ["sk-EXAMPLE-tutorial-key"]
}

Key	Meaning
enabled	Master switch. Default on.
secrets	Redact provider keys, private keys, tokens, connection strings, passwords. Default on.
pii	Redact email / phone / credit-card / SSN. Default on.
custom	Extra regex sources (strings) to also redact.
allow	Literal substrings that must never be redacted (e.g. tutorial sample keys).

The report notes how many items were scrubbed. See Privacy & redaction for the principles behind this.

Per-tool capture settings

Each integration manages its own connection state outside config.json:

• Claude Code / Codex hooks are written into the tool's own settings (.claude/settings.json, Codex config.toml). Codex only fires hooks when features.hooks = true; showtail connect codex offers to set it. Turn capture off per tool with showtail disconnect <tool>.
• Managed instruction blocks (AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, the Claude skill) carry a fingerprint. Showtail refreshes a block you haven't touched and leaves an edited one alone; showtail status flags when an update is available, and showtail connect <tool> --force takes the latest.
• Install with --no-hooks to add only the instructions/skill, with no automatic hooks.

See the integration guides for the specifics of each tool.