config.toml` reference¶

The user's static configuration file. TOML format. Read by both the CLI and MCP server at startup.

Optional — if ~/.chemigram/config.toml doesn't exist, defaults apply. Most photographers can run Chemigram without ever creating this file.

Where it lives¶

Default path: ~/.chemigram/config.toml (created by hand; no chemigram init command). The directory ~/.chemigram/ also holds tastes/ and (for users who maintain a personal pack) vocabulary/personal/.

What it controls¶

Three concerns live in config.toml today:

Vocabulary sources — which packs to load on session start
L1 bindings — camera+lens → vocabulary template lookups (per ADR-053)
Per-darktable-version overrides — rare; only needed when running multiple dt versions

Everything else (workspace location, configdir, taste-dir) is env-var-overridable; see cli-env-vars.md.

Schema¶

`[vocabulary]`¶

[vocabulary]
sources = [
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/starter",
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/packs/expressive-baseline",
    "~/.chemigram/vocabulary/personal",
    "~/private/chemigram-vocabulary-marko",
]

Field	Type	Default	Description
`sources`	`list[str]`	`["$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/starter"]`	Pack roots to load, in order. Later packs override earlier on name collisions (collisions still raise — there's no silent shadowing per `chemigram.core.vocab.VocabularyIndex`).

Path expansion: - ~ expands to $HOME - $CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL expands to the install root of the chemigram package (where vocabulary/starter/ ships) - Absolute paths are used as-is

If sources is omitted entirely, only the bundled starter pack loads.

`[[layers.L1.bindings]]`¶

[[layers.L1.bindings]]
make = "Canon"
model = "EOS R5"
lens_model = "RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM"
template = "lens_correct_full + denoise_auto"

[[layers.L1.bindings]]
make = "NIKON CORPORATION"
model = "NIKON D850"
lens_model = "AF-S Fisheye Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E ED"
template = "denoise_auto"   # NO lens correction; preserve fisheye character

L1 is the technical correction layer (lens correction, profiled denoise) — empty by default per ADR-016. Photographers who want auto-applied L1 bindings keyed to their actual gear add entries here.

Field	Type	Description
`make`	string	EXIF `Make`, exact match (case-sensitive per ADR-053).
`model`	string	EXIF `Model`, exact match.
`lens_model`	string	EXIF `LensModel`, exact match. (Not all cameras populate this; entries without a known lens require the photographer to set `lens_model = ""` and accept the binding fires for any lens on that body.)
`template`	string	A vocabulary entry name (or whitespace-separated list combined via `+`). Resolved against the loaded packs.

Match is exact-tuple. If a photographer has two D850s shot with the same lens but they want different L1 templates, that's not currently expressible — file an issue.

`[layers.L2]`¶

L2 (look establishment, e.g., underwater_pelagic_blue) is selected per-image via the brief's Tastes: declaration, not via config.toml. There's no [layers.L2] section.

`[layers.L3]`¶

L3 (the agent's vocabulary) is mutable in the loop, not pre-bound. There's no [layers.L3] section.

Per-darktable-version overrides¶

If you run multiple darktable versions (typical when comparing 4.x against 5.x for vocabulary calibration), you can shadow a pack per-version:

[[vocabulary.darktable_overrides]]
darktable_version = "4.6"
sources = ["$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/starter-dt46"]

This is rare. Most users don't need it.

Minimal config (typical photographer)¶

[vocabulary]
sources = [
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/starter",
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/packs/expressive-baseline",
    "~/.chemigram/vocabulary/personal",
]

L1-binding example (Canon shooter who wants auto-correction)¶

[vocabulary]
sources = [
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/starter",
    "$CHEMIGRAM_INSTALL/vocabulary/packs/expressive-baseline",
    "~/.chemigram/vocabulary/personal",
]

[[layers.L1.bindings]]
make = "Canon"
model = "EOS R5"
lens_model = "RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM"
template = "lens_correct_full + denoise_auto"

[[layers.L1.bindings]]
make = "Canon"
model = "EOS R5"
lens_model = "RF15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM"
template = "lens_correct_full + denoise_auto"

Note: the lens_correct_full and denoise_auto primitives don't ship in the starter or expressive-baseline packs — they're examples of what would live in your personal pack once you author them. L1 is opt-in evidence-driven per ADR-016.

Validation¶

There's no chemigram config validate verb (yet). To check that your config loads cleanly, run chemigram status:

chemigram status
# Pack sources are listed; if a path doesn't exist, the loader raises.

Or use the CLI's --json mode and inspect the loaded packs:

chemigram --json status | jq .vocabulary_packs

~/.chemigram/config.toml reference¶