Settings
Account & appearance
Profile, theme, the optional API key, tool health, and notifications.
This group of settings is about you and your machine: who you are signed in as, how the app looks, whether Operon can talk to an Anthropic API directly for smarter features, whether your coding tools are reachable, and which desktop notifications you want. None of it is required to use Operon — the app runs fully without an account and without an API key.
Profile
The Profile section shows the account you are signed in with — your name, email, avatar, and current plan — when you have signed in. If you are running Operon in local mode with no account, this section simply invites you to sign in. There is nothing to manage here in local mode.
Plans and billing are handled on the web. The Manage Plan control opens the billing surface rather than changing anything in the desktop app.
Note
Plan comparisons live on the public pricing page at /pricing — no sign-in needed. To change or manage your own subscription, open /billing in the web dashboard, which requires signing in. This page does not repeat prices; they live in one place so they stay accurate.
Appearance
Appearance controls the visual theme. Operon ships a light theme and a dark theme; pick whichever suits your environment. The choice applies immediately and is remembered on this machine.
AI Config
AI Config is where you can optionally paste an Anthropic API key. Operon works without one: by default its intelligence features run through the AI coding tool you already have installed. Adding a key lets Operon call the Anthropic API directly for those features instead — which can make them faster and available even when a CLI tool is not driving the work.
The intelligence features that benefit from a key include task extraction, prompt improvement, plan decomposition, and trace intelligence. When no key is present, these fall back to your CLI tool where possible.
Important
Your API key is stored securely in your operating system keychain — not in plaintext on disk, and never synced to the cloud. Treat it like any other secret: it is billable against your own Anthropic account.
Add an API key
- 1
Open AI Config
In Settings, choose AI Config from the left navigation.
- 2
Paste your key
Paste your Anthropic API key (it starts with sk-ant-) into the Anthropic API Key field. Use the eye toggle to confirm you pasted it correctly.
- 3
Save
Click Save. The key is written to your OS keychain. The AI Features list updates to show which capabilities are now available.
AI Config also holds a session cost alert threshold. Set a dollar amount and Operon notifies you when a running session’s accumulated cost passes it — a simple guardrail against a session quietly getting expensive.
Tools & Health
Tools & Health shows which AI coding tools Operon detected on your PATH — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and Aider — and whether each is enabled. Below that, a set of system health checks report on the pieces Operon depends on, such as the hook receiver, the terminal daemon, tool binaries, and the local database.
Each check reports one of three states, and some offer a one-click fix when something is wrong.
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| OK | The check passed. Nothing to do. |
| Warning | Something is degraded but usable. Worth a look. |
| Error | Something needs attention. A Fix button appears when the issue is repairable. |
Check tool health
- 1
Open Tools & Health
In Settings, choose Tools & Health. Operon shows the tools it found and the last health result.
- 2
Run a check
Click Run check to re-scan tools and re-run every health check on demand.
- 3
Repair if needed
If a check reports an error and offers a Fix button, click it to let Operon attempt a repair, then run the check again to confirm.
Tip
Installed a new AI tool after your first run? Come back to Tools & Health and click Run check so Operon picks it up.
Notifications
Operon can raise a desktop notification when a session needs you — for example when an agent is waiting on input, is blocked, has hit an error, or has finished. Notifications are opt-in and are suppressed for the session you are actively watching, so you are only pinged about work happening in the background. Clicking a notification jumps you back to the session it is about.