Settings, page by page

Settings is a window of its own. Open it with ⌘, or Canto › Settings…; it opens on the page you were on last. ⌘W closes it.

Finding a setting#

The Settings search field finds pages, rows and the lines inside panels (such as Usage data, Back up now or a shortcut), forgives a typo, and lands on the line with keyboard focus. ↑ and ↓ move through the sidebar. Settings are in ⌘K too: type "palette" or "dark mode" there and Canto opens the row.

A row that depends on another switch is greyed out and says which one. Rows marked advanced sit under an Advanced disclosure at the end of their page.

The pages, in the sidebar's order:

Each section below lists the page's rows as Canto 1.0 beta 3 has them, with their defaults.

General#

Home and Sparks, daily notes and the vault graph. Sparks are on, in today's daily note and in the menu bar; daily notes are titled YYYY-MM-DD and follow your Mac's time zone. See Capture, daily notes and templates and Related notes and the graph.

Home and Sparks#

Setting	What it does	Default
Sparks	One note from your past each day, on Home. Found on this Mac, without AI.	On
In today’s daily note	Where the template has {{spark}}. Needs “Sparks” on.	On
In the menu bar	Needs “Sparks” on.	On

Daily notes#

Setting	What it does	Default
Title	How a daily note is named.
Time zone	Which day “today” is.
Template	What a new daily note starts with. {{date}}, {{day}}, {{isoWeek}} and {{spark}} are filled in.

Vault graph#

What a new graph shows. Changes you make in the graph are kept here too.

Setting	What it does	Default
What a new graph shows

More about Sparks (under ▸ Advanced)#

Setting	What it does	Default
Kinds of sparks	Needs “Sparks” on.
Badge the Dock icon	While today’s spark is unopened. Needs “Sparks” on.	Off
Hint at tomorrow’s kind	Needs “Sparks” on.	On
Sparks you hid	Show the ones you dismissed or snoozed again.

Appearance#

Light or dark (Auto follows macOS), the palette, Glass (Full, Subtle or Off), Density (Compact or Comfortable), the note font and text size. Canto's own palette is free; Mist, Sepia and Graphite come with Pro. Reduce motion and Reduce transparency follow macOS: turn them on in System Settings › Accessibility › Display, and with Reduce transparency on, Glass is Off everywhere.

Setting	What it does	Default
Light or dark	Auto follows macOS.	Auto (or Light, Dark)
Palette	Canto’s colours. Mist, Sepia and Graphite come with Canto Pro.
Glass	Full lets the desktop show through the sidebar; Off is solid.	Full (or Subtle, Off)
Density	Row height and spacing in lists and the sidebar.	Compact (or Comfortable)

Text#

Setting	What it does	Default
Note font
Text size	The size of the text in notes.	Default (or Small, Large)

Motion and transparency#

Canto follows macOS. Turn these on in System Settings › Accessibility › Display.

Setting	What it does	Default
Reduce motion
Reduce transparency	When it is on, Glass is Off everywhere.

Writing#

Spell checking, the citation style AI writing uses (Numbered [1] unless you change it), focused AI edits for a selection, and note templates. See Writing notes.

Editor#

Setting	What it does	Default
Check spelling while typing

Citations#

Setting	What it does	Default
Citation style	How AI writing cites sources. You can also ask for a style in a request.	Numbered [1] (or Author (p. 2), Footnotes)
Place unused sources	When a research note is saved, attach sources that were found but not cited to the sentences they support. Each one is checked first. Experimental.	Off

AI edits in notes#

Setting	What it does	Default
Focused edits for a selection	A quick edit of the selected text that reads only the selection and what is around it. Beta.	Off
Model for focused edits	A smaller model on this Mac is faster; Canto never switches to a bigger or cloud model on its own. Needs “Focused edits for a selection” on.	The chat model (or A smaller one)

Templates#

Setting	What it does	Default
Note templates	Start a note from a template with ⌘⌥N. The daily note’s template is in General.

Keyboard#

The seven shortcuts you can change, Quick capture's shortcut (⌥Space), and every other shortcut by group. To change one, click it and type the new keys in Mac symbols; a shortcut that's taken is offered as a swap. Help › Keyboard Shortcuts (⌘/) opens this page. See Keyboard shortcuts.

Shortcuts you can change#

Setting	What it does	Default
Shortcuts you can change
Ask about this note	A line inside the panel above. Opens Ask beside the note, ready to type.
Ask about the selection	A line inside the panel above. Opens Ask beside the note with the selected text quoted.
Quote the selection in Ask	A line inside the panel above. Adds the selected text to what you are writing in Ask.
Show or hide Ask	A line inside the panel above. The toolbar’s Ask button.
Dictation	A line inside the panel above. Starts or stops dictation where you are typing.
Read aloud	A line inside the panel above. Reads the selection, or the note, aloud.
Live transcription	A line inside the panel above. Opens the live transcription panel.

Quick capture#

A shortcut that works in every app, even when Canto’s window is closed.

Setting	What it does	Default
Quick capture
Capture from any app	A line inside the panel above.

Setting	What it does	Default
Other shortcuts
New note	A line inside the panel above.
New note from a template	A line inside the panel above.
New folder	A line inside the panel above.
Close the document (the one before it shows)	A line inside the panel above.
Reopen the last closed document	A line inside the panel above.
Back	A line inside the panel above.
Forward	A line inside the panel above.
Next split pane (⇧ for the one before)	A line inside the panel above.
Home	A line inside the panel above.
Go to, search, run a command or ask (⌘P too)	A line inside the panel above.
Ask about what you typed in ⌘K	A line inside the panel above.
Search notes, chats and files, with filters	A line inside the panel above.
Find in the note	A line inside the panel above.
Show or hide the sidebar	A line inside the panel above.
Open the document in a split	A line inside the panel above.
Move to the inspector (Ask · Context · Info)	A line inside the panel above.
Settings	A line inside the panel above.
Bold	A line inside the panel above.
Italic	A line inside the panel above.
Code in a line	A line inside the panel above.
The note’s history	A line inside the panel above.
Send	A line inside the panel above.
New line	A line inside the panel above.
Actions (type at the start of a message)	A line inside the panel above.
Research instead (a cited report for this message)	A line inside the panel above.
Stop the answer (when the field is empty)	A line inside the panel above.
Edit your last message (when the field is empty)	A line inside the panel above.
Choose the model	A line inside the panel above.
Think on or off	A line inside the panel above.
Attach files	A line inside the panel above.
Mention a note	A line inside the panel above.
Put the highlighted action in the message, to add words	A line inside the panel above.
Actions and blocks in a note (type at the start of a line)	A line inside the panel above.
Export as Markdown	A line inside the panel above.
Import a .canto file	A line inside the panel above.

Models#

What your Mac is and what Canto recommends for it, what each job uses, every built-in model, your servers and cloud models, Apple's services on this Mac, and voice. Small Mac mode is Automatic (on with 12 GB of memory or less). See Models on your Mac, Servers and cloud models and Voice and meetings.

Setting	What it does	Default
This Mac

In use#

Setting	What it does	Default
What each job uses and the recommended model

On this Mac#

Setting	What it does	Default
Built-in models
Get more models	A line inside the panel above.
Quick helper model	A line inside the panel above.

Servers#

Setting	What it does	Default
Servers

Cloud#

Setting	What it does	Default
Cloud models

Apple on this Mac#

Setting	What it does	Default
Apple Intelligence, Apple Vision and Apple speech
Use Apple Intelligence for titles, tags and summaries	A line inside the panel above.
Image descriptions	A line inside the panel above.

Voice#

Setting	What it does	Default
Dictation and reading aloud
Dictation language	A line inside the panel above.
Read aloud voice	A line inside the panel above.
Microphone access	A line inside the panel above.

Loading and context (under ▸ Advanced)#

Setting	What it does	Default
Small Mac mode	Shorter instructions and compact memory so Canto fits beside your apps. Automatic uses it on Macs with 12 GB or less.	Automatic (or On, Off)
Built-in models	On: Canto runs its own models on this Mac. Off: only your servers and cloud models answer.
Load models with less free memory	May be slow or unstable.	Off
Context length	How much of a chat the model keeps in mind. Longer uses more memory.
Look for servers on this Mac	When this page opens, Canto asks ports 11434, 1234, 8000, 8080 and 1337 on this Mac whether a model server answers. Read-only, and nothing leaves the Mac.	On
Cloud model hosts

Assistant#

How chats edit notes (each change waits for your review unless you turn on Apply agent edits without asking), how research notes are written, the web search services Canto uses, and how long answers and chats can get. See Let Ask edit, Research and research notes and Ask about your notes.

Chat#

Setting	What it does	Default
Apply agent edits without asking	Off: each change to a note waits for you, showing what changes. On: Canto edits your notes directly.	Off
Also after reading the web	Once you allow a run to use web pages, its later edits need no second approval. Needs “Apply agent edits without asking” on.	On
Show what a chat can see	A line above a chat limited to some notes or a folder, with Edit and Widen.	On

Research#

Setting	What it does	Default
Keep the language you wrote in	A research note stays in the language of your question.	On
Ask before saving a research note	Choose how closely the note follows the chat, its tone and language.	On
Check key ideas survive	Key terms are kept word for word and flagged if they drift.	On
Hedge weak claims	Claims with little support are qualified in the summary and conclusions.	On
Rate each source	Each source is marked direct, partial, background or weak.	On
Separate evidence from reasoning	The evidence ledger labels what is evidence and what is reasoning.	On
No diagnoses on health topics	Medical and psychological topics are explored, never diagnosed.	On
Say what changed	A short list of what was kept, added and reframed from the chat.	On
Add figures to research notes	After writing a research note, Canto asks the model whether a key-numbers row, a timeline, a comparison or another figure would help each section, and adds only the ones whose numbers it can find in the sources.	On

Web search#

Setting	What it does	Default
Search providers
Tavily	A line inside the panel above.
Keiro	A line inside the panel above.
Built-in browser	A line inside the panel above.
Direct read	A line inside the panel above.
DuckDuckGo	A line inside the panel above.
Serper	A line inside the panel above.
SearXNG	A line inside the panel above.
Combine results	A line inside the panel above.
Block these sites	A line inside the panel above.
Add a site	A line inside the panel above.
Sites that keep failing	A line inside the panel above.

Answer length and long chats (under ▸ Advanced)#

Setting	What it does	Default
Longest answer	Automatic sizes each answer to the job and the model. A fixed limit is counted in tokens.
Let answers use the whole context	The longest answer becomes the model’s full context length.	Off
Shorten long chats automatically
Summarize older turns	A line inside the panel above.
When to summarize	A line inside the panel above.
Keep the latest turns	A line inside the panel above.
Who writes the summary	A line inside the panel above.
Clear old tool results first	A line inside the panel above.
Say when a chat was shortened	A line inside the panel above.

Actions & styles#

Every action and style, which actions the selection bar shows, the default style for new chats, and import and export. See Actions and styles.

Actions do one job on what you point at: selected text, a note or a chat. Styles change how Canto answers.

Setting	What it does	Default
Actions and styles
Import actions and styles	A line inside the panel above. From a file, a drop or a paste; you see what each item will do first.
Export your actions and styles	A line inside the panel above.
The selection bar’s actions	A line inside the panel above. Up to five actions between Ask and Copy when you select text.
Styles and the default for new chats	A line inside the panel above. How Canto answers: Researcher, Critique, Companion, or one of yours.

Memory & privacy#

What leaves this Mac, with a switch for each service; What Canto remembers and chat recall; search by meaning; pages your notes link to; meetings; and what usage data contains. See What leaves this Mac, What Canto remembers and Related notes and the graph.

What leaves this Mac#

Everything else stays here, encrypted. Each line says what is sent, where, and when.

Setting	What it does	Default
What leaves this Mac
Web search	A line inside the panel above.
Site icons	A line inside the panel above.
Pictures from the web	A line inside the panel above.
Pages you link to	A line inside the panel above.
Cloud models	A line inside the panel above.
iCloud sync	A line inside the panel above.
Other apps (MCP)	A line inside the panel above.
Publishing	A line inside the panel above.
License checks	A line inside the panel above.
Update checks	A line inside the panel above.
Usage data	A line inside the panel above.
Model downloads	A line inside the panel above.
Diagnostics	A line inside the panel above.

What Canto remembers#

Setting	What it does	Default
Remember what you are working on	Open questions and next steps from your chats, offered when they matter again.	On
Suggest new items	Canto proposes items for you to keep; nothing is saved without you. Needs “Remember what you are working on” on.	Off
Per project
Everything Canto remembers	See, edit or forget each item.
Search past chats	A chat can look up what you discussed before. Chats you exclude are never searched.	On
Same rules for other apps	Apps connected over MCP see past chats only as a chat in Canto would.	On
Find past chats by	Needs “Search past chats” on.	Both (or Words, Meaning)
Index chats by meaning	Done on this Mac, in the background.	On
Index all chats again

Search by meaning#

Setting	What it does	Default
Search by meaning	Finds notes by what they mean, and related notes, with a model on this Mac.

Pages you link to#

Setting	What it does	Default
YouTube transcripts and web PDFs

Meetings#

Setting	What it does	Default
Keep recordings	The transcript and summary always stay; this is the audio.	30 days (or Always, Delete after)
Record this Mac’s sound	The other people on a call. Off records only your microphone.	On
Meeting language	Automatic follows the Mac’s first language.	Automatic (or English, 한국어)

Usage data details (under ▸ Advanced)#

Setting	What it does	Default
What usage data contains

Sync & storage#

iCloud sync, backups (off until you turn them on), version history, how long the Trash keeps things (30 days), and where your vault is. See Sync between your Macs and Backups, history and the Trash.

Setting	What it does	Default
iCloud sync

Backups#

Setting	What it does	Default
Backups
Back up automatically	A line inside the panel above.
Folder	A line inside the panel above.
Schedule	A line inside the panel above.
Keep	A line inside the panel above.
Encrypt backups	A line inside the panel above.
Include the search index	A line inside the panel above.
Back up now	A line inside the panel above.

Version history#

Setting	What it does	Default
Earlier versions of notes
Keep earlier versions of notes	A line inside the panel above.
Space used	A line inside the panel above.

Trash#

Setting	What it does	Default
Delete from the Trash after	Notes, canvases and chats in the Trash are deleted for good after this long. Backups keep their own copies.	30 days (or 7 days, 90 days, Never)

Data location#

Setting	What it does	Default
Where your vault is
Folder	A line inside the panel above.
Vault size	A line inside the panel above.
What’s indexed	A line inside the panel above.

Connections#

Importing from files and Apple Notes, folders on your Mac (Canto only reads them until you allow edits), publishing and your own domain, and other apps over MCP. See Import and export, Files, images and links, Publishing a page and Other apps (MCP).

Import#

Setting	What it does	Default
From files
Apple Notes
Markdown files	A line inside the panel above.
Evernote	A line inside the panel above.
A Canto file	A line inside the panel above.
A Canto workspace	A line inside the panel above.
A Canto 0.x notebook	A line inside the panel above.

Folders on this Mac#

Setting	What it does	Default
Save edits back to linked files	On: when you edit a file from a linked folder, Canto saves the change into that file. Off: Canto asks before it changes a file in a linked folder.	Off

Publishing#

Setting	What it does	Default
Published pages
LonelyDuck account	A line inside the panel above.

Custom domain#

Setting	What it does	Default
Your own domain	Serve your published pages from a name you own, such as notes.example.com. Canto Pro.

Other apps#

Setting	What it does	Default
Let other apps use Canto (MCP)
Let other apps use Canto	A line inside the panel above.

Account#

Your license: activating Pro, what your license covers, your Macs, and license status updates. Help › Account… opens this page. See Your license and Macs.

Setting	What it does	Default
Your license

Advanced#

Low Memory Mode and how models load and unload, the Apple services helper (with Restart), what's running now, and notes search by meaning skipped. You rarely need this page; Troubleshooting says when you do.

Performance#

Setting	What it does	Default
Low Memory Mode	Unloads models sooner and keeps smaller caches, for Macs with 8 or 16 GB.
Do several things at once

Model loading#

Setting	What it does	Default
Loading and unloading

Helpers#

Setting	What it does	Default
Apple services helper
Restart the Apple services helper	A line inside the panel above. Starts a fresh canto-native without quitting Canto.
Helper restarts	A line inside the panel above.

Diagnostics#

Setting	What it does	Default
What is running
Notes search by meaning skipped

About#

This version and what's new in it, the website, the license agreement you accepted, third-party notices, and help: Send diagnostics… and the diagnostic history kept on your Mac. See Getting help.

Setting	What it does	Default
About Canto
What’s new	A line inside the panel above.
Website	A line inside the panel above.
License agreement	A line inside the panel above.
Third-party notices	A line inside the panel above.

Help#

Setting	What it does	Default
Help
Send a diagnostic report	A line inside the panel above.
Diagnostic history	A line inside the panel above.

Updates#

Check for a newer version now or automatically, download automatically, and, on a beta, whether to get beta versions. See Updates and betas.

Setting	What it does	Default
Updates
Check now	A line inside the panel above.
Check automatically	A line inside the panel above.
Download updates automatically	A line inside the panel above.
Get beta versions	A line inside the panel above. Only on a beta install.