# Settings, page by page

> The Settings window's fourteen pages, what each row does and its default, and how to find a setting fast.

Applies to Canto 1.0 beta 3 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/settings

Generated from Canto 1.0.0-beta.4's code: `src/shared/settingsPages.ts`, `src/renderer/components/settings/settingsCatalog.ts`.

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:

| Group        | Pages                                                 |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
|              | General, Appearance, Writing, Keyboard                |
| Intelligence | Models, Assistant, Actions & styles, Memory & privacy |
| Data         | Sync & storage, Connections                           |
| You          | Account, Advanced                                     |
| Canto        | About, Updates                                        |

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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/capture) and [Related notes and the graph](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/related#the-vault-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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/writing).

### 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/models), [Servers and cloud models](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/servers) and [Voice and meetings](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/voice).

| 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/edits), [Research and research notes](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/research) and [Ask about your notes](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/ask).

### 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/actions).

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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/privacy), [What Canto remembers](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/memory) and [Related notes and the graph](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/related#search-by-meaning).

### 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/sync) and [Backups, history and the Trash](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/backups).

| 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/import-export), [Files, images and links](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/files#folders-on-this-mac), [Publishing a page](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/publishing) and [Other apps (MCP)](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/license).

| 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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/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](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/updates).

| 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. |  |