Settings
One window for models, memory, voice, keys and sign-ins, messaging connectors, MCP and backups.
Settings is where you choose Nova's models, tune memory and voice, connect providers and channels, and make backups. Open it from the sidebar (Settings, the gear) or from the gear on the right edge of the main screen. It has seven tabs:
| Tab | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Agent | Your name, the default agent, the chat model, memory and voice |
| System | Support models, browser automation, memory search and runtime limits |
| External | API keys, subscription sign-ins, secrets, login, the External API and messaging connectors |
| Social | Credentials for social research |
| MCP/A2A | MCP servers, and exposing Nova over MCP and A2A |
| Developer | The shell Nova uses |
| Backup | Create and restore backups |
How the window works
- Tabs are on the left. Each tab opens with its title and a one-line description.
- Search settings filters the open tab by section title, description, field label and value. Matching sections open on their own.
- Sections fold and unfold when you click their header, and each shows how many settings it holds. The window remembers the tab and sections you had open.
- Model fields are dropdowns filled from the provider's catalogue, with the context size shown, for example (128K). Refresh models reloads the list, and the pencil (Manual model ID) lets you type an ID yourself. When you change a provider, the list reloads, and the first model is picked if your current one is not offered.
- Save stores everything and closes the window. Cancel, the close button, Esc or a click outside the window discards your edits.
Saved changes apply to open chats straight away, with no restart.
Agent
The choices that shape everyday conversations. Profile & Behavior is open when you arrive.
-
Profile & Behavior:
- Default agent profile: the assistant new conversations start with (Nova by default).
- User Name: the name shown in chat and in the greeting on the main screen.
-
Chat Model:
- The provider and model Nova uses for conversations, and its Thinking effort.
- The advanced fields: base URL, rate limits, extra parameters, vision support and chat compaction thresholds.
- See Models and providers.
-
Memory: about thirty switches and numbers for how memory is recalled and kept. The ones people change most are:
- Memory auto-recall enabled
- Auto-memorize enabled
- Journal consolidation enabled and Journal synth enabled, which keep the Journal and its notes up to date
- Journal searches per turn
- Semantic memory reranking
- Temporal decay
- Auto-memorize images
Keep the defaults unless you have a reason to change them.
-
Voice: how Nova listens, speaks and narrates.
- Listening:
- Microphone device is chosen in your browser, using Request permission to select device. It is kept in this browser rather than saved with the window.
- Speech capture (Complete utterance or Streaming), language, the silence thresholds, and barge-in, which lets you interrupt Nova by speaking.
- Speaking:
- Voice Assistant Engine: Gemini Live (the default) or Classic STT + TTS.
- TTS Provider: ElevenLabs or Groq. Each has its own voice choices, and ElevenLabs also has voice-tuning sliders.
- Narration: Speech Runtime Mode (Voice Assistant or Narration Companion), the narration mode, and a style hint.
- Listening:
Voice language and personality for live voice are set in the composer's model picker, on the Voice tab.
System
Advanced operating controls for background work. The tab's own advice is the right one: keep the defaults unless you have a specific reason to change them.
- Support Model, Autonomy Model and Safety & Recovery: the provider and model for each background role, with the same advanced fields as the chat model. See the model roles.
- Browser Automation: how the built-in browser behaves.
- Browser Profile Mode: Ephemeral (the default) starts clean every time. Persistent profile keeps sign-ins. Attach to existing Chrome uses a Chrome you already run.
- Also here: whether all agents share one profile, how many tabs Nova may use per chat (1 to 5), the total tab cap (1 to 50), and whether the view should Follow Nova or Stay on my tab.
- Some fields only appear after you save a mode and reopen Settings.
- Memory Search Model: the model that indexes memory. Changing it rebuilds the index.
- Runtime Limits: the folder knowledge is imported from, and token-budget controls for very long turns.
External
Connect messaging, APIs, provider accounts and outside services.
| Section | What it is for |
|---|---|
| API Keys | One field per model provider and service. Separate several keys with commas to rotate them. Saved keys show as asterisks. |
| Web Search | How many results each web search returns (default 15) and how long each snippet is (default 500 characters). |
| OpenAI Codex | Sign in with a ChatGPT plan, and see its usage. |
| OAuth Accounts | Sign in with Claude Pro or Max, and see the status of Qwen. |
| Secrets Management | Variables Store holds values the model may see. Secrets Store holds private values that stay masked. Refer to a secret as §§secret(KEY). Values shorter than four characters are not masked. |
| Authentication | UI Login and UI Password for the app. On instances that use account sign-in these are hidden. |
| External API | Show API Examples opens the reference for calling SyntrofAI from your own code. |
| Messaging Connectors | WhatsApp, Telegram, Gmail, Discord and Slack. See Integrations. |
Social
Credentials for Nova's social research tools and the Social feed: Reddit, Instagram, X, GitHub, Telegram, Discord and TikTok. These are the same fields as Social → Settings → Platform Credentials. See Integrations for what each platform needs.
MCP and A2A
- External MCP Servers: Open shows the JSON editor for your servers. Apply now connects them straight away, and a live list shows each server's status and tools. Two timeouts set how long to wait for a server to start and for a tool call.
- SyntrofAI MCP Server: Enable SyntrofAI MCP Server lets MCP clients use Nova. The connection example shows the addresses.
- SyntrofAI A2A Server: Enable A2A server lets other agents call Nova.
The two server switches take effect when you press the main Save. The full walk-through is on Integrations.
Developer
Shell Interface chooses how Nova opens a terminal on your instance: Local Python TTY or SSH. Most people never need to change it.
Backup
Create a backup
- Press Create Backup.
- Review the Backup Configuration JSON. It holds the backup's name and the patterns for which files go in.
- Press Dry Run to see the exact file list in File Operations.
- Press Create Backup. A
.zipfile downloads to your computer.
The default selection covers your settings and keys, saved chats, scheduled tasks, uploads, and imported knowledge files. It is not a complete copy of memory. To keep memories as well, use Export Namespace in the Memory dashboard.
Restore a backup
- Press Restore Backup and choose a
.zipfile. - Pick a File Conflict Policy: Overwrite existing files, Skip existing files, or Backup existing files, which keeps a copy of each file it replaces.
- Only if you mean it, tick Clean before restore. It deletes the existing files that match the backup's patterns first.
- Press Dry Run to check what will happen, then Restore Files.
- Read the Restore Complete summary: files deleted, restored, skipped and failed. Then ask your administrator to restart SyntrofAI so everything takes effect.
Saved chats from the backup come back after the restore.