Skip to main content

Configuration

Chess-tui can be configured through the configuration file located at CONFIG_DIR/chess-tui/config.toml. Additionally, custom color skins can be configured in CONFIG_DIR/chess-tui/skins.json. This section covers all available configuration options.

CONFIG_DIR is typically:

  • Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME or $HOME/.config
  • macOS: $HOME/Library/Application Support
  • Windows: %APPDATA% (Roaming AppData folder)

Command Line Options​

Some configuration options can also be set directly from the command line:

# Set chess engine path
chess-tui -e /path/to/engine

# Set engine path with command-line arguments (e.g., GNU Chess)
chess-tui -e "/opt/homebrew/bin/gnuchess --uci"

# Set bot thinking depth
chess-tui --depth 15

# Combine both options
chess-tui -e /path/to/engine --depth 15
chess-tui -e "/opt/homebrew/bin/gnuchess --uci" --depth 15

# Stockfish simple example
chess-tui -e /opt/homebrew/opt/stockfish

Command line options take precedence over configuration file values.

Configuration File​

The configuration file is automatically created when you first run chess-tui. You can modify it manually to customize your experience:

# CONFIG_DIR/chess-tui/config.toml

# Display mode: "DEFAULT" or "ASCII"
display_mode = "DEFAULT"

# Chess engine path (optional)
# Can include command-line arguments for engines that require them
engine_path = "/path/to/your/engine"
# Example with GNU Chess: engine_path = "/opt/homebrew/bin/gnuchess --uci"

# Logging level: "OFF", "ERROR", "WARN", "INFO", "DEBUG", or "TRACE"
log_level = "OFF"

# Bot thinking depth for chess engine (1-255, default: 10)
bot_depth = 10

CONFIG_DIR is typically:

  • Linux: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME or $HOME/.config
  • macOS: $HOME/Library/Application Support
  • Windows: %APPDATA% (Roaming AppData folder)