Configuration

NoteWise reads settings from code defaults, config.env, environment variables, and command flags.

State directory

By default, state lives under ~/.notewise.

File or folder	Purpose
`~/.notewise/config.env`	User config written by `notewise setup`.
`~/.notewise/.notewise_cache.db`	SQLite cache and run history.
`~/.notewise/logs/`	Session logs.
`~/.notewise/oauth/`	Default OAuth token storage.

Set NOTEWISE_HOME to move this state root.

Practical precedence

For a command run, command-line flags win. For OUTPUT_DIR, the value in config.env is used unless --output is passed. Other settings use environment variables, then config.env, then code defaults.

notewise process "https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID" --model gemini/gemini-2.5-flash --output ./notes

Common config keys

Key	Default	Meaning
`DEFAULT_MODEL`	`gemini/gemini-2.5-flash`	LiteLLM model string.
`OUTPUT_DIR`	`./output`	Default output directory.
`MAX_CONCURRENT_VIDEOS`	`5`	Batch/playlist video workers.
`YOUTUBE_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE`	`10`	YouTube request limit.
`TEMPERATURE`	`0.7`	LLM temperature.
`MAX_TOKENS`	unset	Optional LLM max output tokens.
`YOUTUBE_COOKIE_FILE`	unset	Default Netscape cookies file path.

Provider API keys and provider auth keys are also accepted in config.env when they are listed in source constants.

chunk_size, chunk_overlap, and max_concurrent_chapters are code-default settings, not normal config.env keys.

Commands

notewise setup
notewise setup --show
notewise setup --force
notewise config
notewise config-path
notewise edit-config

notewise config masks secrets before printing settings.

Start

Use

Configure

Operate

Understand

State directory

Practical precedence

Common config keys

Commands

​State directory

​Practical precedence

​Common config keys

​Commands

State directory

Practical precedence

Common config keys

Commands