# Settings

> The Settings window and every key in the library's settings.jsonc.

Almost every setting belongs to the open library and lives in its `settings.jsonc`, so a copied or moved library keeps its choices. The app itself remembers only which library to reopen, your recent libraries, and the last few Ask sentences.

Open Settings with ⌘,. It has three tabs: General, Account and Properties.

## General

| Section        | Control                                      | Does                                                                                                                                                                         |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Play options   | Consolidate to mono                          | Every audio channel is heard from both speakers while playing. The file is not changed.                                                                                      |
| iPhone audio   | Preferred audio track: Stereo, Spatial, Mono | On a QuickTime file with several audio tracks, the one chosen here plays by default. Set on import and, when changed, across the open library. Only the file header changes. |
| Export options | Consolidate to mono                          | Exported copies and highlight renders of clips with two or more channels get one merged mono track. The export panel can still choose per export.                            |
| AI tagging     | Tag with AI when importing                   | The default for the import sheet's toggle.                                                                                                                                   |
| AI tagging     | About this library                           | The opening line of every tagging prompt and of the Ask planner's prompt. Save writes it; Reset to Default clears it.                                                        |
| AI tagging     | Preview the whole prompt                     | The prompt as it will be sent, with every AI property and tag filled in.                                                                                                     |

The AI tagging section also shows whether this Mac is connected to a BetterApps account.

## Account

See [Account and credits](https://docs.usebetterapps.com/betterlibrary/account).

## Properties

The property manager. See [Properties and tags](https://docs.usebetterapps.com/betterlibrary/properties-and-tags).

## settings.jsonc

The file sits in the library folder. It is JSON with `//` comments allowed. The app rewrites it whenever a setting changes, keeps keys it does not know, and drops hand-written comments. `betterlibrary settings set` edits it from the terminal.

| Key                                                     | Type                        | Default               | Meaning                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `libraryDescription`                                    | text                        | a built-in line       | What the library is about: the opening of the tagging and Ask prompts. Settings › General, About this library.                                                                                           |
| `autoTag`                                               | true or false               | true                  | Tag imported clips with AI. Both toggles named Tag with AI write it.                                                                                                                                     |
| `aiConcurrency`                                         | 1 to 8                      | 4                     | How many clips are tagged at once. Out-of-range values are clamped. Only editable in the file or with the tool.                                                                                          |
| `geminiModel`                                           | text                        | `gemini-3.6-flash`    | The tagging model.                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `aiGatewayModel`                                        | text                        | `alibaba/qwen3.8-max` | The model behind Ask and the schema proposal.                                                                                                                                                            |
| `modelPricing`                                          | object                      | none                  | Per-model prices in USD per million tokens, `{"<model>": {"input": x, "output": y}}`, for the library's own call log. It does not change what your account charges.                                      |
| `playbackMono`                                          | true or false               | true                  | Play options › Consolidate to mono.                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `exportMono`                                            | true or false               | true                  | Export options › Consolidate to mono.                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `preferredAudioTrack`                                   | `stereo`, `spatial`, `mono` | `stereo`              | iPhone audio › Preferred audio track.                                                                                                                                                                    |
| `skimming`                                              | true or false               | true                  | Skimming in the clip window, toggled with S.                                                                                                                                                             |
| `importDefaults`                                        | object                      | none                  | The properties the last import set, to prefill the next import sheet: `{"tagIDs": [...], "values": {"<fieldId>": true, "<fieldId>": 3}}`.                                                                |
| `readyView`, `allView`, `inProgressView`, `archiveView` | object                      | none                  | Each shelf's look: `layout` (`grid` or `table`), `sort`, `columns` (the table's column state as JSON), `wrapped` (column ids whose text wraps). Written as you change the shelf; Reset View clears them. |

Keys the app used in earlier versions (`browserLayout`, `tableColumns`, `libraryView`, `inboxView`) are read once and replaced.

> **No keys in the file**
>
> AI runs through the BetterApps account connected in Settings › Account. The file holds no provider keys.