Settings reference
File > Settings opens the editor's settings. The pages are listed down the left; a change applies when you select OK, and Cancel discards everything you changed since the dialog opened.
Settings are stored in ~/.dogsbay/settings.xml and apply to every project. Settings that belong to a project, such as its type, root map, framework and formatting house style, live in that project's own .dogsbay/config.xml, which you can commit and share; see Project configuration. See Format below for how to write the current formatting into it.
Server
The integration server, and the defaults for agents.
Enable integration server (MCP / CLI / REST) lets external tools drive the editor over localhost: the MCP endpoint for AI assistants, the dogsbay-xml command line's editor commands, and the REST API. It is off until you turn it on. The in-app agent does not need it; a hosted agent does. When the server is running, the page shows the address it is on.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Port (0 = automatic) | The port to bind. Zero picks a free one. |
| Expose MCP endpoint (/mcp) | Serves the editor's tools to AI assistants. |
| Expose JSON-RPC endpoint (/rpc) | Serves the command line's editor commands. |
| Copy MCP install command | Copies a ready-to-paste claude mcp add command, with the access token, to the clipboard. |
| Regenerate token | Issues a new access token. Existing MCP and CLI clients must be reconfigured with it. |
Hosted agents sets what a new hosted agent session starts with. Default tier for a new agent is the preselected answer: T1 (commands only), T2 (read files) or T3 (read and write files). You are still asked each time a session starts. Agent edits to DITA documents land as proposals for review keeps an agent's changes as tracked proposals rather than direct edits.
Agent sessions controls how long the built-in agent's transcripts are kept in ~/.xagent/sessions: Forever, or 90, 60, 30, 14 or 7 days. Older ones are deleted when the editor starts.
Plugins
Every plugin the editor has loaded, with its license, and a switch for each. Most panels come from a plugin, and turning one off removes its panel entirely. Open Plugins Folder opens the directory plugins are installed into.
Bindings
Every command in the editor and the key it answers to. See the keyboard shortcut reference for the defaults.
Filter the list by typing in the box. With a command selected:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Change… | Asks for a key. Press the combination you want; Escape on its own cancels. |
| Bind nothing | Leaves the command with no key. |
| Reset | Puts the command back to its default. |
| Reset all | Puts every command back to its default. |
Only the commands you change are stored, so a default that improves in a later release reaches you. A key already taken by another command is reported when you choose it.
Text
How the editor draws text.
Choose the font and size for the editor. Fonts marked ★ are bundled with the editor and look the same on every machine.
The list below sets the color and style of each kind of markup: element names, attribute names and values, comments, CDATA, entity references, DTD declarations, DITA and AsciiDoc constructs, and the rest. Select a kind to change its color and whether it is bold or italic.
Antialiase Text smooths glyph edges. Convert to Spaces inserts spaces when you press Tab rather than a tab character.
Views
How documents open and behave.
| Group | Setting |
|---|---|
| General | Synchronise Selection between Views; Open multiple occurrences of the same Document; Scroll Document Tabs; Reopen files from previous session |
| XML Types | Check for Type opening Document; Prompt to create a Type when no Type found; Validate Document on opening; Set Schema or DTD defined in Document |
| Scenario Execution | Hide Scenario Execution Dialog when complete |
| XInclude | Open Resolve XInclude in New Document |
| XPath Editor | Generate Unique XPath |
| Project | Show full Path for Documents |
XML
Parsing and catalogs.
Three groups:
Non Validating Feature holds Load DTD Grammar, which loads the DTD even when the document is not being validated, so content completion knows the vocabulary.
Catalogs lists the OASIS catalog files used to resolve public identifiers and URIs. The DITA catalogs ship with the editor and are already here; Add … registers your own and Delete removes the selected one. Prefer Public Identifiers resolves by public identifier before system identifier.
Prefix Namespace Mappings is a table of the prefixes the editor uses for known namespaces, so generated markup and XPath expressions use the prefix you expect.
Format
The house style used by Format Document, by format-on-save, and by the dogsbay-xml format command, so every route produces the same file.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Indent | Spaces or tabs, and how many. |
| Max line width | Where to wrap. Zero never hard-wraps prose. |
| Newline | Platform, LF or CRLF. |
| Final newline | Ends the file with a newline. |
| Preserve mixed content | Keeps inline markup inline rather than breaking it onto its own lines. |
| Preserve blank lines | Keeps one blank line and collapses the extras. |
| Semantic line breaks | Keeps one sentence per line. |
| Sentence continuation indent | How a wrapped sentence is indented. |
| Format on save | Reformats a document whenever you save it. |
Save to project (.dogsbay/config.xml)… writes the current style into the open project so everyone working on it formats identically.
System
The machine, rather than the editing.
| Group | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Look And Feel | The editor's theme. |
| Browser | Which browser opens external links. Linux and other Unix systems only; macOS and Windows use the system default and the group is not shown. |
| Proxy Configuration | Host address and port for a proxy, and whether to use one. |
| Extensions | Extra jars and directories added to the editor's classpath. Add Jar …, Add Dir … and Delete. |