Customize

Written By Stanislas

Last updated About 16 hours ago

Overview

Teach Swiftask Code how your team works and set defaults for approvals.

Open Swiftask Settings from the gear icon in the Sessions panel title bar.

Prerequisites

  • Swiftask Code installed and signed in

  • Access to full Swiftask Settings (gear icon in the Sessions panel title bar)

Step-by-step guide

1. Set up project rules

Rules are instructions Swiftask Code follows in every chat — coding style, architecture boundaries, checks before finishing work.

Shared rules (team) — stored in your project (typically in a .swiftask/rules folder). Commit them to git so everyone gets the same behavior.

When to use: Team conventions, architecture boundaries, required checks before merge.

Personal rules (just you) — stored on your machine for that project. Good for preferences that shouldn't go in the repo.

When to use: Personal formatting prefs, local tooling paths, experimental instructions.

If two rules conflict, the more specific one wins. What you write in the chat always overrides rules.

2. Create a rule with AI

In Settings → Rules, use Create with agent. Describe what you want in plain language; Swiftask Code drafts a rule file you can edit and save.

3. Configure permissions

Settings → Permissions

OptionWhat it does

Run mode

Run everything vs Ask before sensitive actions

Trusted commands

Commands that can run without asking (when using ask-first mode)

Auto-format on finish

Format files Swiftask Code edited after each turn

See Build, plan & review for how approvals feel in daily use.

The defaults in the allowlist are:

  • yarn

  • npm

  • pnpm

  • tsc

  • node

  • git status

  • git log

  • git diff

  • ls

  • cat

  • echo

  • pwd

4. Adjust per-session choices

These are set in the chat input, not in Settings:

  • Model — which AI to use

  • Mode — Build / Ask / Plan

  • Thinking level — low / medium / high

They apply to the current session only.

5. Open VS Code settings & docs

From Settings you can also:

  • Open VS Code settings (fonts, tabs, editor preferences)

  • Open documentation (this Help Center)

Practical use cases

TypeScript project:

Use strict typing. Run the type checker after changes to .ts files.

Frontend team:

New UI components follow our folder naming convention and use our design system.

Security:

Never commit secrets, API keys, or .env files.

Tips & best practices

Rule conflicts: if two rules conflict, the more specific one wins. What you write in the chat always overrides rules.

Trusted commands examples:

CommandWhy trust it

yarn test / npm test

Frequent, read-only on source

yarn typecheck

Safe validation step

git status / git diff

Read-only git inspection

Add only commands your team runs routinely. Destructive commands (rm, git push --force) should stay off the list.

Additional resources