Centralized Configuration

Set up once, use everywhere. AbstractCore's centralized configuration system eliminates repetitive provider and model specifications across your projects.

Overview

AbstractCore provides a unified configuration system that manages default models, cache directories, logging settings, and API keys from a single location: ~/.abstractcore/config/abstractcore.json

This eliminates the need to specify providers and models repeatedly and provides consistent behavior across all applications.

Quick Start

# Check current configuration status
abstractcore --status

# Set global fallback model (used when no app-specific default)
abstractcore --set-global-default ollama/llama3:8b

# Set app-specific defaults for optimal performance
abstractcore --set-app-default summarizer openai gpt-4o-mini
abstractcore --set-app-default cli ollama qwen3:4b

# Set API keys
abstractcore --set-api-key openai sk-your-key-here
abstractcore --set-api-key anthropic your-anthropic-key

# Configure logging
abstractcore --set-console-log-level WARNING

Configuration Priority System

AbstractCore uses a clear priority hierarchy to determine which model to use:

  1. Explicit Parameters (highest priority) 
    summarizer document.txt --provider openai --model gpt-4o-mini
  2. App-Specific Configuration 
    abstractcore --set-app-default summarizer openai gpt-4o-mini
  3. Global Configuration 
    abstractcore --set-global-default openai/gpt-4o-mini
  4. Hardcoded Defaults (lowest priority)

    Current default: huggingface/unsloth/Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507-GGUF

Application-Specific Defaults

Set different providers and models for different AbstractCore applications:

# Fast local model for CLI testing
abstractcore --set-app-default cli ollama qwen3:4b

# High-quality cloud model for document summarization
abstractcore --set-app-default summarizer openai gpt-4o-mini

# Balanced model for extraction tasks
abstractcore --set-app-default extractor anthropic claude-3-5-haiku

# Analytical model for evaluation
abstractcore --set-app-default judge anthropic claude-3-5-haiku

Vision Fallback Configuration

Enable text-only models to process images through smart vision fallback:

# Download local vision model (recommended)
abstractcore --download-vision-model

# Or use existing Ollama model
abstractcore --set-vision-caption qwen2.5vl:7b

# Or use cloud API
abstractcore --set-vision-provider openai --model gpt-4o

# Disable vision fallback
abstractcore --disable-vision

Logging Configuration

Control logging behavior across all AbstractCore components:

# Set console logging level
abstractcore --set-console-log-level DEBUG    # Show all messages
abstractcore --set-console-log-level INFO     # Show info and above
abstractcore --set-console-log-level WARNING  # Show warnings and errors (default)
abstractcore --set-console-log-level ERROR    # Show only errors
abstractcore --set-console-log-level NONE     # Disable console logging

# File logging controls
abstractcore --enable-file-logging      # Start saving logs to files
abstractcore --disable-file-logging     # Stop saving logs to files
abstractcore --set-log-base-dir ~/.abstractcore/logs

# Quick commands
abstractcore --enable-debug-logging     # Sets both console and file to DEBUG
abstractcore --disable-console-logging  # Keeps file logging if enabled

Cache and Storage Configuration

# Set cache directories
abstractcore --set-default-cache-dir ~/.cache/abstractcore
abstractcore --set-huggingface-cache-dir ~/.cache/huggingface
abstractcore --set-local-models-cache-dir ~/.abstractcore/models

Configuration Status Dashboard

View complete configuration with helpful change commands:

abstractcore --status

This displays a hierarchical dashboard showing:

  • 🎯 Application Defaults (CLI, Summarizer, Extractor, Judge)
  • 🌐 Global Fallback settings
  • 👁️ Media Processing configuration
  • 🔑 Provider Access (API key status)
  • 📝 Logging configuration
  • 💾 Storage locations

Common Configuration Workflows

First-Time Setup

# Check what's available
abstractcore --status

# Configure for development (free local models)
abstractcore --set-global-default ollama/llama3:8b
abstractcore --set-console-log-level WARNING

# Add API keys when ready for cloud providers
abstractcore --set-api-key openai sk-your-key-here
abstractcore --set-api-key anthropic your-anthropic-key

# Verify everything works
abstractcore --status

Development Environment

# Optimize for local development
abstractcore --set-global-default ollama/llama3:8b  # Free local models
abstractcore --enable-debug-logging                 # Detailed logs for debugging
abstractcore --set-app-default cli ollama qwen3:4b  # Fast model for CLI testing

Production Environment

# Configure for production reliability and performance
abstractcore --set-global-default openai/gpt-4o-mini  # Reliable cloud provider
abstractcore --set-console-log-level WARNING          # Reduce noise
abstractcore --enable-file-logging                    # Persistent logs
abstractcore --set-app-default summarizer openai gpt-4o-mini  # Optimize for quality

Multi-Environment Approach

# Use different providers for different applications
abstractcore --set-app-default cli ollama qwen3:4b           # Fast for development
abstractcore --set-app-default summarizer openai gpt-4o-mini # Quality for documents
abstractcore --set-app-default judge anthropic claude-3-5-haiku # Detailed analysis

Configuration File Location

Configuration is stored in: ~/.abstractcore/config/abstractcore.json

You can directly edit this file if needed, but using the CLI commands is recommended for safety and validation.

Benefits

  • No Repetition - Set your preferences once, use them everywhere
  • Environment-Specific - Different settings for dev, staging, production
  • App-Optimized - Different models for different tasks automatically
  • Centralized API Keys - Manage all provider credentials in one place
  • Consistent Logging - Unified logging behavior across all components
  • Easy Switching - Change providers globally with one command

Related Documentation

Getting Started

First steps with AbstractCore

Media Handling

Universal file attachment system

Vision Capabilities

Image analysis with fallback

HTTP Server

OpenAI-compatible REST API

API Reference

Complete Python API

Built-in Apps

CLI tools (Summarizer, Extractor, Judge)