The machine config

The machine config says how the factory runs on this Mac: which GitHub login it uses, how often it checks GitHub, and how much it does at once. It lives in ~/.config/t3fac/factory/config.yml. Repos are not listed here: Add a repo covers how a repo is watched, and the model comes from the T3 project.

Without the file, the server starts and the factory stays idle. Start from factory/config.example.yml in the repo, or save the form at Settings → Factory with the factory's server selected, which creates it.

gh_config_dir: /Users/you/.config/t3fac/gh
poll_seconds: 60
max_concurrent_runs: 1
max_concurrent_gates: 1
notify: true

Keys

Key	Required	Default	What it does
gh_config_dir	yes		The GitHub CLI config directory the factory acts through. Write the full path: nothing in this file expands ~.
poll_seconds	no	60	Seconds between passes over GitHub, at least 10. A session ending or a gate finishing starts a pass at once, so this is only the longest wait for news from GitHub.
max_concurrent_runs	yes		Runs that may hold an issue at once, across every repo, at least 1. A run holds a slot from its claim until its session reports a pull request or the run ends. The gate and the wait for required checks take no run slot.
max_concurrent_gates	no	2	Gates that may run at once, at least 1.
notify	no	true	Posts a macOS notification when something needs a person. false keeps the list on the Factory page and turns the notification off.

Any other key is an error, and the factory stays idle until it is fixed. Three keys from older versions, model_instance, model and repos, load with a warning instead: the current version ignores them, and a save from Settings → Factory keeps them, so a rollback to a version that needs them still starts. Delete them once you won't roll back that far.

Changing it

Settings → Factory edits gh_config_dir, poll_seconds, max_concurrent_runs and max_concurrent_gates. Edit notify in the file by hand. A save checks the whole file with the same rules the server uses at start and refuses one that would fail, so a bad value never reaches disk from the page.

The server reads the file when it starts and each time Settings → Factory saves it. It doesn't watch the file, so a hand edit takes effect at the next save from the page or the next restart.

What a save changes without a restart:

Change	Takes effect
poll_seconds	At once: a save starts a pass, and the next wait uses the new value.
max_concurrent_runs, max_concurrent_gates	From the next pass. A pass already running finishes with the old values.
notify	For the next item that needs attention.
gh_config_dir	For the factory's own GitHub calls, from the next pass. Agent sessions take their login from the server's GH_CONFIG_DIR instead, which the LaunchAgent sets. Change both together: edit GH_CONFIG_DIR in factory/launchd/io.github.rawphp.t3fac.plist in your clone, then run factory/scripts/install.sh release/t3fac-<version>-darwin-arm64.tar.gz on the archive already built, which writes the plist from the edited file and restarts the server. deploy.sh refuses the uncommitted edit, so commit it first if you deploy instead. A session that runs as another login stops the run with factory:stuck.

A file that fails to load, at start or after a hand edit and restart, leaves the factory idle with the errors in the log and on the Factory page as an item that needs attention.