User Configuration

Kānuka stores your personal identity and preferences in a user configuration file. This file is local to your machine and is never shared with others.

Location

Your user configuration is stored at:

Platform	Location
Linux	~/.config/kanuka/config.toml
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/kanuka/config.toml
Windows	%APPDATA%\kanuka\config.toml

File Structure

[user]
email = "[email protected]"
name = "Alice Smith"
uuid = "6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8"
default_device_name = "MacBook-Pro"

[projects]
[projects."550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"]
device_name = "workstation"
project_name = "my-awesome-project"

[projects."7ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8"]
device_name = "laptop"
project_name = "another-project"

Fields Explained

User Section

Field	Required	Description
email	Yes	Your email address, used as your identifier across all projects. This is how teammates recognize you when granting access.
name	No	Your display name for audit log features (future functionality).
uuid	Yes	A unique identifier generated automatically. This links your identity across projects without exposing your email in file names.
default_device_name	No	The default name for your devices when creating keys. Defaults to your computer’s hostname.

Projects Section

The [projects] section maps project UUIDs to your device information for each project you’ve joined. Each entry contains:

Field	Description
device_name	The device name you use for this specific project.
project_name	A human-readable name for the project.

This allows you to use different device names for different projects if needed.

How It’s Created

Your user configuration is created when you run:

1. kanuka config init - Explicit setup of your identity
2. kanuka secrets init - Automatically prompts for setup if not configured

During setup, you provide:

• Your email address (required)
• A display name (optional)
• A default device name (defaults to hostname)

Kānuka generates a UUID automatically to uniquely identify you.

Why UUIDs?

Kānuka uses UUIDs instead of emails for file naming because:

1. Uniqueness - Guaranteed unique identifiers avoid naming conflicts
2. Flexibility - You can change your email without renaming files

The email is stored in the project configuration to provide a human-readable way to identify users.

Multiple Devices

If you work on the same project from multiple computers, each device gets its own:

• RSA key pair (stored locally)
• Entry in the project configuration
• Encrypted symmetric key

Your user configuration tracks which device name you use for each project.

Viewing Your Configuration

# Show user configuration
kanuka config show

# Show as JSON (for scripts)
kanuka config show --json

Updating Your Configuration

# Update email
kanuka config init --email [email protected]

# Update device name
kanuka config init --device new-laptop

# Update multiple fields
kanuka config init --email [email protected] --name "Alice Smith" --device macbook

Only the fields you specify are updated; other fields remain unchanged.

Related Configuration

• Project Configuration - The shared project config
• Configuration Commands - All available config commands
• File Structure - Where all Kānuka files are stored