Configuration

Intensity levels, default mode, status line, hooks

Intensity levels

Level	Behavior
lean	Deliver what was asked for, mention a smaller alternative in passing. User decides.
full (default)	Check each option against the 7-filter screen. Standard library and platform features win by default.
max	Question speculative scope before any code gets written. Build only what is clearly required, and state what was cut.

Example — “Add a cache for these API responses”:

• lean: “Added it. functools.lru_cache would cover this in one line if a hand-rolled cache class isn’t needed.”
• full: “@lru_cache(maxsize=1000) wraps the fetch call. Skipped a bespoke cache class, add one once lru_cache demonstrably can’t keep up.”
• max: “Holding off on caching until a profiler flags it. Then: @lru_cache. A custom TTL cache just reimplements stdlib.”

Switch levels any time: /margaret lean|full|max, or turn it off: /margaret off, “stop margaret”, “normal mode”. The level sticks until changed or the session ends.

Setting the default level

Priority order, checked in this sequence:

1. Environment variable
   export MARGARET_DEFAULT_MODE=max
   
2. Config file — ~/.config/margaret/config.json (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/margaret/config.json if set; %APPDATA%\margaret\config.json on Windows):
   { "defaultMode": "lean" }
   
3. Built-in default: full.

Use "off" to skip auto-activation and start /margaret by hand when wanted.

Status line

Shows the current level ([MARGARET], [MARGARET:MAX]). Not wired in automatically — add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "bash \"<plugin-root>/hooks/margaret-statusline.sh\""
  }
}

Swap in margaret-statusline.ps1 on Windows.

Hooks

Three lifecycle hooks drive the persona in hook-based hosts (hooks/claude-hooks.json):

Hook	Script	Purpose
SessionStart	margaret-activate.js	Resolves the default mode and activates it at the start of a session (startup, resume, clear, compact).
SubagentStart	margaret-subagent.js	Propagates the active mode into subagents so they inherit the same screen.
UserPromptSubmit	margaret-mode-tracker.js	Tracks mode-switch phrases in the user’s message (e.g. “stop margaret”, /margaret max) and updates the active mode.

Mode resolution logic lives in hooks/margaret-config.js, shared by all three hooks.

Security review config

Optional, both no-op if absent:

• .margaret/security-instructions.md — extra categories/context appended to /margaret-guard’s standard set.
• .margaret/security-exclude — one path glob per line (e.g. vendor/**), findings in matching files are dropped.

Uninstalling cleanly

Run before removing the plugin — it only removes the statusLine segment margaret owns, leaving any combined statusline intact:

node scripts/uninstall.js