Config File
Next: Phase 6: Guide 05 rewritten from a proposal into a contract, c145's configure step pointed at this page, the Outcome. Then F1 (link qconfig as the app's check) as a qnative cycle of its own, and the managed-machine instruction once C9 is answered.
qcontrol's settings file had no page, and people will ask their agents to change it.
A Config page with three sources and one check, and an agent that drafts the whole file for the person to apply. In the eval, 9 of 12 plain instructions got a correct first draft, and three one-line wording fixes brought the rest; the stand-in check still drifts from qcontrol's own.
Summary of work
problem → resolution, with what was tried on the way- An agent can't be trusted to write a strict file→→ It proposes a checked draft; the person applies
- Three homes for one file→→ Three modes on one page, the company's locking the others
- A blank editor→→ Three starters in the tray, and Pick a starter when there's no file
- qcontrol serves no check yet→→ A stand-in on qconfig's parser, asked of engineeringTried: A hand-written schema in the lab
- Does the agent get it right first time?→→ Twelve instructions, run against the app
Documents
With file names, on their own page →What changed
The three changes that matter most, in plain words. Open any one to see it.
- 1
One picture shows where the settings file comes from, who may change it, and how an agent's change reaches you.
One file, three sources, one check · came from Mark Parsonopen →
- 2
A new page in the desktop app shows the settings file, where it comes from, and every change waiting for you.
The Config page · came from Mark Parsonopen →
- 3
We gave an AI assistant twelve everyday requests and checked whether its first draft was right.
Twelve instructions, one agent · came from Mark Parsonopen →
- The page is built in the real desktop app, not only drawn. New in this cycle
- When your company manages the file, the page says so and an assistant can only explain, not change it. New in this cycle
How we got here
Each change, traced back to the conversation it came from. A solid mark means the record names the source; a dashed one was matched by the draft and waits for review.
From the record: no recorded conversation behind this one.
c146-R4 The agent drafts; the person applies. The agent never writes the file: it proposes a checked draft, and the person presses Apply or Discard. — Mark Parson
c146-R5 The tools live on the app's own MCP server, so the page and the agent share one checker and one record of changes. — Mark Parson
c146-R6 Validation is asked of qcontrol: a check that returns each error with its key path and line. A fixture checker stands in until it exists. — Mark Parson
c146-R7 The draft is always the whole config.yaml, shown as a difference against the current file. Include files are left as they are. — Mark Parson
One picture shows where the settings file comes from, who may change it, and how an agent's change reaches you.
From the record: no recorded conversation behind this one.
c146-R1 A published file is fetched once: the page shows the address, fetches, checks and asks the person to confirm. From then on the file is local; Check for changes fetches again and shows the difference. Nothing follows the address on its own. — Mark Parson
c146-R2 The names and the first pass come from Policy Config › Config File (c121): Config File, live, draft, Import, Download, versions, staged then applied. The file is qcontrol's config.yaml. — Mark Parson
c146-R3 Config is a V1 page under This machine, beside Sensor, in the lean build; not a Dev page. — Mark Parson
c146-R7 The draft is always the whole config.yaml, shown as a difference against the current file. Include files are left as they are. — Mark Parson
c146-R8 Use the editors that exist (gpui-component's Editor and diff in QGUIkit's EditorFrame; the layer's UxEditorFrame on the web); build nothing custom. — Mark Parson
c146-Q2 A published file replaces config.yaml whole, with its origin at the top, and the old file is kept as a version. — Mark Parson
c146-Q3 The starters live in the editor's tray; with no file, the page opens on a Pick a starter step. — Mark Parson
c146-Q4 The endpoint keeps a versions list with Restore on each, including what agents changed. — Mark Parson
c146-Q5 Ask your agent stays on the Config page; Help › Getting started gets the connect line. — Mark Parson
A new page in the desktop app shows the settings file, where it comes from, and every change waiting for you.
From the record: no recorded conversation behind this one.
c146-R4 The agent drafts; the person applies. The agent never writes the file: it proposes a checked draft, and the person presses Apply or Discard. — Mark Parson
c146-R6 Validation is asked of qcontrol: a check that returns each error with its key path and line. A fixture checker stands in until it exists. — Mark Parson
We gave an AI assistant twelve everyday requests and checked whether its first draft was right.
Thanks to
People outside Qpoint first. Every thank-you points at something they said or made.
Asked for one page, three modes, and an agent that writes the file without error
Opened the cycle on 2026-11-13, ruled R1–R8 at the walk the same morning (the agent drafts, the person applies), and took every recommendation at review stop 1.
All images
Every picture from this cycle. Click any one to step through them all.
The pairs
Everything captured · 22
The full record 12 decisions · 13 key-change entries · 2,434 words · 22 captures
The record stays as written, for agents and for audit: Key Changes, every decision, the artifacts and the visual record.
Open the record for c146 →